The Astor Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Tianjin, a central feature of the regeneration of Tianjin’s historic centre, the heritage gem evokes the romance of a bygone era with all the contemporary luxuries of a world-class hotel. The Hotel overlooks the Hai River in the heart of the Heping financial district. Hotel features 152 elegantly appointed rooms and suites in both classic Victorian style and more contemporary elegance. All rooms are equipped with 42-inch LCD TVs, CD/mp3 sound stations, Lavazza Capsule coffee machine and high-speed Internet access. Hotel features five exciting dining and wining venues. ShuiAn serves an authentic Cantonese and local cuisines, while Café Majestic is an all-day-dining restaurant with 24-hour A-la-Carte menu. For the extraordinary European cuisine, head to 1863 Bistro & Terrace which has more than one hundred year culinary tradition. The Victorian Lounge offers a wide range of beverages and British High Tea. The Award-winning British Gentleman bar – O’Hara Bar is famous for single malt whisky, selected wines, feature cocktails and live jazz show.A total of 730 sqm of conference and meeting space includes the Buckingham Ballroom with a fine domed ceiling, and the Windsor Multi-Function Rooms. Over 700 square meters of space is dedicated to the hotel’s own museum, a testament to The Astor Hotel’s long heritage and pivotal role in Tianjin’s development. The nearby pier, which is owned by the hotel, will be used as a jump-off point for river cruises.As a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Astor Hotel Tianjin provides a range of signature services, including ‘Luggage Liaison’, a suite of travel services including luggage storage and unpacking/packing services upon request, and ‘News Paper Direct’, a print-on-demand service for over 520 newspapers.
"During New Year's Day, I had my first stay at the Astor Hotel in Tianjin, a hotel with a profound sense of history. While it had its commendable aspects, there were also numerous shortcomings that urgently need improvement. I was particularly disappointed with the hotel's facility maintenance and service management, and I am providing this feedback accordingly.
First, let's discuss the hotel's advantages and highlights. The hotel boasts an excellent location right by the Haihe River, with a dazzling array of high-rise buildings across the bank. As night falls, the city lights create a vibrant, New York Manhattan-esque urban atmosphere, making for a superb night view. Transportation is also incredibly convenient; you can walk to Tianjin's core cultural and tourism areas like Jiefang North Road and the Five Avenues. The surrounding old buildings are rich in heritage and diverse in style, allowing you to fully experience the city's charm by strolling through them. Furthermore, the interior of the rooms maintains the hotel's historical tone, with a unique vintage design that showcases its heritage in every detail. The immersive experience during my stay was truly impressive.
However, compared to its highlights, the problems exposed by the hotel are far more prominent, particularly in service management and facility maintenance. These issues are severely inconsistent with the hotel's historical reputation and positioning, which is unacceptable.
In terms of service management, the overall service awareness was extremely weak, lacking the professionalism and etiquette expected of a high-end hotel. Only the front desk staff at check-in showed acceptable attitudes; the service experience in all other areas could be described as perfunctory: the foreign doorman did not proactively offer guidance or greetings, and I never received even a basic greeting from any hotel staff I encountered. Throughout my stay, there was a pervasive sense of coldness and detachment, completely disregarding the guest experience, which is entirely at odds with the hotel's brand character. Even more off-putting were the chaotic service issues in the hotel's museum. As a potentially chargeable ancillary venue, it should be an important place to showcase the hotel's history and culture and enhance guest experience. Yet, there were instances of staff dereliction of duty: two male and one female staff member were clustered together, chatting loudly and heedlessly even with visitors nearby. They even obstructed the projection video playback area for extended periods without proactively moving. Another male staff member was sitting on a museum sofa watching videos with the volume turned up so high that it drowned out the hotel's introductory video, severely disrupting visitors' experience and destroying the venue's tranquil atmosphere and cultural immersion. It's hard to imagine how such a level of service management could befitting of a high-end hotel with historical depth, and even harder to understand why a charged venue would tolerate such lax management and inappropriate service.
Regarding facility maintenance, 'vintage' should never be an excuse for 'outdated facilities and lack of maintenance.' Various facilities in my hotel room clearly showed signs of inadequate maintenance, and oversights in detail severely diminished the overall guest experience: the towel rack was loose and wobbly, almost on the verge of falling off, posing a safety hazard; the sink faucet made noticeable abnormal noises when turned on and off, suggesting aging parts that haven't been replaced in time; switching shower head modes was very difficult and inconvenient, affecting daily use. Moreover, the wardrobe's space planning was highly unreasonable. While it's understandable to embed a safe within the wardrobe, it didn't adequately consider practical usage, directly occupying a significant portion of hanging space, making it inconvenient to store clothes. This highlights a perfunctory approach in both design and management—neither considering the practicality of facilities nor making timely adjustments, completely disregarding guest comfort.
As a hotel steeped in historical heritage and held in high regard, the Astor Hotel Tianjin should have balanced the preservation of its historical charm with professional service and comprehensive facilities. However, during this stay, the lax service management and lack of facility maintenance not only failed to meet guest expectations but also damaged the hotel's brand reputation. I hope the hotel will address these issues, acknowledge legitimate guest feedback, strengthen staff service training and etiquette standards, improve its service management system, and thoroughly inspect and rectify all facility hazards. It should also carry out regular maintenance, optimize space planning and facility layouts to truly achieve 'a sense of history without feeling old, and historical depth with professional service,' living up to its brand legacy and guests' trust."