Top Choice Hotel in Hong Kong
Written: May 21 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Service! Great Facilities!
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This hotel provides great service! Great Location also!
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| dbhoutx's Full Review: Renaissance Hotels |
The New World Renaissance Hotel in Hong Kong, China is a wonderful hotel with attentive staff who want your stay to be memorable. We spent a week in the hotel and experienced wonderful treatment by the staff. We left the hotel reluctantly since we had been so well cared for. Of course, it is always nice to get home. (Especially for the baby who has all of her toys at home.)
Our Trip to this Hotel
On this most recent trip to Asia, we took advantage of a tour package offered by a tour operator out of New York, Pacific Delights Tours. What we bought was a package that included the hotel, breakfast at the buffet each morning, the airfare from Houston to Hong Kong, airport transfers in Hong Kong, and a half-day tour of Hong Kong Island. Was it worth it, darn right it was. Because they have partnered with Continental to use their new non-stop flight from Newark to Hong Kong the price was unbeatable.
We upgraded to the Renaissance since we felt we would get a better hotel experience there than at the basic included hotel. Other than a bad experience my wife and baby had in Baltimore, we had always been pleased with our stays at Renaissance hotels. Thus, this hotel was the one we choose. After choosing the hotel, I obtained the e-mail address so I could e-mail the guest services manager that we needed to be sure the room was child proofed and that a crib would be available. These were two items that make or break a visit to hotels since the safety of our child is paramount. (Victoria will be 1 in a couple of weeks.)
Not only did I managed to ensure we would get a safe room for our stay, I also managed to learn more about the local tours offered into mainland China and also to Macau. Peter Cheng, the Director of Guest Services ensured that our room would be prepared to our safety specifications. He also booked us onto tours we wanted to take while there. Now, more specifics on the hotel stay.
Initial Impressions
We arrived on a Monday late in the afternoon, after leaving our house 24 hours before. I personally had not slept much of that time and was ready for a dinner and good night of rest. Of course I know that going to bed too early only results in a middle of the night wake up which I can do without. As soon as we were in the lobby we walked to the registration counter. The Guest Services Director saw us come in and immediately came over to welcome us. He spoke in Chinese to the staff and gave them directions. He had already picked a nice room, an upgraded room, for our use. My parents were also given an upgraded room just two doors down.
The check in process was pretty quick all things considered. We had given vouchers to the hotel for the room and breakfast since it was prepaid. Thus, unlike the normal quick check-in as an honored guest at most hotel chains in the USA, we had a couple minutes of extra paperwork. They also needed to see all of the passports, which is no surprise as it seems the normal thing when checking into hotels outside the USA. All things considered we were on our way up to the room pretty quickly. Our luggage was in the hands of the bell staff who brought it up within 10 minutes of our getting into our rooms.
As we began our journey upstairs several staff members came over to greet us, and our baby. As it turned out during the trip, Victoria (our baby) created quite a stir, most likely because most folks there seldom see babies from the USA over there. This was the start of five star service for Victoria, as everyone there treated her so well.
We went upstairs to our rooms. We were ready to relax in a cool moist environment. After 19 hours of flying we needed a change from dry stale air. The room was cold, clean, and baby proofed. Within five minutes of our arrival to our room, the director of Housekeeping and one of the other Housekeeping Managers arrived at our room to check on the baby proofing. They wanted to be sure that they had met our expectations. They were very outgoing and sure to mention that if we had any further requirements or needs, that they would be addressed with one phone call.
So far, everything was going so incredibly well. I wondered if this was the norm or if we were just lucky. Well, it turns out that five star service is the normal way of taking care of customers at this hotel. When the TV started acting up, one phone call and less than five minutes of waiting and someone was there to fix the problem. Something about the remote was amiss, but it all worked afterwards. Nothing else in the room ever had to be repaired. We always had plenty of towels, soap, and shampoo. The lights all worked the room was clean and comfortable. It made for a happy stay.
During our stay we were provided with a buffet breakfast each morning. The buffet had foods from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. This international buffet breakfast certainly makes visitors from everywhere feel welcome and at home. The food in the hotel was wonderful. The staff and managers in The Patio restaurant went out of their way to accommodate Victoria and make sure she had a pancake to nibble on each morning. Even on the morning when we were down there when they first opened, before the time the buffet was ready, we were provided with excellent service. Hats off to Janet and Rex, two of the managers who went out of their way to entertain Victoria!
On the first evening we even tried the French buffet in The Patio. The food was excellent. Unfortunately Victoria wanted nothing to do with eating dinner with us that night. She made sure everyone there knew she was there, by yelling at the top of her lungs. Gabriel the manager on duty at that time went out of his way to help calm her. When my wife determined it was better to retreat to the room with the baby, Gabriel decided that since she had not eaten much, that he would remove her charge from the bill as well as the drink charge for her Coke Light (aka Diet Coke to most North Americans.) He even sent up a takeout box and offered free room service if she wanted more food. That was in my book well above and beyond what was expected out of the staff.
The hotel facilities are modern, roomy, clean, and very inviting. There are two lobbies, one at street level and one on the 2nd level. Both have wonderful flower arrangements to add color. The aesthetics of the hotel are top notch.
The staff were tremendous. From the front desk staff who were efficient and friendly to the concierge who provided me with a discount card for use while shopping around Hong Kong everyone we met wanted to make our stay enjoyable. The housekeeping staff did a good job of not bothering us while we were in the room. Each time we walked past any of the hotel staff, we were cheerfully greeted.
More about the room:
The room itself was nice. The size of the room was bigger than in some places, but not as large as in others. We had room for our King Size bed, a chair, the entertainment center, a desk, and the crib all in the main room area. Of course there was a nice dressing area and a bathroom, which is very large.
One thing I really liked about the room was the easy operation lighting system. From beside the bed, on either side, one could operate all of the lights from an electronic control console. The lighting was adequate for reading or undertaking other daily tasks. The TV is remotely operated, as is the norm. There was even a Video/Audio CD player with a remote available for our use. We never did have the time to try it out.
The bed was comfortable and the sheet was more like a giant comforter covered in sheets on both sides. This was something new to me. It could have been larger, but did serve the purpose of keeping us warm as we slept.
The only real complaint would be that loud noises in one room could be heard in other rooms. The neighbors more likely than not heard Baby Victoria when she cried. We heard another baby crying some on our first night there.
Overall the room as very nicely appointed and comfortable. A couch would be nice if you were staying for several weeks at a stretch.
Overall Impression
Despite the fact this hotel is not officially recognized as a five star hotel, it provides a level of service not surpassed by many five star hotels. I have stayed as several five star hotels that provide less service to the guests. I would recommend this hotel for any travelers who are headed to Hong Kong and want to be centrally located on the Kowloon side.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dbhoutx
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: David
Location: Houston, Texas
Reviews written: 324
Trusted by: 223 members
About Me:
David loves outdoor activities, travel, breeding Registered Texas Longhorns.
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