Rosewood Guangzhou: Legendary Backstab King!
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The next day, the reservation service let us down yet again. I woke up at 11 AM, and by the time we finished checking out, it was 12:13 PM. The checkout process itself was smooth enough, but we had left our room at 11:58 AM. During this time, neither the front desk nor the restaurant called to inform us about our table. So, naturally, we assumed there would be availability. Even after checking out, the front desk still hadn't mentioned our reservation status; I had to remember to ask them. The confirmation process was incredibly tedious, again exposing Rosewood's poor cell signal and the staff's lack of training and communication. It took five minutes just for them to contact the restaurant. Then, unbelievably, they made me speak to the restaurant directly, only to find out there had been no seats for a while. If that was the case, why didn't the restaurant or front desk inform or remind us? Our reserved table for the next day was given away! What's the point of making a reservation then? This is a major dereliction of duty. The restaurant staff were arrogant, offered no apology, and told us we'd have to wait until after 1:30 PM.
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LOL, I saw others saying it was bad, so I insisted on staying a night to see for myself. Turns out, the online reviews weren't lying.
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The fact that you can only officially check in at 4 PM is already ridiculous. Who trained these five-star hotels to have such unreasonable policies?
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Here's my theory: Marriott Bonvoy members can get late checkout until 4 PM, which makes a 4 PM check-in time reasonable for them. However, Platinum members aren't guaranteed a suite upgrade; they might only get a one or two-level upgrade. This means any room type could potentially have a member with late checkout. If the hotel only allowed Platinum and above members to check in after 4 PM, guests in regular rooms would feel it's unfair if their rooms were ready earlier but they couldn't check in because some members in their room category had late checkouts. So, to standardize management, they just made it 4 PM check-in for everyone. The problem is, other hotel groups might be copying Marriott's 'style' without it actually fitting their own operations, leading to awkward situations.
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When we returned to our room after swimming in the evening, the turndown service had been done. However, upon inspecting the bedding, we found two small bloodstains on my friend's sheet – another letdown (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture). This is a serious lapse in hygiene standards. While perhaps not a genuine risk, it was psychologically very unpleasant. The pillows were also too soft, offering no support. Before heading to the 5th-floor BBQ bar for dinner, I communicated all these issues to the 95th-floor front desk. When we returned, I booked a table for the Michelin-starred The Chinese Restaurant (Guang Yu Xuan) for 11:50 AM the next day and left my phone number. The BBQ bar had a good vibe, and the food was acceptable but not outstanding. After dinner, they did change the duvet cover, but the pillow solution was extremely perfunctory – they just added a memory foam pillow on top of the original two, severely cramping the bed space. I had to put the extra pillow elsewhere to sleep properly. On a positive note, the hotel did provide an extra air purifier for us (the air quality in room 15 improved after that).
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I also posted about my experience; stayed two nights and ended up reporting them to the consumer protection hotline (12315). It was also because of the turndown service – they took my watch along with the towels when changing them...
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While swimming, I got water in my ear and felt a bit dizzy. I asked a staff member for tissues and cotton swabs, but it took ages for them to arrive – about ten minutes later, they slowly brought them over. During this time, the staff member was meticulously attending to foreign guests and seemed to have completely forgotten my request until I reminded them again, despite me asking first. I even volunteered to translate to help the foreign guests with their issue. The staff member's English was worryingly poor; they didn't even understand what 'pen' meant. By the time the cotton swabs reached me, the water in my ear had almost dried up. I didn't take photos here to protect other guests' privacy.
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LOL, sounds like you were genuinely angry.
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Let me put it this way: among the top hotels in Guangzhou, Rosewood is the worst. If you're after views, Four Seasons and Hotel Indigo offer more transparency. For dining, The Ritz-Carlton and Mandarin Oriental are superior. For service, Jumeirah stands out. Having frequented all the well-known hotels in Guangzhou over the past 20 years, my conclusion is that Rosewood is the absolute worst, and that includes the Manor.
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Agreed. As a former hotelier and a long-time Guangzhou resident, I couldn't agree more. I've become wary of both the Rosewood and New World brands.
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It seems Guangzhou Rosewood has been consistently underperforming since its opening – 'staying true to its original self' and 'persisting to the end' (in a bad way).
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Totally agree! Guangzhou Rosewood really needs to step up its service standards and quality. They're just not putting in the effort.
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In short, it's clear they don't care about their customers at all. Realizing this, we just went out to eat Haidilao instead. Goodbye forever, Rosewood. Maybe consider reopening when you've actually upgraded your service. Personally, I feel their service gets completely outclassed by Four Seasons and MO.
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Hahahaha, just experienced it. Had to ask for everything myself.