I live in Xiamen and wanted to stay at a Western hotel to watch the U.S. election as I don't have satellite. I picked this hotel over the Sheraton (see review) because they had an amazing offer of only 5,000 points for Priority Club members for each night, which I am. The room is very nice though smaller than the Sheraton room in the same category. Like the Sheraton, the Crowne Plaza has an amazing bed. Other than the size, the room/bathroom (separate shower/bathtub) is equal to the Sheraton.
The large benefit to this hotel (in the summer) is the HUGE outdoor pool. However like all pools I have found at Chinese hotels, it's closed for the winter because they don't heat the pools.
The buffet is nice, but they must be lacking a pastry chef because the desserts are of an institutional taste and look.. i.e. the kind you would find at a cheap Las Vegas buffet or hospital buffet.
As of now, this hotel is a tad cheaper than the Sheraton (which I find the best in Xiamen) and defiantly cheaper than the Sofitel.(overpriced)
The staff speak decent English and are very friendly and helpful.
For those wanting something other than Chinese, in the hotel is a Papa Johns Pizza and Hagen Daz. Across the street is a Japanese restaurant and a Burger King a block away.
Taxi drivers will have trouble finding the hotel even though it's on a major street because it's new. Make sure you have the hotel's phone number as most taxi drivers have cell phones.
We choose this hotel primarily because of my affliation as a Platinum member of the Priority Club.
It was a choice of this hotel or the Millenium, whose reviews were excellent. Taking a plunge into this new hotel was an adventure, and I was willing to risk our first stay finding out what this property had to offer.
I booked a Club Suite which promised a lot, i.e. huge room on a secure floor with a Club check-in and cocktails on the house at a certain hour. In truth, I like travelling with only the best in mind, and the Club Suite had what I wanted.
I also reserved a hotel pick-up as the complimentary airport shuttle was not within our convinient arrival slot. RMB200 for the limo service is more than the average one would pay for a cab but when coming to a new city, it pays greater dividend to have a face looking for you when you emerge from the arrival hall.
In less than 15 minutes, we pull up at the driveway of the Hotel. Its location is sandwiched amongst shopping centres. Paragon shopping mall is still, as I write, under construction just where the lobby ends. It would be great when it is completed.
The check in was from the main lobby. I felt that since the hotel had already notice of our arrival when we were greeted by their staff, it would have made more sense if we were ushered straight up to the 16th floor for the usual check-in, registration, deng deng (etc...).
The rooms were plush, to say the least, but because it was a new hotel (whose ribbons were officially cut in September), the presence of turpentine in the air was somewhat challenging.
But we had no qualms as Suites being Suites, always have the extra space to put our dismay in one little corner and focus on the positives it has - nice bathroom tiles, good combo showers - conventional and rain, nice toileteries, deng deng.
On the Club floor, we had the option of having a buffet spread on the 16th floor, or on the main cafeteria. Naturally, the spread in the main cafeteria offers a more sumptous fair.
The concierge is very helpful. I had a purpose in Xiamen - to get to a bookstore and grab a copy of Bill Brown's Amoy Magic (an absolute must for any novice traveller to Xiamen). I spent one afternoon searching for this holy grail but without success. When I told the helpful Club staff, they said they will do what they can. Within an hour, I was presented 6 copies of Bill Brown's books written on Xiamen, Fujian, Xia Da, deng deng. Naturally, I was impressed.
Location wise, it is not as near as one would like to attractions like the Taiwan Straits' Golden Gate, the Gulangyu Is., Nanpatou, but it is nearer to SM (a huge shopping mall with its prized foodcourt on the lower ground floor - give the 5th floor a miss if you can), and a large bookstore.
Funny how taxis always charged us more going from the hotel (always over RMB20) whereas coming back was less than RMB12.
I would also recommend the Chinese Restaurant on the 4th floor - easily confused with the Asian cafe. They have excellent cuisine not usually written on the Menu. Borris would be able to tell you more and his recommendations are never a let down. Our little daughter looks forward to the friendly team of staff at this restaurant, especially Tina, who greets us when we arrive and leave.
Being a new hotel, it is not helpful to hand the "Please take me to this hotel ...." card as most of them do not know this property. Would be helpful if you asked the concierge to explain in Mandarin the local name of this hotel and what lies opposite the property .... i.e. Pan Qi Huang Kwan Qia Re, tue mien (opposite) Lu Shan (hotel). This worked all the time.
All in all, we will return to this property, and our hope is by then the scent of turpentine would have dissipated.
This hotel just opened a few months ago and still looks brand new. It qualifies as a very good Crowne Plaza. My room was very nice and the bed extremely comfortable. The hotel is well situated in the center of the city but you are not walking distance to Gulangyu if this is what you want. You are one block away from what seems to be a very active bar district if you are into that.
The breakfast buffet was very good and (as the rest of the hotel) not very busy. The cook making eggs spoke no english but the restaurant manager told him what I wanted. When I returned the next day the manager remebered me and asked if I would take scrambled eggs again. You can get this kind of personalized service when a hotel is not busy I suppose.
I was asked more than one time by a hotel employee if I had recommendation. I guess they are still trying to iron out the kinks but everything was fine for me. Certainly a very good hotel and comparable to the Sheraton where I stayed before.
地址： No.199 Jiahe Road
点评
I live in Xiamen and wanted to stay at a Western hotel to watch the U.S. election as I don't have satellite. I picked this hotel over the Sheraton (see review) because they had an amazing offer of only 5,000 points for Priority Club members for each night, which I am. The room is very nice though smaller than the Sheraton room in the same category. Like the Sheraton, the Crowne Plaza has an amazing bed. Other than the size, the room/bathroom (separate shower/bathtub) is equal to the Sheraton.
The large benefit to this hotel (in the summer) is the HUGE outdoor pool. However like all pools I have found at Chinese hotels, it's closed for the winter because they don't heat the pools.
The buffet is nice, but they must be lacking a pastry chef because the desserts are of an institutional taste and look.. i.e. the kind you would find at a cheap Las Vegas buffet or hospital buffet.
As of now, this hotel is a tad cheaper than the Sheraton (which I find the best in Xiamen) and defiantly cheaper than the Sofitel.(overpriced)
The staff speak decent English and are very friendly and helpful.
For those wanting something other than Chinese, in the hotel is a Papa Johns Pizza and Hagen Daz. Across the street is a Japanese restaurant and a Burger King a block away.
Taxi drivers will have trouble finding the hotel even though it's on a major street because it's new. Make sure you have the hotel's phone number as most taxi drivers have cell phones.
We choose this hotel primarily because of my affliation as a Platinum member of the Priority Club.
It was a choice of this hotel or the Millenium, whose reviews were excellent. Taking a plunge into this new hotel was an adventure, and I was willing to risk our first stay finding out what this property had to offer.
I booked a Club Suite which promised a lot, i.e. huge room on a secure floor with a Club check-in and cocktails on the house at a certain hour. In truth, I like travelling with only the best in mind, and the Club Suite had what I wanted.
I also reserved a hotel pick-up as the complimentary airport shuttle was not within our convinient arrival slot. RMB200 for the limo service is more than the average one would pay for a cab but when coming to a new city, it pays greater dividend to have a face looking for you when you emerge from the arrival hall.
In less than 15 minutes, we pull up at the driveway of the Hotel. Its location is sandwiched amongst shopping centres. Paragon shopping mall is still, as I write, under construction just where the lobby ends. It would be great when it is completed.
The check in was from the main lobby. I felt that since the hotel had already notice of our arrival when we were greeted by their staff, it would have made more sense if we were ushered straight up to the 16th floor for the usual check-in, registration, deng deng (etc...).
The rooms were plush, to say the least, but because it was a new hotel (whose ribbons were officially cut in September), the presence of turpentine in the air was somewhat challenging.
But we had no qualms as Suites being Suites, always have the extra space to put our dismay in one little corner and focus on the positives it has - nice bathroom tiles, good combo showers - conventional and rain, nice toileteries, deng deng.
On the Club floor, we had the option of having a buffet spread on the 16th floor, or on the main cafeteria. Naturally, the spread in the main cafeteria offers a more sumptous fair.
The concierge is very helpful. I had a purpose in Xiamen - to get to a bookstore and grab a copy of Bill Brown's Amoy Magic (an absolute must for any novice traveller to Xiamen). I spent one afternoon searching for this holy grail but without success. When I told the helpful Club staff, they said they will do what they can. Within an hour, I was presented 6 copies of Bill Brown's books written on Xiamen, Fujian, Xia Da, deng deng. Naturally, I was impressed.
Location wise, it is not as near as one would like to attractions like the Taiwan Straits' Golden Gate, the Gulangyu Is., Nanpatou, but it is nearer to SM (a huge shopping mall with its prized foodcourt on the lower ground floor - give the 5th floor a miss if you can), and a large bookstore.
Funny how taxis always charged us more going from the hotel (always over RMB20) whereas coming back was less than RMB12.
I would also recommend the Chinese Restaurant on the 4th floor - easily confused with the Asian cafe. They have excellent cuisine not usually written on the Menu. Borris would be able to tell you more and his recommendations are never a let down. Our little daughter looks forward to the friendly team of staff at this restaurant, especially Tina, who greets us when we arrive and leave.
Being a new hotel, it is not helpful to hand the "Please take me to this hotel ...." card as most of them do not know this property. Would be helpful if you asked the concierge to explain in Mandarin the local name of this hotel and what lies opposite the property .... i.e. Pan Qi Huang Kwan Qia Re, tue mien (opposite) Lu Shan (hotel). This worked all the time.
All in all, we will return to this property, and our hope is by then the scent of turpentine would have dissipated.
This hotel just opened a few months ago and still looks brand new. It qualifies as a very good Crowne Plaza. My room was very nice and the bed extremely comfortable. The hotel is well situated in the center of the city but you are not walking distance to Gulangyu if this is what you want. You are one block away from what seems to be a very active bar district if you are into that.
The breakfast buffet was very good and (as the rest of the hotel) not very busy. The cook making eggs spoke no english but the restaurant manager told him what I wanted. When I returned the next day the manager remebered me and asked if I would take scrambled eggs again. You can get this kind of personalized service when a hotel is not busy I suppose.
I was asked more than one time by a hotel employee if I had recommendation. I guess they are still trying to iron out the kinks but everything was fine for me. Certainly a very good hotel and comparable to the Sheraton where I stayed before.