Elle’s travels
July 9, 2022
This hotel surprised me. It’s more catered to the ‘business man or woman’ or ‘family looking for a day break away’ than your usual traveller. I’m not sure if it was the business ‘private dinner’ events or the lack of things to do at the hotel- this hotel unfortunately didn’t surpass expectations for what a ‘crowne plaza’ should be.
As for the hotel itself, it was reasonably priced for our stay but the price should’ve already included meals. That being said, if you haven’t invested, get the breakfast buffet (see picture) because the surrounding area doesn’t offer a lot of different foods and the lunch menu at the hotel is simple and short. I did get items off the lunch menu, but I was disappointed with my choice of spaghetti as it tasted and looked like it had come from a tinned can (see picture). The same ‘western’ restaurant that served breakfast also served a dinner buffet (see picture) and, although it was lacking western foods, the selection was good and I would again recommend it for your stay. However, as experienced, make sure the buffet is for guests as we were left to feel embarrassed when the buffet had been ‘booked out’ by a private event with tickets, making us ‘normal paying guests’ wondering where to get food - the answer was a local pizzeria on Meituan.
You’d expect 4 star service from a worldly known hotel such as this and there were certainly 2 individuals that went above the normal service to make our stay better. Bana Cheng from the reception team - Bana was like a personal assistant, answering every query and question we had on wechat about the hotel or surrounding area. James from Cafe 198 was very friendly and, as he was one of few members of staff that could speak English, he was able to give us better restaurant service and was kind enough to pack us food and snacks for our flight early the next morning as we were sadly unable to make the breakfast buffet.
During our stay we visited the Panda research facility nearby and this was one of the reasons we chose the hotel. The hotel offers a free shuttle bus to and from the center at certain times, which was very helpful to know.
In the daytime as it was too hot to go out, we had a spa treatment at the spa in the hotel. It was very pleasant and the ladies were helpful to translate our treatment. The room was beautiful however there was mould growing on the ceiling which wasn’t so pleasant (see picture). We also visited the outside pool and man made beach - I was surprised that the hotel was charging additional money for floaters for the children and didn’t offer beach type towels (see picture). Even though the temperature of the pool was great and it was a nice afternoon, unfortunately the sun lounges were dirty, mouldy or broken and the lifeguard was shouting at us in Chinese, probably something about wearing caps in the pool.
The room was pleasant (see picture), we’d requested a non smoking room facing the gardens on a high floor, which the hotel kindly accommodated for. The room had a bath, which was enjoyable to use, and good aircon circulation with a massive bed.
Although the stay was pleasant, the standard of ‘the crowne plaza’ was let down by quality of furniture and decor, lack of communication with paying guests about where they can eat and the lack of tourist attractions in the nearby area. I’d recommend a stay for 1-2 nights, 3-4 is too long.