Sofitel Hangzhou Westlake — Hotel in Hangzhou City

Every time I returned to Hangzhou, I would stay at this hotel. ||What I love about this hotel:|1. I could use my Accor Plus Suite Upgrade benefit here. |When I requalify for Platinum membership every year, I receive 4 nights of complimentary suite upgrade. Not all hotels participate in Accor Live Limitless suite upgrade program. When deciding on which hotel to use my suite upgrade benefit, I compare the costs of booking 2 standard rooms versus upgrading to a suite room and pay for an extra bed. For most hotels, the cost of upgrading to a suite and request for an extra bed is more than booking 2 standard rooms. For Sofitel Hangzhou Westlake, the suite with extra bed costs less than 2 standard rooms. It's a no brainer to use the suite upgrade benefit here, right? This is the 4th or 5th time I stay at Sofitel Hangzhou Westlake. Two or three times before Covid-19, and twice after Covid-19.|2. The location is right by the Westlake!|3. The breakfast buffet is superb, the best I have ever experienced in China! It is sumptuous and has a wide variety of food and drinks.|4. The concierge service helped to receive my online purchase on Taobao, and kept it for me until I checked in. ||What I don't like about this hotel:|1. It's a bit dated and old. It looks exactly the same, with no renovation work, throughout the 4 or 5 times I stayed there, during the past decade.|2. The online reservation system does not accept foreign credit cards. I have to manually scan my credit card and email them the image file. The reservation team did advise me that I did not need to make advance payment. But I prefer to make an advance payment to secure my booking. |3. I spotted the chef transporting porridge from kitchen to the breakfast buffet spread in plastic jugs! So many scientific studies have revealed the danger of eating food and drinking drinks stored in plastic containers. Plastic is out, glass and stainless steel are in. It's scary to see how the chef put hot boiling porridge into a plastic jug and pour it out for diners to consume. Has he considered about the danger he was posing to diners as micro- and nano-plastics leach from the plastic jug into the porridge?|4. I have never stayed in a hotel in China which provides bottled drinking water in glass bottles. This issue is not just an issue for Sofitel Westlake, but for the whole country. In Indonesia where I am from, 4- and 5-star hotels provide drinking water in glass bottles, because of the danger of micro- and nano-plastic from plastic bottles to human health. These particles may cause cancers and many other chronic illnesses. China is such a big and rich country compared to Indonesia. But why haven't I come across glass bottled drinking water in China? Educated people don't drink from plastic bottles anymore today. I hope 5-star hotels like Sofitel take the issue of health more seriously.||What water did we drink then, since all bottled water in China are packaged in plastic bottles? Well, I bought a waster distiller for less than RMB 400 on Taobao, have it delivered to the hotel, and make distilled water! ||I would like to shout out a few names who made our stay memorable and enjoyable:|1. Natasha Zhou and Icey Yao from the reservation department. I have been communicating with Natasha most of the time, even during the previous stay last year. Natasha has been a great help all this while.|2. Eric, Tina and Candy from the reception. Eric checked us in. During my previous 4 stays, none of the receptionist informed me that I could get a great view of the Westlake on 6th floor. Eric was the first person to tell me about 6th floor! Tina and Candy were gracious enough to help fund my sister's WeChat account. Without their help, my sister would have to use cash instead of WeChat. It's so much more convenient to use WeChat and Alipay to make payment instead of cash. But if you have cash, you need someone to take your cash and transfer his own money from his WeChat to your WeChat. Not many people are willing to help. But Tina and Candy were! |3. Tim and Anthony from the concierge. I remember them from last year. They are helpful as always.|4. Shifu Feng and Zhang, the chauffeurs whose service we engaged during our stay. We knew Shifu Feng from last year. When he bumped into us at the entrance, he greeted us.|5. Last, but not least, William from the executive lounge. He has bubbly personality, warm and friendly. When my sister and I went to the lounge at sunset, he pointed to the sun and asked us to quickly take some photos before the sun disappeared. It was indeed a lovely scene! When we saw William at the bar on the 1st floor again, he helped us take numerous photos. All the photos turned out great! I suspect William is a professional photographer.||Overall, my mother, sister and I were very happy. I even made a video of the hotel facilities throughout our stay and posted the video on my WeChat channel, Linkedin account and soon will also post it on my newly created travel...

I would like to review 4 aspects of Sofitel Hangzhou Westlake.

Location: excellent, as it is located just across the street from Westlake and Xihu Tiandi where a lot of restaurants and bars are located, as well as 10–15-minute walk away from Hubin Pedestrian Street, where there are plenty of malls and shops. If you’re too lazy to walk, Hubin Pedestrian Street is just one metro stop away. One may also catch the sightseeing trams at Xihu Tiandi, which roam around Westlake during day time for a fee which starts from CNY 10 per person, depending on where you would like to alight.

Hotel facilities: the furniture and fixture are dated, as this is a pretty old hotel, but they are very well-maintained. Housekeeping staff also did a good job providing daily services. The hotel has 2 in-house restaurants, a bar, gym, indoor swimming pool and executive lounge.

Services: excellent services by the following individuals whom I would like to highly commend. Natasha Zhou and Hathaway Jiang of the reservation team. Both Natasha and Hathaway communicated with me in impeccable English in the initial email communications I had with them before deciding on Sofitel for my stay in Hangzhou. They answered all my queries in timely manner. When I failed to book a room because there was a hiccup with the hotel reservation system which declined foreign credit cards, Natasha and Hathaway assisted me in making a reservation for a junior suite manually, without even asking for a credit card guarantee. On top of that, as I could not redeem my suite night entitlements because of the booking system failure, they provided me a suite upgrade anyway, without even requiring me to redeem my suite night entitlements. This freed up 3 suite night upgrades which I could use at other Accor’s properties. Candy of front desk. Candy was quick and effective in her work, as well as polite and friendly. She was the one who checked us in and out. Alyssa of front desk. Despite not being directly involved with both our check-in and check-out process, Alyssa caught my attention when I checked-in, because she was throwing her sweet smiles at everyone, including myself. The second time I noticed her was during the last evening of our stay, when she stood with Anthony, whom I will mention next, in the lobby near the entrance, smiling at guests and greeting them. The management should hire more such bubbly personalities like Alyssa. Anthony of concierge. Anthony stood out from the rest of the concierge team, as he took pro-active initiatives to ask guests what he could do for them. Anthony appeared knowledgeable and knew his stuffs (everything about Hangzhou) well. He also arranged a private car and chauffeur to drive my mother, my sister and me around Hangzhou. Tim, who became our private chauffeur for 2 consecutive days. Tim was as knowledgeable as Anthony. We planned out sightseeing itineraries based on his recommendations. Tim was friendly, yet respectful.

Dining: both Kwee Zeen, an all-day Western restaurant where buffet breakfast is served and Yong Jin Ge, a Chinese restaurant, provided savory meals. The wide selection of the breakfast buffet spread is sumptuous. Yong Jin Ge serves one of the best signature dishes of Hangzhou, the vinegar fish. Vinegar fish is usually prepared with fresh water fish, which usually have lots of fine, forked bones, plenty of them! However, Yong Jin Ge’s chefs prepare the dish with fish with so much less bones compared to the ones served at other restaurants. We dined at Yong Jin Ge twice just for the vinegar fish!

Character...

I had an excellent stay. It is not my first stay at Westlake Sofitel and I can confidently say it, as always, made me feel at home in Hangzhou. The location is unbeatable. Whether you are an early riser looking to catch a sunrise or prefer an evening stroll by the lake, the convenience is unparalleled. The hotel is a perfect blend of modern luxury and classic Chinese aesthetics. My room was spacious, immaculately clean and had a supremely comfortable bed. Dining at Kwee Zeen was another highlight. The breakfast buffet is excellent. The evening buffet is a feast for the senses. Robin and his team at the restaurant are really doing a great job! In general what really sets this hotel apart is the outstanding staff. Every team member went above and beyond to make my stay super comfortable. It was great to see some employees whom I remembered from many years back being promoted which tells me that the hotel cares about keeping and developing the team and it in turn translates to the team caring about the guests. Special thanks to Robin and Tim at the door - as always welcoming and efficient. A trainee Kevin was also super helpful. Eric at the front desk did his outmost best. Happy to see Nancy promoted - well deserved and as always excellent service from her as well as Allan and Sandy at the restaurant. And Big Thanks to Robin the chef for always being ready to respond to special culinary requests. The property also boasts excellent lounge with a tranquil terrace area that felt like an oasis of calm amidst the bustling city. Overall, my stay at the Hangzhou Westlake Sofitel Hotel was nothing short of extraordinary. It is the perfect choice for anyone looking to experience luxury, comfort, and exceptional value for money in Hangzhou. I can’t wait to return on my next visit to this...