Pan Pacific is rated as outstanding and a 5* experience but we’ve stayed 5* in Beijing many times and this hotel is definitely not anywhere near those stays, however, there are some aspects which do reflect 5* service so I’ll begin my review with the positives:
1. 5* service in the Western restaurant, particularly from Fisher, Tong and the main chef. The dinner buffet was fantastic and definitely worth it. We didn’t visit the other restaurants so cannot comment on the service there.
2. A lot of the staff speak English which is helpful as our Mandarin is limited.
3. Gym is great and well equipped.
4. The rooftop bar is lovely especially in the evening. Only downside is that is closes at 11pm.
5. The location of the hotel is good as it is right next door to Joy City shopping mall which also has a number of restaurants.
6. The ayis and door staff are very friendly and welcoming and do a great job.
7. The bed is very comfortable and the bathtub is huge, although the water is lukewarm.
Reasons this hotel is not a 5* establishment in our eyes:
1. Upon arrival to the hotel, the front desk reception was very cold and unwelcoming. One person in particular, who I shall not name continued with this attitude throughout our 3 day stay and was unwilling to assist with several of the issues mentioned below as when I approached the desk, he walked away, leaving his colleague who spoke less English than he, struggled to understand my complaints.
2. Upon check-in, a staff member took 1000¥ as a deposit, despite us already paying for our stay online. This staff member didn’t bother explaining what the deposit was for he just simply said it was needed. I later found out, after enquiring myself, that it’s for additional charges such as in house dining. If this is the case and the deposit isn’t for potential damage caused to the room, then it should be properly explained and made optional.
3. Before coming to the hotel I had called to ask if the pool, jacuzzi and steam room would be open and the front desk confirmed that they were. There is no steam room. The jacuzzi is weirdly in the changing rooms and was closed due to covid yet the pool was open and completely packed. We visited the pool at 9pm at night and there were tons of children, screaming and taking up most of the space with their floats. If this hotel is 5* there should be swimming hours in place for adults and children. We unfortunately didn’t use the pool at all during our stay because of this.
4. Wifi is terrible, we gave up in the end.
5. No room service which you’d expect in a 5* hotel.
6. It was way too hot in the room and air con didn’t work well despite being on the lowest setting, however, the front desk staff were very helpful when I called down and provided a fan upon request, without it we wouldn’t have managed the stay.
7. There are more minor complaints but still relevant when comparing where to stay in Beijing:
- TV in the room is very small.
- Design of the hotel is old fashioned and maybe more suited to local tastes.
- Toiletries are stingy for a 5* hotel, tiniest ones I’ve seen.
- The coffee advertised in the room isn’t the ones you get, instead you get much cheaper ones and the taste is poor.
- Old and very used towels, dressing gowns, carpets, and bedsheets. Our bedsheets actually had tea or coffee stains on them from previous usage.
- Some of the furniture in the room is old and broken in addition to some of the lights/electrics being broken too.
In summary, I wouldn’t ever stay here again. When I raised the issues above with the front desk they had nothing to offer other than sending someone to ‘fix it’ although I’m not sure what they were hoping to fix as that wasn’t made clear.
Front desk staff definitely need additional training on welcoming guests and providing 5* customer service.
自動翻訳