Holiday Inn Express Xiamen City Center — Hotel in Xiamen

As a big fan and user of Holiday Inn and the IHG group it is a shame to have to write such a poor review on such a usually excellent chain. ||Checkin took 30 minutes. A couple were arguing at the reception and only after 10 minutes did the receptionist turn to the queue and acknowledge us. I asked her if she was the only one working today when she then realized to call for a second receptionist. ||He turned up and 20 minutes later we had our keys. He struggled to find my visa page and even asked if the visa that expired in 2017 was the correct one. ||Room number 8406.....yet the elevator doesn’t have a floor 8. ‘How is this’ I hear you ask. The receptionist forgot to tell me it’s actually floor 4, something that makes perfect sense. He also forgot to tell us the WiFi password and about breakfast (but I’ll discuss that later).||As always the rooms are good, the beds are magnificent and the bathroom is superb. This is also the first hotel I’ve been at where I asked for my bed sheets and towels not be be changed and the cleaner followed this, folding up the used towels instead. However, I was a bit shocked to see cobwebs over the window which, with a fear of spiders isn’t something I was overly happy about (see photo).||Breakfast, which I mentioned before, was, at best, 2 out of 10. Rice crispies and frosties with warm milk? Sausages and a bacon equivalent,both served cold, or a host of vegetables. Yes, I know it’s China (I lived there for 9 years) but even by China standards this was poor. At least it was a good coffee machine. ||Location wise it was superb and at ¥500 a night the price is good but it needs a serious upgrade to match the level of another holiday inn. ||FYI I stayed in the holiday inn express in Bangkok last month and it was superb (before anyone says it’s a holiday inn express not a holiday inn) ||FYI2 - first time, as an IHG member no one has ever cared or bothered to say thanks for...

❗️❗️❗️Everyone must be careful of the manager surnamed Song in the sales department

❗️❗️❗️Everyone must be careful of the manager surnamed Song in the sales department

❗️❗️❗️Everyone must be careful of the manager surnamed Song in the sales department

He approached me actively while I was storing my luggage with the front desk. In order to increase his sales performance, he asked to add me on WeChat, in order to cancel my existing order under the guise of giving me a 20 yuan(2.8 USD) discount per night. However, during the back-and-forth conversations, this person's inconsistent statements about whether there were points, and lured me to cancel the existing order on the official website. In the afternoon of the same day, he also lied to me that the price had increased in the next few days (there is no change in the price search now). In the repeated communication during this process, I strongly felt the falsehood and insincerity of this person, which caused me a lot of energy consumption, especially when I took my parents to Gulangyu Island for a boat trip that morning, which had a great impact on the mood of our family's travel that day! ! !

I strongly suggest that you learn from my lesson and don't let the small discount affect your entire travel experience.

Other aspects:

Booked two rooms, the check-in front desk service was not very proficient.

Welcome Drink did not have the option of water or sugar-free drinks

I am posting this comment here at 4:30am Beijing time. You can imagine how angry I was...

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Xiamen in April 2019. The hotel feels very new and clean. My room was comfortable, modern, and very Western-friendly. The shower was so nice, and the bed was quite comfortable as well. The breakfast was not too amazing, but I didn't have high expectations for this hotel level. But I enjoyed the coffee, eggs, and purple sweet potatoes particularly.

A great feature of this hotel is how close it is to the international ferry terminal. I easily walked there in under 10 minutes. It's also near there where you can take the shuttle to Riyuegu Hot Springs (a must visit!).

The staff don't speak English well, but I can't complain because I haven't worked on my Chinese either. Just bring a translation app and you'll be fine. They also have apps on their phones and will explain things via the app to...