Rosewood Guangzhou: Legendary Backstab King!
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Let me tell you about my experience at the Rosewood Guangzhou Hotel, where people generally claim that the service isn't great. After staying there recently, I personally experienced just how much truth there is to those online reviews!
Front Desk Reception
As we were taking a staycation—a getaway without venturing far from home, just to relax—we didn't have any large luggage with us. However, surprisingly, when we arrived, the valet only opened our car door but then disappeared! Where’s the elevator? No one seemed to know, so we had to take the initiative and ask.
Check-In Process
We waited for an extremely long time to check-in, although the staff was warm, their attention to detail left a lot to be desired. For two people, they provided only one form for signing in; they remembered to provide the second form after someone finished signing. Honestly, this made me feel ignored.
Wishing to stay in a double room? Hard luck! Double beds are only available in the most basic room types. We attempted to upgrade, but the front desk told us that all the better rooms were equipped with king-sized beds instead.
Initial Room Experience
Upon entering the room, there was a stifling perfume smell. While thinking of changing the room, we decided to wait until after tea to avoid any hassle, wishing things could simply improve on their own.
Disappointing afternoon tea experience—talk about a slap across the face!
WARNING! For anyone intending to have afternoon tea at Rosewood!
The front desk informed us there were two floors for afternoon tea, either on the 95th or the 108th floor. They especially highlighted that the 95th floor has a more expensive option at RMB 400 per person.
We didn’t plan ahead and thought the 108th floor’s views would be more beautiful and its offerings better. However, much to our disappointment, running up to the 108th floor only to be told there was no afternoon tea served there (sorry, photos not allowed here).
It has been conveyed to us that afternoon tea happens on the 95th floor, from 2 pm to 5 pm. Here's the dealbreaker though—only after 4 pm can guests officially check-in and have access their rooms. Given this timeline, considering the check-in was late and adding on to it the slow reception rate; by the time one is able to finally settle in and place their belongings to make time to enjoy the late afternoon tea, there’s barely any chance for them to still get to experience such a delicacy!
The 'compensation' on 108th and disappointment
At the executive lounge on the 108th floor, after waiting several minutes to contact the front desk (which seemed like a poor phone signal moment), they offered to serve us a meal on the spot in response to this unexpected twist.
Afterwards however, only the desserts somewhat satisfied my palate, everything else was incredibly unpalatable. And what a shame—the weather was less than perfect on that day, so the terrace of this executive lounge area was closed, rendering it a useless viewpoint. To top everything off, there they were taking a 16 percent service charge! (Whispering in secret, they’ve mistakenly charged us two extra RMB though minor, still a minuscule mistake).
Throughout this ordeal, no apologies came forth from the management, and I could only feel disappointed with such lack of customer satisfaction.
Positive comments
Despite these flaws, public spaces at Rosewood are indeed beautifully designed, hard to find fault here.
The pool was enjoyable, as well as the spa. Interestingly, the scenic view from the changing room was better than our room’s view of Guangzhou Tower (Canton Tower); in our room, one would see nothing much at all.(P.S. Due to word limit restrictions, I placed the remaining critique in the pinned comment.)
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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.