Shangri-La Hotel, Haikou — Hotel in Haikou City

While we had an overall poor experience here, I will start with things that we liked: the staff here was LOVELY. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful to the best of their abilities; our issue was with the management, not the front-facing service workers. The pool/garden area is beautiful--even more than the pictures show. Breakfast was also fabulous. HOWEVER: this hotel did not meet our expectations in many ways. When we arrived, we were taken to our "Sea View" room, which actually had a view of an exhibition center and a hideous parking lot. You had to physically stand with your back against the wall on the balcony to see the tiniest glimpse of the ocean. They upgraded us to a suite, but we still had to pay an upgrade price. They insisted the original room was "sea view," although it was not. There were also big stains on the couch. The next morning, we were woken up before 9:00 am by a man SCREAMING into a microphone directly outside the hotel in the garden/pool area. There was a huge teambuilding conference going on, and this man kept screaming into the microphone for three hours--completely ruining what we hoped would be a relaxing morning. It became clear to us that these conference/team-building guests were the only people who mattered to this hotel's management. For the duration of our stay, there was never anyone working at the pool bar. When we asked for someone to come, we had to wait 25 minutes for them to arrive. We were told they were not there because "the pool was not crowded." This is ridiculous. There were many bottles of liquor at the pool bar, but they would not serve any liquor drinks because 'it is not safe.' Beer was the only option. What is the point of having a pool bar? There were also no towels by the pool and no staff to ask for one. We had to use our phone to call the lobby and ask them to bring towels, which took 30 minutes. When we went down for afternoon tea, we were told "each tea set takes 30 minutes to make, and there are 11 tables in front of you." The tea area was completely not crowded, so it was clear to us that these "11 tables" were the same conference people taking away all of our other service. Upset by this, I sent a long email to Shangri-La Haikou directly through their website. Three more days went by in our stay, and I NEVER received any sort of reply from the hotel. In the message, I mentioned that it was my birthday and that this had ruined my birthday; a couple hours later, someone delivered a small birthday cake, which was a lovely touch, but this made it clear to me that the management had seen my email and had decided deliberately not to say anything to me. Absolutely despicable management. We had dinner one evening at the Ritz-Carlton about a 30-minute drive away, and the service THERE was absolutely excellent--attentive, caring, kind, present, made us feel special and that our money was well worth it. It was everything the Shangri-La was not. If you do not want to risk being completely ignored and staying somewhere that overwhelms itself with bookings it cannot handle, do yourself a favor and stay at the Ritz--NOT at Shangri-La. Not worth the money when you're being treated like a customer...

I’ve stayed in many Shangri-La hotels. This is the worst experience I have every had and I’m writing this while still staying here. The service is not 5 stars, the staff does nothing to ensure the comfort of the guests when other guest are disturbing others. In the gym they let guest come in wearing dresses and flip flops, children playing and mis-using equipment. It’s very awkward go work out while there are screaming kids, people making videos and people just sitting on equipment and not actually using it. Second is the service when pulling up in a car, no one there to greet us right when we arrived only once we were inside. Third is breakfast, the disorganization is amazing. Again no control or system in place when there isn’t enough tables. A lot of food is gone, staff struggles to keep up. Fourth, is the pool; the staff should remind guests to not spit like full on spit in the pool. I quickly got out. I don’t mind children playing but when I grown man is coughing up spit into the pool I feel disgusted and couldn’t get a work out in. Not to mention the towel the staff claimed was clean had so many stains on it. Lastly, I’m allergic to feather pillows and requested memory foam, at first they didn’t want to look and finally they brought 2 small foam pillows that are as hard as a rock, I’ve woke up in a lot of pain the last couple nights.||The only positive point was the house keeper. She gave amazing service and was helpful.||Overall, based on the location(far from anything) and service, there’s probably better hotel...

First off, all staff are so polite and welcoming! They will smile and greet you, from the moment you exit your ride to the pool area where you can go soak in the hot spring. I really enjoyed my stay here, it was extremely peaceful and quiet, I’m sure peak season might be different though. The beach across the road is lovely to sit by and the sand is clean. I enjoyed my breakfast and thanks to Ernest for helping me with check in, and allowing me to split my booking so I could get buffet dinners since I had no partner checking in with me. He was welcoming and explained everything well in English, thank you to Megan for answering my questions and updating my buffet code and Prima for the swift check out. I hope to come again here, while the hotel is a little old now they make up for in service. The housekeeping staff does a great job and cleans the basin and the room is spotless when you come back! The only complaint I have is that the tv has 1 English Channel and that switches to Japanese movies sometimes. At the buffet dinner, the manager helped me choose a hot pot of my choice, and showed me where to get everything, the second time she brought me a plate of the soup of the day, she was so kind and lovely, I didn’t catch her name but I have to say thank you to her aswell. Breakfast is delicious and there’s a variety of whatever you like. Desserts are divine!! The hotsprings are lovely in chilly February and there’s an indoor pool too. Thank you for the lovely stay and happy...