JW Marriott Hotel Qufu — Hotel in Jining

Wanted to go to QuFu and the near by Tai mountain and Jinan. Very happy to see that there is a JW Marriott in QuFu. Was not able to book for the Saturday night and waited on the waitlist and got to stay one extra night on the Saturday, very happy on the way the hotel handled the wait list situation.||||Very beautiful hotel, some rooms have a small backyard. When on Zoom call, ppl said they can tell how beautiful it is. Very reasonable price for the weekdays. ||||Super location, next to the Confusious temple and mansion, all very walkable. When I was there it was not crowded, also can take a bus to the Confusious forest, very easy. The three must do in QuFu. One hour drive to the Tai mountain and less than 2 hours drive to Jinan. ||||Front desk J XU is helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. The exe lounge is not opened and the hotel bar is used for the exe lounge. The server woman is not friendly and helpful, you have to ask for the glasses and I heard someone asked for a spoon and was told that they do not provide it. The woman did not seem to want to be there. Never greet the guests...||||Marriott cafe is good, the food is good and the hosts are very nice and explained the service and food well. She remembers your drinks. ||||Both places the white wine is room temperature, this is what I mean by needs some international service training is needed.||||Check out was slow because while there were 3 ppl at the front desk and they used the new employee L Wang, to help to check out and without helping her. Ms Wang is new and not able to find the lodging record and started to argue with me and wanted me to proof that I stayed there (??). She also did not present the detail final bill and asked for a rounded amount instead of the exact amount due for the settlement of the bill. When I pointed it out, Ms Wang tried to explain to me why she did that, which made no sense. All these tells me that LACK OF TRAINING in both procedures and attitude. All good impression by the hotel was reduced by the check out personnel. I did send the hotel a msg to want to share this feedback but did not get a reply.||||I would have given a five for this, it is reduced to a four or maybe it should be a 3, wasted a good beautiful hotel and location.||||Can still go but look thru your bill and ask...

Effectively I need to review this hotel vs. two different standards:||- For Qufu itself....it's an amazing location right across from the temple complex, a good enough hotel (think there is also a Shangri-la but slightly older and not as close)....so maybe a good bet? and price was quite reasonable. ||- Globally as a JW Marriott property - huh? What makes this a JW, a tier above a standard Marriott/Sheraton/Westin etc? I get it's not as generic as your average 2nd/3rd tier city Sheraton, but the actual service, room quality, breakfast, etc...nothing more. It doesn't match the level of experience I've had at JWs in other major centers, and think from Marriott's perspective they are really devaluing the brand. ||||Some other comments:||- Having lived in China for many years I get construction standards are different...but between construction and cleaning the blemishes, dust, etc accumulating across the bathroom and the room as a whole just concerning. Do I really want to see an obvious blemish/discoloration on the wall next to the toliet? For the area next to the bathroom tub to be off color? Should the 2-3 year wood table be that knicked up? A true luxury hotel would better maintain the facility to give the guest a flawless experience. ||- The property lacks a lounge, and overall Platinum/Titanium member treatment seemed somewhat lackluster. At checkin, instead of thanking me for my loyalty, the associate thrust the check-in amenity card at me and emphasized that a resort the options are more limited? (is that a policy? I don't even know). We were upgraded to a courtyard room, but that didn't exactly have much value in the winter, and was located on what seemed like a corridor from the service facilities so hotel associates were often pushing past service carts etc.||- Breakfast selection was quite sizeable, but the overall quality seemed pretty lackluster. Coffee, bread western options available but bread didn't seem fresh. Chinese options often lukewarm and not particularly flavorful. Hotel did seem to have a lot of business...

Stayed 1x night with girlfriend and her parents. All of us were disappointed with the experience — especially the F&B which is no where near JW Marriot standard. ||||PROS:||1) Beautiful hotel grounds, clean rooms, comfy bed||2) Walking distance to Confucius tourist sites||||CONS:||1) In-room dining and lunch menu at JW Marriot have been reduced to only a handful of choices. We asked why the full menu wasn't available and the server responded "because of the pandemic". ||||The pandemic in China has been under control for more than 12 months and I haven't heard this kind of response from any other international hotel in China. Menu should be adjusted or amended instead of making excuses. ||||2) Dinner at Residence was a joke. Upon arrival, you will be suggested to purchase the 'set menu'. Why? Because these dishes are pre-cooked and ready to be served. ||We ordered the set menu and the first two dishes arrived cold and were not fresh. Not once during the entire meal did anyone come to take a drink order, proactively fill water, ect. One table started smoking and the staff ignored him. We complained to the F&B manager who did not offer anything. With that said, he did show up during breakfast the next day to offer his apologies, but still, you expect better from a JW, not only in terms of service & quality, but also how these issues are resolved. ||||3) Suggest that you have guests wear masks during the breakfast buffet as other 5 star hotels in China demand. Guests were coughing into the food buffet. Absolutely gross.||||OVERALL:||Hotel has massive potential due to the grounds and location. However, bad service and F&B will prevent hotel from being a true destination hotel. ||||SUGGESTION FOR FUTURE GUESTS:||1) Do a day trip from Jinan to see the Confucius sights||2) Stay at the Shangri-La if you want better food and...