Saturday, March 28, 2009

Sofitel Wanda Beijing, China

Tried this new hotel on the Easter 3rd ring road, opposite to Soho Town (a middle class housing/commercial district), also close to Guo Mou Commercial area. This area is also a place for the music/entertainment business. My favourite noodle shop "Noodle Loft" is within 15 minute walking distance.

1/2 the room is standard five-star room.
3. Again, a typical French style bathroom which has a separate toilet room. 4. Nice that the hotel uses this famous French brand personal care products Loccitane.

5. The bath tub is with a TV set - quite thoughtful. 6. the basin.

7/8. the Gym.

9. the lift lobby. 10. However, the restaurant is a bit too over-priced. RMB160 (HK$190) for a hamburger?

11. when I ordered an ice chocolate but the waitress said it's not available. Then I showed him the menu saying so. So she was puzzled. 12. If the restaurant charges $180 for a hamburger and $168 for a fried noodle, how come the knife and fork are of such a bad quality?

13. Beijing fried noodle - $128! Besides, it's very salty. No meat at all. 14. Seafood fried rice - $168! So seafood means shrimp only and there were only 2 shrimps! Then the fried rice technique is lousy! Even if it's at $20, I don't think it's worth it. Then the house manager (a westerner) came to me, asking if I was unhappy with their services. So I told them the unprofessional waitresses and the lousy fried noodle and fried rice. He simply told me he is still training the staff and it takes to improve. Then my simple answer is "if the hotel is not with well-trained staff, then it's suspensed for services until it's improved.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems food(at least this one here)in Beijing cannot compete with HK or BKK.
From,
SS

in the sea said...

It's much below average. Besides, charging $168 for a fried rice with 2 shrimps (yes, shrimp, not prawn) is really unreasonable, not even yet to mention its bad quality.

Anonymous said...

Obviously there is contrast between China and Thailand, not just the food, even people's personality!

in the sea said...

I did meet some very nice local people here. However, I still can't figure it out why most of the hotel standard is of many question marks to me. Last night I went to a very nice peking duck restaurant. The waitresses are very nice and thoughtful and smart too. All I can tell it may be the hotels spend too much money on hiring some high-pay foreign expats to manage. Then when it comes to cost, they may need to hire some very green staff for cheaper costs.

Anonymous said...

they need you and other hotel guests to train their staff. you can charge them the training fee.

Stella said...

I agree with all the comments above.
I was told that food price, food quality and hotel service in China are very inconsistent. Also some restaurant price may pair up with those at HK, but the food quality is not half of BKK's.
Any way, it takes some time and effort to reach civilization.

Anonymous said...

so unreasonable price for a nothing noodle. I think any food stall is better than this one. they need to money back to you.