Review: W Guangzhou Hotel

Amazing spread! I wonder if all W hotels serve that breakfast?
Seriously drooling

@ Anita -- The W Taipei, W Singapore, and W Bali all had amazing spreads as well. W Hotels seem to do an amazing job with breakfasts in Asia.

The only better W I know of is the one at Koh Samui.

No ice cream on breakfast? 🙂

@ Carlos -- No ice cream OR pizza! I guess that's the only weakness about this place. 😀

Amazing property! I would love to check it out.

W Hong Kong also offers a very nice breakfast.

The breakfast does look amazing! Awesome review as ever - thanks Lucky 🙂

And THAT is a fantastic hotel review. Thanks, Ben. You make it look so easy.

Wow.. that's some great service.

I agree that most W's take style over function and practicality, however this one looks pretty awesome. Too bad they aren't all like this : (

From the video, I never realized you had such floppy ears! 😉

I stayed at the same hotel on a corp rate for around $80 per night(about 5 months ago) and got the exact same suite. Their breakfast back then was a little better based on what I see now.
Good hotel, glad that you enjoyed it.

What's the location like? (The "Local Area Map" on the hotel's website just links to a useless Bing map that shows no streets or other features in Guangzhou at all.)

Luckey,

When I was in Beijing I had the same problem with Facebook and Twitter. Apparently some hotels in China can get approved by the goverment for the WIFI network to access it. Although my hotel did not have it.

@ Jeff R -- The W is located in the "new" part of town. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because there are lots of nice parks and it's modern, though a lot of the historic sights you'd want to see are in the "old" part of town. They're quite a distance apart, about 20-30 minutes by taxi. So I'm not sure which area I prefer, though the Grand Hyatt and W are both in the new part of town, so I'd probably stay in that area again in the future.

@ Ted -- Good to know, I had no clue!

Ben, I always enjoy your reports and the mix of humor you bring to many of them. For some reason this one really had me laughing. From the dog video, to your comment on working from bed, I LOLed a few times. Nicely done

Great Review, The comfort is one thing that i like about the western hotels in china. Most chinese hotels beds are SUPER hard, try sleeping on the floor type of hard. The food def is way better in all spgs hotels as well compared to chinese hotels. I also love how in the W and le merdians you cant hear a thing outside your room.

Lucky, I know someone has already asked you this, but do you find it difficult when you leave the airport in any country to get to your hotel? Some cabbies in china dont speak a word of english, they do have translators but still its dang hard sometimes.

Have also learned that while www.facebook.com may be blocked, the facebook app almost always works (has worked for me in both China and Vietnam)

@ jonathan -- Yep, I've had the issue many times, so in most countries I try to now bring the hotel's name and address in the "local" language.

I was in the hotel room directly across from yours at the same time you at the hotel.

FYI I was rejected from the breakfast at the Kitchen Table Restaurant due to wearing hotel provided slippers.

Perhaps this W hotel doesn't have furniture shipped from IKEA US? 😉

@ Lucky - as SPG Platinum do you get free breakfast in the restaurant because lounge doesn't serve breakfast?

P.S. I bet Mark is happy!

@ Ivan Y -- Ultimately I got free breakfast I booked through Luxury Privileges, and that's a benefit. As far as I know I would have otherwise chosen breakfast in place of the 500 Starpoint welcome amenity.

I am a fan of most W Hotels, international and domestic. I am glad you enjoyed your stay here.

Fun fact, the room in your SNA confirmation e-mail is a cool suite at the W Mexico City (have stayed in that room a couple times) - instantly recognizable by the unique circular bathtub!

@ UA-NYC -- Hah, didn't realize that! Will have to visit the property at some point.

>There was a massive circular screen with a mouth that kept moving.

Must be PRC's take on [i]1984[/i], Big Breather.

How did you spend the food and beverage credit?

@ stvr -- I was jetlagged and ordered dinner at about 2AM the morning before I left. Didn't spend all the credit, but put a bit of a dent in it at least.

Glad you had a good time, the hotel looks incredible, but $220 for a hotel room in Guangzhou seems a bit much, that is $440 for the 2 nights. Lord knows i have spent more, but usually in places i actually wanted to visit.

I used to value hotel benefits as well, but came to the conclusion they were not worth the incremental spend and hassle that went along with maintaining status. I guess Seth and Ric got to me.

I realize the various elite benefits are part of your site's allure, and you absolutely do the best reviews hands down, your photos and descriptions are incredible. There is a reason China Southern officials took your online review so seriously.

But I almost wish you would go back to reviewing Holiday Inns and Crown Plazas like you did when you were a teenager because in reality $220 for a hotel room is outside the budget of most travelers spending on their own dime.

With only a few people at the buffet when you went, I wonder if they have a lot of wasted food. Looks decadent!

The elevator lips are def. creepy.

If you don't select the "privacy please" button in the bath, what actually happens? 😉

Have you tried W Hong Kong? Like you I'm not a fan of W in the US, but find them to be of a far higher standard in Europe and Asia. Took a punt on W HK last year and was really pleasantly surprised. Fairly small rooms but not ridiculous by HK standards by any means - service is certainly what sets the Ws in Asia apart from the US. Also the breakfast at Kitchen at the W Hong Kong is like a bigger version of what you've pictured above - awesome. Thanks for a great report!

@ Ed -- Nope, really want to try it now, though.

I love food, thank you for review, on my list to visit.

all western branded hotels in China I've been to have awesome breakfast, including Holiday Inn. It's like the story of airlines, much better service in Europe and Asia on average.

you probably got a lot of attention because you were the only white person staying in the hotel. Guangzhou seems to have a lot of international facilities (not so much in service) but there are not that many foreigners. So they are kinda eager to test them out.

Wow, all that food and only a few people in the restaurant... what a waste.

The W Hong Kong is also amazing and has an awesome breakfast spread. So much delicious food! Which W hotel do you like the best this far?

W Doha is nice.

Both "Spice Market" for seafood and thai, and "The Market" are very good.

I've been in one of the suites and, although I prefer the new St. Regis, this one was nice too, like for 'Dinkies'

Guangzhou is one of my favorite places on this world, but I am Chinese.

But it is not so nice when you are a foreigner. They don't encounter much foreigners, so don't expect them to speak good English. The English speaking employee in Guangzhou airport are actually better speakers, as their worse speakers actually works in the domestic section.

Guangzhou is not an international city, but it's people is indeed very international, and people there is rich and loves to travel, that explains why CZ has so many international customers. And one more point why Guangzhou airport has so many traffic is because it connects to most major SE Asian destinations e.g. Delhi, Ho Chi Minh City.