St. Regis Tianjin — Hotel in Tianjin

My partner and I stayed at the St. Regis, taking advantage of the "Opening Night Offer". We heard from colleagues that the Hotel was new and "working out the kinks" but a great place to take a break for a weekend. We made the reservation online and immediately received an "e-Butler" message. We decided it best to contact the Hotel directly and to make sure our reservation was in order. The number listed in the banner for the Butler was a mobile number for a Westin staff member and the other number listed was for "Sales" After 30 minutes or so and a few phone calls we finally managed to speak with someone in reservations who explained our rate only included breakfast. We tried to explain our package but in the end, gave up and proceeded to email the Hotel Manager directly as we understood him to be a native English speaker. He confirmed our details and graciously offered to send out touristic info via email. We emailed the Butler again to request a high non-=smoking quiet floor and assistance with a pick-up at the train station. The first request was noted and the second was "lost in translation" as the Butler thought we would get back to them (??). We decided to drive instead as we have a diplomatic car and asked for assistance with directions. Again, no response except the Hotel staff confirmed parking was available. Once we arrived at the Hotel on Friday evening around 7pm, we were told there was "parking below the hotel but VERY confusing". We asked the Valet if he could "valet the car" and in the end a front-desk representative had my partner park our car himself in front of the Hotel.

When we arrived at the front desk, we were warmly greeted and informed that we had received an upgrade to a suite. We thanked the Staff for their kind gesture and our Butler escorted us to the room.

The room was MAGNIFICENT, clean, and very comfortable. Bose soundsystem, huge flat screen TVs, a Nespresso maker, sunken tub, rain shower, black marbled bathrooms, sumptuous linens and a floor-ceiling river-view for the two-room suite. We were very impressed and grateful for the upgrade.

We had a package that included a set dinner at the Hotel's French restaurant Riviera, daily breakfast for two, an upgrade, and a daily High Tea Service for two.

The first night we enjoyed dinner at the Riviera though the day before the Hotel informed us that there was a dinner party for about 30 guests and they would do their best to sit us to the side. When we arrived we were escorted into a private room which was nicely set with rose petals and candles. The set menu was quite good -- we live in Beijing and often find the Western food is not as good as it looks. This Set -- a veloutte of potato soup with smoked salmon, roasted Artic-char in a bouilbase style sauce and perfect creme brule was quite good. My partner had a roast chicken fillet which was extraordinarily moist -- kudos to the chef. The following night we enjoyed a turbot and a rolled veal dish both of which were quite good and the staff offered us a chocolate souffle with ooh lang ice cream (homemade) and a trio of creme brules. Both the food and the service was EXCEPTIONAL. Kevin and his team were consummate servers and spoke English quite well and offered helpful wine suggestions. The only miss was stale and re-heated bread.

We retired back to the room and realized one of the lights would not turn off and we called the Butler who sent maintenance and after 20 or so minutes, he managed to "fix" the lights.

However, we had the same problem the second night with the lights and had to call someone at near midnight to come for assistance.

The gym has a great selection of new machines and the Spa facilities are as to be expected for a St. Regis. There is a black sauna with chormotherapy lights and a dry sauna with the same lights and a jacuzzi. The showers had a HORRIBLE sewer smell and the first night the steam room also had a HORRIBLE sewer smell and was "off". As well the jacuzzi was luke-warm. We asked the Staff for assistance but unfortunately, we do not speak Chinese and they did not speak English at the Spa. We spoke with a very kind gentleman at the front desk and asked if he would insure the steam room and jacuzzi were properly working the next day. And in fact, the next day both the steam room and jacuzzi were working though the terrible shower smells were still present. Note, they only have towels and we thought it would be a nice touch to have robes and vanity products and towels by the sinks (where do people dry their hands?) available.

Breakfast is bountiful and although the "egg station" takes way too long and they scoop out omelette mix out of a stainless steel tub (very unhygenic and unappetisizing), the food was good. Excellent pastries of all sorts and a nice fruit and salad selection. We found the Asian food to look much too greasy. Service was attentive and the setting was nice though some of the fixtures are starting to show wear after only 2 years.

Afternoon tea was a disappointment. We ordered tea service for two and the waitress first thought we only wanted tea. We reviewed the menu and pointed to "Western Tea Service" and signaled "two". There was a rather detailed menu and in the end we had four measly toasted bread corners topped with a piece of smoked salmon, a shrimp, and a piece of salami. No finger sandwiches and the food felt leftover from the breakfast spread. The second tray consisted of boxed green tea cookies and macaroons which were rather tasteless and "chalky". The third tray held cheesecakes, one quite good and the other quite bland. A tray of mini scones and cream with jams arrived and was quite nice. We had to argue with the staff to bring two sets of food and two pots and in the end they charged us for both but we explained to the Staff it should be service for two as intended. What if each person wants a different tea?

A few notes: we asked for additional jasmine and buckwheat pillows from a menu and were told the hotel "ran out" and only had orthopedic which we accepted. The staff came into our room unannounced and surprised us and them as we were lounging in our underclothes! They did not retreat and proceeded to come to our bedroom! Twice we experienced men smoking in the bathroom while a bathroom attendant was cleaning.

I would like to point out that Paul the GM, Carol the on-duty manager and Kevin at the Riviera in addition to the lovely ladies in Housekeeping made a valiant effort at heeding our requests and apologizing profusely for mishaps with broken lights and midnight fixes, confusion with package details.

We appreciated the grand upgrade but feel at times when too many things do not work, especially for a ST. Regis brand, the upgrade is diminished and all you want is a...

Stayed here for one night as a birthday gift for my partner. First things first, this is a luxury hotel & it packs a decent luxury punch for it's price, around 1200rmb per night. Even before you arrive, you're met by the eye catching building on your walk from Tianjin railway station - around 15 to 20 minutes. That it features on various silhouettes of the Tianjin skyline on posters and advertisements throughout the city is testament to how highly thought of the building is in the city. Perhaps not the most important factor, but it does add to the excitement if you're not a regular luxury hotel booker.The lobby can be entered from the main road or riverfront & is spacious & well designed, opulent yet modern and even somewhat cozy of an evening. Unfortunately, upon check in there were no rooms available however, & we had to wait. Not ideal.Once the room was available, we were walked there by our incredibly friendly butler who returned shortly afterwards with some excellent coffee & biscuits that were some of the best I've eaten in China.The room is spacious, with huge windows offering an unbeatable view of the river, which lights up at night as the buildings reflect from it's surface. The bed is comfortable, and bathroom clean, but the temperature was stifilingly hot. Perhaps there was a way to control this & it was user error on our part, but in such a luxury hotel with everything planned to apparent perfection, I'd have assumed they would have made this quite simple. It was 10c outside, which doesn't require the heating turned up so high that it makes you sweat. But nor is it so hot that one should have to turn on the A/C in mid February.The room comes stocked with everything you would need & more. Plenty of water, tea, coffee, & 24h contact with a butler. What it lacked was towels. Again, maybe there were some more hidden, but I shouldn't have to search. & I'm sure the butler would have brought some more had I asked, but I shouldn't need to for over 1000rmb per night. This hasn't been an issue in far cheaper hotels. I did like that the bathroom toiletries were eco friendly, even down to the toothpaste 'tube'. I worried at the time that the toothpaste in a sachet was too small & would dry up overnight, but this didn't end up being the case. The shower itself was just fine, but a little disappointing for a pricey hotel. It seemed to lack a bit of pressure, & I've had far better in hotels at far more than half the price.The only other issue I'd take is the cleanliness of the windows and frames. They're the highlight of the room & should be celebrated, so it's a little disappointing that they show some dirt and staines. Again, in a cheaper hotel I'd barely notice this, but a 1000rmb+ one must be held to a higher standard.One thing I have absolutely no complaints about is the food. The breakfast offering had a great blend of Chinese & Western food, and plenty of it. Staff, as was the case throughout the stay, were friendly & beyond helpful & we both left very full only wishing we could try even more. Lovely view across the frozen river as we ate, too. A really nice way to start the day & a great way to leave a lasting memory as we checked out.All in all, it really was a wonderful stay, and I'm only being sometimes critical because I hold expensive hotels to a high standard & I know that this hotel in particular can reach that standard. I've given cleanliness a 5 because Trip doesn't offer half stars & 4 brought the overall rating down lower than I think seems fair, given I did genuinely have a very nice time.With a few little improvements this would easily be a 5/5...

My wife and I brought our 3.5 yr old and 9 month old for a Beijing "staycation" recently to the Tianjin St Regis.

The Good: Location great, building and decor - very nice. Rooms were clean. Gym and pool were great (kids loved swimming in the small pool). House keeping staff was prompt. Lunch buffet team was very accommodating.

The Bad: Many taxi drivers do not know where the hotel is. Butler service for coffee / tea was slow. In fact, we waiting for 20 min and left without showing up. Please better manage expectations if everyone in the morning is asking for free coffee /tea. Lobby staff disorganized. Check-in was disorganized. No one is managing people checking out vs checking in. Guests competing to get served.

The Ugly: Lobby and doorman staff need more training. (A) My wife walking through the lobby from lunch and holding our baby almost slipped face first walking into pool of water near the fountain in the lobby. When she complained, the staff rushed... to wipe the mess. That was all. Oh she is fine, btw, thanks for asking. (B) On checkout, we were in a hurry to get to the train station. We called ahead to checkout, but it still took us 30 minutes from checkout to getting into a cab. Why? Un-organized checkout processes. (1) Desk staff disconncected with doormen. Girl who checked us out RAN from the desk and out the door to the tell the doormen outside to get us a taxi and then RAN BACK to finish the checkout process. Btw, during the next fiasco below, someone ran out to say something to the doormen about using the walkie talkie radios. (2) Clueless and distracted doormen. One doorman ran out to hail a cab while two others were goofing off with a couple of "thuggy" government looking drivers in fancy cars. Another property security kid 20 minutes into the fiasco finally walked over and asked us if we're looking for any help. 1st doorman finally gets a cab but hollered at us to walk over 75 meters out to the outer street, across the inner street, with strollers, baby, luggage... so we can get into the cab there... without offering to help move our things. Never mind the two cabs just sitting in front of the inner street waiting to taking people further than the train station (doormen chit chatting with them too without any progress). Of course we told him "no, we are not moving our things out there so please bring the car in." Later, when the car finally came in and we were all seated in the back if I wanted sit in the front with the baby. Yes, that's a great...