Hilton need to get a grip of this one.... The inconsistencies are astounding. Being loyal Hilton customers, we chose this hotel When on a business trip and were sorely disappointed by the hotel.
First impressions were good, friendly concierge, timely check in and a lovely room on an executive floor. The cracks started to appear rapidly after this.
The wifi in the room wasn't working which was frustrating as we were trying to receive emails regarding a meeting. Little did we know, this was nowhere near as frustrating as getting it fixed.
We went to a meeting soon after arriving so reported the wifi issue. We returned 10 hours later and it wasn't fixed.
We went for a beer in the hotel bar... But after being ignored for 15 minutes by the waiting staff, we got up and left. Probably a good thing as they wanted £8 a pint plus tip. I'm a businessman, not an idiot. We retired to a bottle beer in the room from the minibar (£1.40 and authentic Chinese beer) far more pleasurable wind down with the view from the room.
Next morning we woke up an called reception about the wifi again and they told us it was working (obviously not as we were sat in the room). They sent someone while we were at breakfast. We returned... Still not working. Hugely annoying when you have back to back meetings. I physically went to reception to complain, they sent somebody to the room again.. Long story short, after being held hostage for two hours by the IT guy, he told us the wifi was not configured for the worlds most popular equipment.. Apple.
We weren't allowed a drink during that time as we had no coffee for the Nespresso coffee machine as they hasn't stocked it before check in. So far, two perks of the exec rooms useless to us. After finally being able to access the world at our fingertips... We went about our business.
Upon our return we decided to have a beer from our minibar whilst freshening up. No joy there as they hadn't restocked it. They hadn't given us any coffee either. Called reception and told it was on the way. We waited and waited, but nothing, so we went to the exec lounge.
It was nice, the canapés were decent and as long as you didn't want your table clearing after, or want more than one drink... You're fine.
Next our adventure to the hotel bar... Where we were ignored again for 10 minutes, then we moved to sit at the bar hoping to be served, 10 minutes later... We were!
The place was dead, no excuse for it.
We then went for dinner, the Asian restaurant was useless, they didn't speak English and had no vegetarian meals on the menu for my wife. Next restaurant we chose was the buffet restaurant but we were forced to order off the menu as the buffet was only open another half hour. I received a plate full of chillies with 3 prawns with a small bowl of cold boiled rice. What a joke. My wife's meal, a bigger joke.
Return to the room, still no minibar or coffee. Attend reception and make the request for the third time. 15 minutes later, sachets of decaf coffee arrive with two warm bottles of beer. Nice!
The next day the nonsense continued much the same until checkout the next day and nobody from the hotel had a word to say about it. One member of staff who spoke English as a first language was visibly embarrassed upon giving constructive feedback.
On the plus side, the Italian restaurant was very good, expensive, much like the rest of the hotel but the Italian food cannot be faulted, the chef was clearly an expert and the manager of the restaurant was impeccable. In my opinion the hotel would be better off in his hands.
The hotel was clean and the decor is great, the breakfast is very good also, however, these high standards need to be applied across the whole hotel. Also you should not be expected to shell out the same money for a nights stay for every meal or round of drinks. Especially when local authentic restaurants serve a litre of beer for 90p.
This hotel needs to be Hiltonised again from scratch and the marks reflect an honest review from a grounded non snooty pair of guests.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
January 10, 2013
Dear Honored Guest,
Greetings from Hilton Guangzhou Tianhe.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced in respect to all the issues you met in our hotel.
As a Hilton property, we feel very sorry that we failed to meet your expectation on our service and facilities. We already held all department heads meeting to review your comments in details and asked all relevant departments took action on improving our service quality.
During your first 2 days stay in July 2012, we met technical issue on our WIFI connection and we only fixed it 1 day later. At present, hotel already upgraded WIFI system with steady and high speed connection. We also conducted monthly team member training to enhance knowledge and service skills. We promise that your unpleasant experience at our Bar One will not happen again for any guest.
Regarding to Vegetarian Menu in outlet, we will let our chef work on it and provide more selection for various guests.
We look forward to welcoming you again.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.