【The Worst Five-Star Hotel I've Ever Stayed In】
This was my first trip to Guangzhou, and I really enjoyed the food and architecture. The only letdown was this hotel. Since I usually stay in five-star hotels when traveling, I filtered for five-star hotels in the city center on Ctrip. This hotel, Asia International Hotel, seemed impressive as a 'hospitality hotel' with a grand name, so I booked it. To my surprise, after two nights, it turned out to be the worst five-star hotel I've ever stayed in across so many cities.
First, we arrived at the hotel around 12:05 AM on March 7th after a late flight. After checking in, we probably reached our room (3316) around 12:15-12:20 AM. The moment we inserted the room card and the power came on, we immediately noticed that the light strip directly above the bed was clearly faulty, flickering and jumping (see video). The light strips in other areas were normal. I immediately called the front desk from the room's internal line to explain the situation. Logically, such an obvious hardware issue upon check-in should warrant an immediate room change. However, this front desk didn't offer that; they just sent an engineering colleague to fix it. By the time the engineering colleague slowly made his way up, the light strip had stopped flickering. So, I had no choice but to let him go, as there was no point in him staying. Throughout our two-day, two-night stay, this light strip intermittently flickered and jumped, stopping for a while and then starting again. It was very unpleasant. It always stopped flickering when the maintenance staff came up, so it was never resolved.
Second, the peephole cover in the room was completely broken. It couldn't be closed or aligned, even manually (see video). A peephole is quite important for a room. Some criminals can even use it to open doors. The fact that the peephole couldn't be closed and was constantly hanging half-open surely wasn't a one-day issue. It's been like this for so long, such a noticeable and visible problem, yet no one has bothered to fix it. This really shows the hotel's management level.
Third, there was an issue with the power outlets on the bedside tables. Both the left and right outlets were loose. The outlet closer to the bathroom was barely usable. The outlet closer to the window by the curtain was quite mischievous; you'd plug in your charger, and it would actively pop it back out. You'd plug it in, and it would eject it. After a long night, when I finally wanted to lie down and charge my phone, I ended up battling with this outlet. In the end, I had no choice but to sit at the desk to charge my phone.
I took videos of all three issues. The first and most obvious light problem occurred the moment I entered the room and called the front desk. Since it wasn't resolved, I specifically contacted the hotel manager when checking out to report my experience and the hotel's facility issues. A male manager came during checkout. I showed him the three video clips and explained my points. Not only did this manager offer no compensation, but he didn't even apologize once throughout our conversation. After listening to my explanation, his first words were, "From my personal perspective, these are just hotel hardware/facility issues." I ask, aren't hardware issues one of the most serious problems a hotel can have? Then, his second statement was, "You should have come to us as soon as you found the problems upon check-in, then we could have arranged a room change for you." I immediately refuted him, stating that I called the front desk the moment I checked in, but a room change was not offered; only a maintenance worker was sent to inspect. Ultimately, the manager didn't apologize, didn't offer any compensation, and simply stood at the front desk, silently listening to my complaints before stating that he had heard me, and that was the end of the feedback session.
Anyone who has stayed in star-rated hotels would know that such a performance, from the front desk to the hotel manager, is a highly inadequate response to a customer complaint. At the very least, you should apologize to the guest first. This is basic etiquette; a customer has stayed for two nights and had such an experience, an apology is a fundamental courtesy. Secondly, it's good to offer some heartfelt compensation or a partial refund within reasonable limits. This is a further way to express the hotel's apology. I don't expect all hotels to do this, as you also need to make money, right? But some hotels I've stayed at before would proactively offer some souvenirs; they had them prepared. Regardless of whether your stay was good or bad, they would proactively offer you one upon departure. This hotel, however, offered nothing. Additionally, some hotels would give you a small token of appreciation, like a gift or a voucher, when you provide suggestions or feedback. This is a more advanced form of compensation. I'm not saying I demand compensation or a refund here, but the entire experience, from checking in to the final complaint feedback, felt very perfunctory. Of course, it's possible they saw us as tourists, here today and gone tomorrow, so they just brushed us off. However, a hotel's development depends on how its people manage it. With this kind of problem-solving attitude and management, the hotel will only decline, especially in today's highly competitive era. I hope the hotel management sees this honest feedback. I have already left Guangzhou. I will visit Guangzhou again in the future, but I will definitely not stay at your hotel again.
Additionally, I want to objectively add some facts for those considering this hotel as a reference:
The overall decor of the hotel is very outdated. It feels like a style from twenty or thirty years ago, including the hardware facilities, washbasin, bathroom, etc.
We were staying on the 33rd floor. From what we observed, there were two high-floor elevators that could reach it. However, the problem was that during peak travel times, these elevators were extremely slow. This might be due to them serving too many floors. In other hotels, elevators are usually more finely divided, and you typically don't have to wait for more than a minute for one.
Third, the general demeanor and etiquette of the hotel staff were lacking. For example, the security guards at the entrance. When cars arrived, most of them were still chatting idly. From what we observed while waiting for a car, half the time no one would help open the car door. Especially during off-peak seasons, they were mostly gathered at the entrance chatting. However, if they were going to chat, they should do it closer to the hotel entrance so they can easily open car doors when vehicles arrive. Instead, they were chatting on the opposite side of the driveway, behind the hotel entrance. This meant when a car arrived, they couldn't immediately reach the door handle on the passenger's side. They had to walk around. By then, passengers would usually have already opened their own doors as soon as the car stopped. So, they weren't needed to walk around. The security guards at the entrance are an important reflection of the hotel's image. Such a casual and lax situation clearly shows that the hotel's management is indeed failing. During my observation, it wasn't just the security guards chatting at the entrance, but also the lobby manager. I wonder if management will see this review. This is an honest account of my stay.
Original TextTranslation provided by AI
