I visited Four Seasons Hotels to meet someone I have known by name for long time. It is the second time I actually visit the hotel. As a local residence, who can I complain for not saying in any of the good hotels in Shanghai?
Till now, I still connect relate the Four Season Hotel with the luxury hotel chain I read in newspaper and investment newsletter. To be more direct, I don’t think it looks to be a good hotel. (BTW, the other hotel that gave me the same feeling is the Le Meridien in People’s Square)
Pictures of the Four Seasons Hotel
Here are some pictures I took today outside the hotel, then I tell you why I don’t think it does not match the luxurious hotel standard.
Image in courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels
Location? Not good
The hotel is not in a good location. As you can see from Google Map, it is not in business district, and not in commercial center. It is just in the middle of a residential area. Maybe it is the modest tradition after the first Four Seasons opened in Toronto in 1961.
Too Many People Smoking
The lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel is the first five star hotel with so many people smoking. There are one table (4 persons) who all smoke right of my table, and one person smoke on the left. There were no table free of smoke…. I don’t like smoke. The waitress apologized for the unavailability of a non-smoking area.
A Late Player?
Maybe because it is a late player in the hotel industry in Shanghai. I still remember when Ritz Carlton was just a so-so brand, before people realize its service quality (or before its service quality really reach its standard). It takes time.
Also, the hotel areas like where the Hilton/Regal, Ritz Carlton, and the Hyatt are, were relatively remote and after 10 years, they became the commercial or business center. I guess it is also so for late hotels like Four Seasons.
Google Satellite Map
When do you think the municipal government of Shanghai will institute the non-smoking policy like the one being carried out in Hong Kong which is in line with world wide campaign for smoke-free environment.
>>>>When do you think the municipal government of Shanghai will institute the non-smoking policy like the one being carried out in Hong Kong which is in line with world wide campaign for smoke-free environment.
there is slim chance that this can happen in china, for one thing, tobacco distribution is government owned, so there you go!
Please be advised the smoke-free environment campaign is not an attempt to extinct smokers, but give the right to the non-smokers and the staff not to inhale the hurtful smoke which may endanger their health in a closed areas. Smokers are ordered to conduct their enjoyment in a open or private area only.
I dunno, I know several people, including my boss, who will ONLY stay in the Four Seasons when they come to Shanghai. They just think it is the best hotel in town in terms of service quality. I haven’t stayed in any of them so I can’t say myself.
Hello there,
I want to contact you via email, skype, or MSN, is it possible?
I’m applying to a scholarship to learn Chinese and I need some tips about schools or universities. Can you help me on that please?
Pedro, due to the high volumn of email I may receive (as you can imagine), I generally don’t accpet individual queries. You can post your question as comment or in my BBS, so some else in Shanghai may come and help.
yeah, will be great if Shanghai has a non-smoking area in public area like restaurant, hotel lobbies, etc. Can you imagine a pregnant lady sitting in restaurant thinking of having a good meal, and latter she found the next table in smoking like a chimney. It is so bad for the mother and the development of the unborn child.
the 3S’s of Chinese social etiquette:
Smoking
Spitting
Squatting