W Guangzhou Hotel -- WOW!

Looks amazing!

Looks nice. Was the suite upgrade pro-active or did you have to ask? (or did you use suite nigh award?)

Glad you find it AMAH-ZING!

@ Papa Smurf -- I used an expiring Suite Night Award, which confirmed five days out.

lol I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the US W's got their funitures from Ikea. I like the W concept but the execution at least at the US properties is not up the level you would expect from a luxury hotel brand.

Plenty of toilet pictures please.

Regarding your comment about IKEA.... Sweden is essentially a giant college dorm room?

Lucky,

Most of the Ws you have stayed in are new builds. In the US, many are conversions and won't be as nice. That said I like the W brand. I don't really care about things like hotel club lounges, free breakfast and upgrades (which most travel bloggers and forum members care about the most); I do care about the quality of the restaurant/bar, decor, location, rooms, etc. In the US I find that W Hotels have lively bars/restaurants, which I think is important. Internationally, you get the sleekness of the US hotels with more standard luxury level service. I'm looking forward to my stay at the W Barcelona later this year.

@ Anthony - Get back to work before the Manager at the W reprimands you for talking up your hotel brand during work hours faffing about on the internet. :p

Yes, because the only possible explanation for a fan of the W Hotels is that he is a worker there. 😛

Lucky, what is behind that glass partition in the picture of the living room?

@ wwk5d -- Hah, oddly there was nothing behind the partition.

Looks nice! I wish more SPG hotels had lounges like Sheratons so we, at least, wouldn't have to pay $5 for a bottle of water 😉

With regards to IKEA, based on what my mom tells me, IKEA in other countries (at least, in Russia) makes much higher quality furniture. She's not a fan of IKEA sold in the US, to say the least.

@ Lucky

Hey, glad it's not a bathroom, because that would just be awkward if traveling with someone...

I have had similar experience were the staff remember me, they knew what I like and prepared bkfast for me in the morning so I could have something ready for my car ride. I once had them wake me up 1 hour early since there was a lot of fog on the roads and they knew my flight schedule and knew that I would not make it if I left on my original time, what a difference between the service at hotel and service on first class.

is it ironic that while I've heard & experienced the superiority of China airlines' hardware over us, & its soft products lacking by a lot, W Guangzhou has it done right in both regards! I wonder if the proximity of the city to Hong Kong has anything to do with it.

I love to hear when a hotel excels at service, which I think is a key differentiator for me since you can get luxury accommodations from numerous properties in most cities.

Lucky - I've only been to Asia once (China and Hong Kong), and every hotel we stayed at the staff in each practically tripped all over themselves to provide top notch service. They executed it perfectly every time (2 Hiltons and Langham Place in HK) and nothing was too much to ask. From the front desk staff to concierges to lounge staff, all were as you put it so well: AMAZING!

I am inclined to think it's more the Asian standard and feel all US employees should be counseled and trained by their Asian counterparts on how to deliver quality service. My $0.02.

Glad you experience awesomeness!

Any opinion on the W Bangkok? I have a reservation at the Royal Orchid Sheraton in May, but since you seem to like the W brand more in Asia, I might switch to the W instead.

@ Ryan -- Sadly haven't stayed there yet, though hope to during my next visit to Bangkok.

Hi Lucky,
I've found the lounge staff remembering my name, room#, seating preference, drink preference, and newspaper preference to be the norm in Asia. I've had this very experience at Conrad Tokyo, Conrad Seoul, Hilton Shanghai. Perhaps its cultural, as the only time we've had a similar experience in the West is on cruises staffed by those from the Far East. Just my admittedly limited sample size observation.

Four Points Taipei kept my mom's slippers for 6 months and returned them to her on next stay in the following year.

Hi Ben
Does the hotel provide an airport pick-up, please? I can't find anything on the hotel's website but understand that some of the top hotels in Guangzhou do have such a service.

@ J Dee -- I think they have the option for a private car service for around 700 CNY per way. I just took taxis though, which worked just fine.

@Kelly, wait until you go to Japan. If you thought service in China was good, you're going to be blown away by Japan.

If only the service industry here would provide service like that, then I might even accept the IKEA furnishings!