Oriental Ginza Hotel Shenzhen

“Nice Location”

I have been staying in different Sofitel hotels in Mainland for more than 100 nights in 2019, the Accor brand and hotel location are always my crucial concerns. This is the first time for me to visit Shenzhen Accor because of meetings and functions in SZ those few days. I just need an executive l… more

I have been staying in different Sofitel hotels in Mainland for more than 100 nights in 2019, the Accor brand and hotel location are always my crucial concerns. This is the first time for me to visit Shenzhen Accor because of meetings and functions in SZ those few days. I just need an executive lounge for me to stay and work a bit in between different meetings and functions, that's why I checked with Accor customer care beforehand and the reply was positive. Hence, I don't bother checking other hotel brands and go straight with this Accor Hotel. During checking-in at the reception, the lady's reply on my lounge benefits really shocked me. I can't go that executive lounge even though I am a diamond member, that is for someone else. If I have to go to the lounge, then I have to pay. On the other hand, the happy hours session will be provided at the 1/F café but not at the executive lounge, and I visited on the first day at around 6pm. I was so embarrassed because the staff at the 1/F café told me that I am ONLY allowed to eat certain types of food at 1/F café but not all during this complimentary happy hours session. I didn't expect any happiness during this happy hour so I just left. In short, the hotel property is pretty old but that's not my main concern. I just need a lounge for me to have a coffee or tea and relax a bit in between meetings, a very normal request for me in other Accor hotels indeed. I felt a bit disappointed for being a diamond member this time. Last but not least, I happened to see a lady pull down her mask when working around at breakfast time. I thought they were supposed to put on mask properly when serving guests.

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“Comfortable Rooms, Albeit Lacking In Charm”

The Grand Mercure brand appears to be in need for a bit of a overhaul. Despite being only eight years old, it appears to be becoming more synonymous with dated hotels catering primarily to business travellers. That said, the first impressions of the room for this particular stay were good - spaciou… more

The Grand Mercure brand appears to be in need for a bit of a overhaul. Despite being only eight years old, it appears to be becoming more synonymous with dated hotels catering primarily to business travellers. That said, the first impressions of the room for this particular stay were good - spacious, with a great view of Shenzhen Bay. The bed was very comfortable, with good blackout curtains. Electrical appliances in the room were rather dated; the flat-screen TV had no HDMI input. A definite plus was that this hotel offers (at time of writing) a Hong Kong internet connection, which allows for a non-censored internet connection. Nice touch, especially for a hotel in mainland China. What needed improvement, however, was the in-room dining provision. An order of breakfast to be served in-room turned out to be a rather laborious tête-à-tête over the phone trying to figure what was available (baguettes instead of Danish pastries) and what wasn't (hash browns). Staff did, however, try hard to accommodate - and whipped up a reasonably good hollandaise upon order to go with what we assumed would have been the first order of eggs benedict for the day. The Japanese restaurant on the top floor was meant to be open for dine-ins, but when we popped up to have a look at the dinner menu at about 5 PM, there was nobody in sight - tables were not set, and it looked shut. This stay was reserved under Accor ALL gold membership, and a generous late check-out of 5 PM was offered when we checked in. However, no room upgrade was offered. Also, initially only one welcome drink was provided, but this was quickly topped up to two by the check-in receptionist (one each for the two of us staying) just as I was about to point out that this stipulation (of only offering one drink to the listed member themselves) only applied in certain Accor hotels in France - this can corroborated on the Accor ALL website.

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