Crowne Plaza Shenzhen Longgang City Centre — Hotel in Shenzhen

Sadly, the noise that comes from the outside environment at times is frustrating and it is not helped by the extremely annoying clatter given out by the speed bumps that are located outside the front of the hotel. Each time a vehicle drives over them (even at very low speed) they make a very irritating sound which wakes me fairly regularly. I’m sure the hotel could very easily rectify the issue with the speed bumps which would make every guest’s stay in the hotel more memorable.

Whilst in the Melody café restaurant on the evening of 20th January I served myself what were labelled as “fish pellets”. However, when I cut one open, I was appalled to see there was meat inside. I say I was sickened because I’m a pescatarian and I have not eaten meat for 36 years. I have enclosed photos.

Whilst in the Melody café restaurant on the evening of 22nd January I sat at a table and after 5 minutes I was told to move even though it had no reserve ticket on the table. Normally, this would not be a problem but there were no other available tables in the restaurant. Therefore, I had no alternative but to leave.

Thankfully, the buffet breakfast in the Melody café is excellent. The choice is superb and I especially enjoy the salmon and mackerel. It’s a little shame that the baked beans are normally only lukewarm because by the time you start to eat them, they are rather cold.

Unfortunately, during this visit there have been numerous other instances when the service has been pretty terrible. For example:

I waited one hour in the Fortuna restaurant on 23rd January after I had ordered the turbot fish dish but it never arrived and I had to leave due to business commitments. It would have been polite if a member of staff had come over to me to explain why the turbot dish was delayed.

The experience in the fantastic swimming pool was let down by one member of staff whose attitude towards me was very rude when referring to the type of swimming shorts I should wear. I explained the shorts were classed as swimming shorts but he insisted I did not wear them.

The internet connection in my room was very sporadic and in some of the various restaurants virtually non-existent. With today’s technology, this should not be acceptable in a 4 or 5 star graded hotel.

Fortunately, the shower and bed in my room are always amazing, the air-conditioning is very efficient, the cleaning and reception staff do a good job, “Hangzhou Mingqian Longjing” green tea in the Fortuna restaurant is the best green tea I have ever tasted and special thanks needs to be given to the gentleman who helps manage the various restaurants in the lobby area and has the English name “Maple”. He is a wonderful, helpful and happy guy who is willing to do that bit extra to make you feel really welcome and comfortable. In particular, he does a great job in the newly re-furbished MOS bar which is a welcome addition to the hotel’s facilities and the staff in the MOS do a good job.

Also, and probably the thing that gives me more joy than anything at the hotel, is the wonderful greeting and smile the beautiful Carrie Feng provides every time she greets me and all other guests. She is a super and valuable member of the hotel staff.

I have stayed in the Crowne Plaza dozens of nights on numerous occasions but I’m now finding it not an hotel to recommend to work colleagues or friends mainly due to the noise and poor experiences in the Melody café restaurant. In my opinion, it certainly does not currently deserve its...

From my reviews, you can tell that I have been to many places. I have to say that this Crowne Plaza is by far one of the best hotels in terms of elite treatment and food and beverage quality.

I stayed in this lovely hotel for six nights using IHG's Pointsbreak promotion. Upon arrival, I paid a small surcharge for the Club floor benefits and was upgraded to a suite as the hotel was very busy. I can tell you that the Club benefits is well worth the money. I had breakfast and happy hours daily with plenty of choices. Although I felt the laundry benefit is better to include dry cleaning items too but that is a minor problem.

The suite is very well decorated. I especially like the roomy walk-in wardrobe and the marble flooring. I did not like the bathtub very much as I think it was very difficult to relax in the bathtub. But the bed is lovely and my sleep has been great throughout the six nights.

The hotel has a great offer for IHG Dining Rewards too. I enrolled myself into the Dining Rewards on property and enjoyed the food and beverage outlets immensely. I tried the Café 2011, the Chinese restaurant Fortuna and the Japanese Restaurant Sakura while I was in house. The seafood buffet during weekend in Café 2011 is plenty and the seafood was fresh. I liked the authentic Chinese restaurant too. Lots of good food there to be discovered. Although located in Shenzhen, the Chinese restaurant here offers a variety of Scechuan and Hunan food, which is a must for the foodies. I can not tell you how much I enjoyed it. The Japanese restaurant is good too, you see native Japanese business man around and you know it is good. Although I would suggest the hotel to introduce more set menu in the Japanese restaurant. The current offering is less satisfying from my point of view.

Among all the restaurants, I highly recommend the Café 2011. The buffet is wonderful here. During breakfasts, they have an amazing Chinese section, I end up having Chinese breakfasts everyday. They actually change the food items in that section almost daily. I also had lots of friendly waiters and waitresses during my stay. On the last morning, the chef in the noodle station recognized me as a long stay guest and made me feeling very welcomed.

I will certainly return next year.

Location wise, this hotel is in the suburbs of Shenzhen. You may wish to stay a little bit closer if you are short of time. However, this hotel offers scheduled bus and shared limousine bus service to Hong Kong and Hong Kong Airport. If you have a Chinese visa, it is very handy to be a place to stay while transiting Hong Kong for over two nights or so. I highly recommend this hotel...

I have stayed in more than 100 different hotels under the IHG over the past 10 years, never a hotel can make me feel this bad. Even a hotel staff that accidentally treat my shoes as rubbish and disposed it did not prompt me to write a review. But this hotel did the ultimate. I have stayed in this hotel several times due to its location as it is the only IHG hotel in Long Gang. The past few times, I have not used any of its facilities. This times I make an effort to visit its swimming pool and it trigger this incident. It happened this way, when I visit the swimming pool, the staff asked me to buy a swim cap. I was shocked that as a guy, I have never in my life wear a swim cap to a swimming pool. I told the staff that I will not buy a swim cap just to swim leisurely for 10 minutes. Upon my insist, the staff offered to lend me a swim cap. I took the offer but since I have never wear a swim cap to swim, I did not used it. While swimming without the swim cap, the staff came and scold me for not using the swim cap. I am totally amazed by his action. I asked the reason why I need to wear a swim cap to swim. The reason he gave initially is that ShenZhen Sport Council issue a directive that all swimmers have to wear swim cap. Upon hearing this, I can't help it anymore. I have stayed in more than a dozen hotels including many under IHG in ShenZhen and never had one telling me I have to wear a swim cap to swim in ShenZhen pools. The staff keep arguing with me that I have to wear the swim cap, which I refused. I got out of the pool and asked to speak to their GM. The pool manager came and explain it is their hotel's rules and regulations that all swimmers have to wear a swim cap in order not to pollute the pool. Ok, now it becomes the hotel's rules and regulations and not the ShenZhen Sport Council and it is because by not wearing a swim cap, I will pollute the pool. If the hotel do not want anyone to pollute the pool, might as well closed it then no one will pollute it at all. Anyway, at this moment, I am not in the mood to swim anymore. I left the pool a very unhappy man. While having tea at the Executive Lounge, I asked the staff whether I can see the Hotel GM to clarify this matter. The staff checked and told me that the GM is not available which I informed the staff, no matter how late that day or the next day, get the GM to call or pay me a visit. But even after I checked out 18 hours later, the Hotel GM did not contact me. Anyway, I will never stay in this hotel ever again and I seriously think IHG should not renew their contract with this...