If you want to take a trip back in time and see what it would be like to stay in a Guo You Qi or a state ran hotel, check out the Chang Fu Gong (Hotel New Otani). From the slow service in the Japanese restaurant, to the really pathetic breakfast offering, compared to what you get elsewhere, this place is a rip off even at a discount price.
The fact that the reservation center seems to close at the end of business hours, and doesn''t open again till 8:30 in the morning is actually a bit of a shock. One of the few so called high hotels that I know that does this. Left me trying to call the hotel directly to try to confirm a room but the front desk had no way of processing and had to wait for reservations team to start work at 8:30am.
The physical environment is actually ok. The beds are incredibly hard. They may kid you that this is because of the Japanese clientele, but I lived in Japan and this is like sleeping on a Chinese brick Kang. The decor is also a little dated. In my mind, this is a lower level 5 star hotel compared to what is currently available in the market. The reality, if there was an unbiased grading system in Beijing, it would probably be downgraded to a 4 star but that is another story.
I guess the only reason it can maintain a reasonable occupancy rate and price is that it is one of the few hotels in Beijing that does relatively successfully cater to the niche Japanese market. If it were left to fend for itself in the wider product sensitive market that is less concerned with a Japanese brand management but the actual quality of its service, this product would die from a thousand paper cuts.
By way of qualification, I am an ex-hotelier and have been in China for 15 years. The Chang Fu Gong is definitely a bomb. |