Lhasa Ruiji Holiday Hotel — Hotel in Lhasa

I spent one night with 3 friends in August 2016 as I were attracted by a photo ad when it was firstly opened a few years ago. I think this is still one of the most luxury hotel in Lhasa but I was quite disappointed in my overall experience.

We were assigned two rooms in the main building at the beginning with room keys handed in, however, the receptionist later withdrew one room as there was an extra bed setup meant for another guest in one of the rooms. Since we preferred to have 2 rooms close to each other, we were assigned to another two rooms in another building which is a low-rise but we have to travel there via the golf car.

After we settled in the room, a housekeeping staff rang the bell and came in to place the missing bath robes with his wet shoes stepped into our bathroom as it was raining outside.

We later called the butler service to get the golf car to the Chinese restaurant in another building. After a very very long rang, someone picked up the phone but he asked me to just walk to the restaurant directly as he mentioned it was very near... but it was raining outside, and there's no orientation on the resort, there's no resort map and no umbrella in the room... then he finally agreed to send us a golf car.

While we were waiting the car, a housekeeping staff was very kind to run in and out to bring us an umbrella. However, after waiting for about 10 minutes, we didn't see the golf car coming so we decided to take an adventure to explore the resort and walked in the rain and under the dark to the Chinese restaurant.

We found the staff services level was not consistent in the restaurant and they were not very well coordinated, for example, one of our towel trays was taken away after we sat down without any reason. One of the service staff from Beijing was very attentive and gave us good recommendation on the dishes. Overall, food quality was very satisfying and we came back again two days later even we didn't stay there.

We went back to the room after the dinner, but I found there was a very bad smell came from the toilet so I called the butler to get someone to look into it. Again, another housekeeping staff stepped into our room with his wet shoes and tried to spray some cleansing detergents around the toilet area but still didn't help to get rid of the smell . Eventually, we have to change our room back to the main building while my two other friends were still staying in the low-rise building.

Breakfast quality are okay but the layout was a bit messy probably caused by the guests and you can found a lot of food and water on the floor near the serving area without immediate attention.

I intended to use the indoor pool in the morning but unfortunately it was only opened from 1:30 pm. I was given the reason Lhasa was in different time zone (? but I think the whole China is in one time-zone ?) as they got later sunrise & sunset so the pool is only operated from 1:30 pm to 10:00 pm (BTW, the hotel website still states the opening hours is from 11:00 am to 11:30 pm). To me is quite disappointing as I plan to swim in the highest city of the world but can't make it!

Concierge and check out experience are generally satisfying.

I am still not convinced I will come back again if I visit Lhasa next time except for the...

We stayed at the St. Regis twice during August and September and had a wonderful experience both times.||The hotel is absolutely beautiful in terms of architecture. The staff are very professional and friendly right from the front lobby through to the reception staff who welcomed us when we arrived, looked after our luggage, and made checking out a breeze. The hotel also held our luggage between stays so that we didn't have to carry it with us on our trip to Everest Base Camp which gave us extra peace of mind.||The rooms were wonderful in terms of being very large and spacious, spotlessly clean, tastefully designed, with a very large and comfortable bed, excellent shower pressure, with full bathroom amenities supplied, very comfortable slippers, plenty of bottles of purified water, and even an oxygen machine in case you were suffering from altitude sickness. We also had a complimetary fruit platter delivered to our room where the fruits were very fresh and sweet.||The breakfast buffet at the restaurant Social was wonderful. In addition to the buffet that featured both western and Asian breakfast options, you could also order ala carte breakfast choices that were freshly made to order and were delicious such as the freshly made chinese doughnuts with soy milk, smoked salmon eggs benedict, smoked salmon and avocado toast and some smoothies. The restaurant staff were very friendly, attentive and helpful but I would like to call out Ruth in particular. Ruth would greet us every morning during both of our stays, attend to us personally and really made us feel special. Her customer service skills are exceptional. ||We also had dinner at the restaurant and Ruth was also there and looked after us once again. Noting that at dinner we had two very delicious pasta dishes and I ticked off a bucket list item as the restaurant was featuring a yak rib burger which was soooo delicious with the meat being so tender and flavoursome. So thank you to the restaurant staff and Ruth in particular for looking after us so well. You really are an asset to the Marriott group and should be recognised for your excellent service.||We also enjoyed a few drinks and snacks with friends in the Tubo Bar during the night time which overlooks the wonderful St. Regis garden landscape, Lhasa city and the Potala Palace in the distance which is really mesmerising. The drinks are very reasonably priced and I also enjoyed yak ice cream which was also very delicious.||The resort also puts on a Fire Show with champagne on Friday evenings where the staff perform traditional Tibetan dances and songs and a fire ceremony and serve Champagne to the hotel guests. This was also a wonderful experience worth participating in if you are staying at the hotel on a Friday.||Overall, we had a memorable experience at St.Regis and it would be out absolute number 1 choice if we visit Lhasa in the future.||Thank you to the St.Regis Team and to Ruth for being one of our highlights of...

From the moment we stepped into the hotel, we were awed! The St Regis Lhasa Resort is certainly fit for royalty. From the regal red pillars to the artefacts and rich furnishing, we knew we would thoroughly enjoy our stay here. This was particularly important as we had been delayed a day in getting here because Air China cancelled our flight in. Our grande deluxe room, which they chose to call a junior suite, was huge by any standards. We especially loved the wood and earth tones, as well as the Tibetan motifs, that complement the local landscape and architecture! We felt immersed in the local culture, and privileged to be here. A few members of the staff speak fluent, competent English, while a few others manage a mere smattering. Most, though, did not know anything more than rudimentary greetings. This would lead to some reviewers to suggest that the staff are sometimes cold and aloof; they avoid being overly friendly to guests because of their lack of linguistic confidence. Be upfront and ask politely for an English-speaking associate and one will be sent your way at once. Generally, we found the Tibetans to be a very warm and friendly people. We would like to commend the following staff for their exemplary service: our butler Simon, Reggae from Social, and Stanley from Front Desk, all 3 of of whom spoke very good English. But we were most impressed by and grateful to Amanda, from Front Desk, who so kindly assisted us with our flight changes on our departure day. Air China had again messed up our plans by delaying our outbound flight by almost 3 hours, so we got Amanda to see if she could call the airline and have them put us on the earlier flight instead. Amanda immediately called the airline, as well as our travel agent to bring forward our pre-booked transport arrangement to Gonggar Airport. There was less than 3 hours to flight time and we were an hour away from the airport, and she suggested we went back to our room to pack while she continued to make the necessary arrangements. By the time we were on our way to the airport, she even called our driver to inform us about the changes that had been confirmed and the changes that were pending until we got to the counter. Amanda is a proactive and effective member of the staff, and we are so very thankful for her kind assistance! Oh, and by the way, she spoke excellent English. Thank you, Amanda! Well done, St Regis Lhasa! We look forward to enjoying your warm...