Review: St. Regis Beijing

Thx for the review, Luke! Too bad that you did not try out Being's two best luxury properties during one of your 3 visits: the newly opened Rosewood Beijing and the stunning Aman at Summer Palace. I stayed at both of them last April (and they are far, far better than the St Regis & W, where I stayed at last January):
- my review of the Rosewood: http://theluxurytravelexpert.com/2015/04/22/rosewood-beijing-china/
- my review of the Aman at Summer Palace: http://theluxurytravelexpert.com/2015/05/20/aman-at-summer-palace-beijing/
I used to choose my stays (as well?) based on my loyalty to Starwood (Platinum) and Hyatt (Diamond), but now I just go for the most unique hotels, regardless of loyalty. It may sound strange, but I am somewhat relieved since I do not feel loyalty pressure anymore (and since my travel plans are no longer determined by loyalty, making for much better and authentic travel experiences).

That booze is below St. Regis standards but I think I would call it mid-range, rather than low-end. I think the US carriers are serving worse well liquor in their clubs, for example 🙂

Awesome review Lucky, thank you so much!

Thanks for the review, Luke. Too bad you did not stay at one of Beijing's 2 best luxury properties during one of your 3 trips: Aman at the Summer Palace (my review: http://theluxurytravelexpert.com/2015/05/20/aman-at-summer-palace-beijing/) and the newly opened Rosewood Hotel (you can read a review on my blog as well). Both hotels are far, far better than the W and the St Regis where I stayed at in January, and especially the Aman is a stunning place, located within the boundries of Summer Palace, a UNESCO world heritage site. I hope you had at least tea over there :-).

My travel plans used to be determined by my hotel loyalty programs (Hyatt diamond, Starwood Platinum), but I changed that and I am so glad I did: I do not feel any loyalty pressure anymore, get to stay at far better hotels, and live more authentic travel experiences.

2nd'ed the Rosewood. The Happy Hour at the lounge made me very very happy with free-flow foie gras, premium Champagne (Taittinger) and swedish meatballs!

"The Luxury Travel Expert"? Aren't you the one who got caught writing plagiarized content for your trip reports and blogs on FlyerTalk?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24753718-post38.html

Huh. What do you know... I found the same paragraph from your review...

http://www.differentplanet.com/TravelSpeak6/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf

"Just steps from the East Gate of the Summer Palace grounds and only 15 km from the Forbidden City, lies Aman at Summer Palace – the ideal location from which to discover Beijing. The ultra-luxurious resort is a serene retreat, with peaceful internal courtyards and pavilions embracing traditional Chinese architecture. The property provides easy access to cultural landmarks as the Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven and the hutongs, as well as Beijing’s restaurants, art galleries and other contemporary delights."

Anyways, I suppose if you start mentioning Real Housewives of Atlanta we'll know you're lifting content from "Luke". 😀

Yes Jan, your travel experiences to luxury high end hotels in cities with as much poverty as Beijing certainly are "authentic travel experiences" that connect you with the everyday citizen of China.

I stayed at the Lee Garden in Beijing last week. Did you notice if they forced you to have a swimming cap to use the pool? Such a strange rule. We had to settle for the spa because we didnt have a cap and didnt want to buy one for a swim.

Lucky
Lived in China for a few years, and while there are exceptions (the Shenzhen Grand Hyatt, for one), even though these are international hotels, your best bet, by far, will be to stick with Chinese food, particularly at the buffets. There is just still a general misunderstanding in most places, even high end, of western cuisine, food, and how tastes go together. And Chinese preferences for things like soft bread (as opposed to something with some chew) make many foods not particularly satisfying to foreign travelers.

That gym does look fantastic though for a hotel gym.

Great property review as always. Is there a reason why you do not include taxes and fees in the rate when determining whether the paid rate is worth the 2.2c valuation? Quite often, these surcharges are 10 - 20% of the rate, which would justify the use of points (at your 2.2c per pt valuation).

@ Al -- Nope, you're absolutely right, I should have. In this case it wouldn't have been worthwhile in either case, but good point.

@ Greg -- Great point, thanks!

@ Ben S -- I have noticed that in Asia sometimes, though in my experience they'll usually loan you one if it's a requirement. Didn't check at this hotel specifically, though.

There was also what I believe was a fax machine?

Ah, glad to see the partnership between St. Regis and Aerolineas Argentinas is coming to fruition.

You can buy a diet-coke at any store outside the hotel for 3RMB... which is equal to $0.5

Lucky, my wife and I stayed here last October. Our favorite part was something that you did not mention. Below the pool there is a grotto area with multiples large jacuzzis, saunas, and locker room area. We had never seen such a large hot tub area at a hotel.

@Greg - I agree with you about Shenzhen Grand Hyatt - best Italian restaurant!

@ Andrew -- Grrr, I love hot tubs. Sad I missed it.

@ Ivan -- Right, but personally I value 15 minutes of my time (which presumably it would take to get the drink) at more than the $2.50 savings. And typically when I get drinks out of the minibar it's in the middle of the night, when stores wouldn't otherwise be open.

Sick review Luke

Sorry to see that the St. Regis has slipped a bit recently. My husband and I stayed their a few years ago (before the W opened) and had a great stay from start to finish. For what it's worth, President Obama stayed there a few months later during his state visit, so they must have been doing something right! The decor looks the same so I guess it's just starting to show its age, but we never saw a dirty cup or glass anywhere. We also were upgraded to a Statesman Suite, which was nice since I'm only SPG Gold. IIRC, at the time the top floor lounge was only available to elites; I agree the fact that it's now open to all guests is strange. And Andrew is right, the sauna, jacuzzi, hot tub area was pretty luxurious.

Stayed at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang about a year ago, and it was much better than the St Regis (at least judging by your pics). Much more modern vibe, and food and service was top-notch throughout.

With regards to smoking. I've found that hotels in China have non-smoking "floors", but that really only applies to the room itself, and even then that seems to be more of a suggestion.

I often saw people smoking in the hallways, which explains the ashtray.

What a shame you didn't like the St Regis, Lucky! I was travelling around Beijing about a month ago and stayed in three SPG properties: W Chang'an, Westin Chaoyang, and the St Regis, and I definitely enjoyed my experience at the St Regis the most (followed by the Westin and W's shocking management last).

Incredible that you thought the breakfast was subpar -- I thought STR Beijing had an exceptional breakfast, and even your photos make it look pretty delicious. Perhaps your taste buds were just having an off day if you considered the spread to be "tasteless"?

@Jan's "trip reports" are largely plagiarized from others. See for example this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1676410-my-worst-flight-experience-ever-cathay-pacific-a33-business-class-doha-hong-kong.html