HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts XIAMEN HAICANG — Hotel in Xiamen

We stayed for one week in early April 2024, booked 2 rooms for our family. Due to our flight, we arrived much earlier than the check in time. Knowing that we just had a red eye flight and 2 children with us, the receptionist Victoria tried her best to let us check in into 1 room for our kids to have a proper rest and we were very thankful for that. The rooms were well designed and quite spacious, one room had the mountain view while the other had the sea view. The first few days of our stay was quite rainy, so we spent time exploring the pool and the gym. The pool is indoor however one must bring a haircap to enter the pool. We did not know that hence did not have any prepared and was offered to buy on site. It was quite expensive so if you plan to swim in the hotel’s pool, would be better to come prepared. The gym was pretty good and fully equipped, it wasn’t too crowded when I was there. Water and towel were prepared in the gym. We tried ordering room service once, the food tasted pretty good although it was not as I expected (I blame my lack of Chinese skill for the misunderstanding). Due to the misunderstanding too, we failed to find out earlier that not far behind the hotels there are actually a small complex of restaurants and shops (turn left from the lobby and just keep going straight). There were plenty of options : halal food, soupy wonton, fruit shops and convenience stores. We only found out after our 3rd night…. On one of the days after exploring the city, my daughter left her backpack behind at a shopping mall far away from the hotel. Candy at the reception was super helpful in helping us to contact the shopping mall and helped us recover the bag unscathed (the whole process took a couple of hours late into the midnight). My daughter was extremely happy and thankful to get her favourite bag. Kuddos to Candy! I have to give a note for the excellent breakfast variations. There were many options: pastries (their croissant and donut are soo good), the noodles (which you can create and mix to your own liking), at least 5 or 6 different porridge to choose from (my favourite was the black sesame). Only on the last 1-2 days did we get a bit bored and my husband came up with a brilliant idea (fix yourself a baguette sandwich from the pastry and salad bar, try it!). Not only the ladies and the gentleman (forgot his name) who were very helpful. The staff at the breakfast hall was also all very attentive and helpful to our children’s requests. The concierge was always so very helpful to help us order a taxi and even on our last day one of them helped us to zip up all our luggages (we went a little overboard with our shopping). Also on one occasion, we had to send two packages to other cities, they promptly helped us pack and arrange for the delivery. Truly great services! On our last day, we had an evening flight however both our daughters were sick. We talked to another wonderful lady at the reception Cathy and she helped us to arrange late check out for our daughters’ room, we highly appreciated the gesture. Also a shout to Cathy for sharing information about where to buy medicines or the nearest clinic when our daughter suddenly had fever. The only thing I did not like about our stay was (and I have to say the local culture plays a big role in it) the plethora of cigarette smoke. One our first day, I saw a man lighting up his cigarette like nobody’s business IN THE LOBBY. However, I must note that the receptionist Candy quickly told him that smoking is prohibited inside. And then whenever we went out the lobby to wait for our car, there will be dozens of people smoking outside so we had to either bring our children back in or further away from all the smokers. The most ridiculous thing was one day, our whole corridor smelled like cigarettes. It was really bad that I had to ask one of the housekeeper if smoking was allowed inside. His answer was honestly rather amusing as he said this is Chine, people generally are allowed to smoke indoor… Apart from that, we really enjoyed our stay and would...

First, "the good". The hotel is beautiful. The frontline tries their best, and are friendly. The location is not too far from the airport, and the surrounding area is great for walking. ||There is even a small beach where locals come to let the kids play with sand, and our kids loved it. The swimming pool had a very warm shallow pool where small kids can play. The large pool was also pleasant for doing laps.||The lobby restaurant is large and can cater to many people, impressed to see no lines during the high May holiday season.||We stayed in the executive suite, which had a large bathroom with a round bath tub that we enjoyed. ||||However, there are many problems we encountered, which cannot go unsaid..||||1, Food poisoning?||My husband and I both got REALLY sick (vomiting, diarrhea 20x/day, high fever of 39C) on the day of the check out. We stayed in the hotel for 2 nights, and did not eat anything outside of the hotel in the 48hours leading up to the symptoms. Even the water we drank were all bottled water provided from the hotel.||||After we checked out and were home and got worse and worse, we asked to hotel to look into if there were any other guests with symptoms. The hotel said no, which we were relieved about, since this hotel caters to a lot of families with children. ||BUT the manager on duty told me "Don't worry too much". What are you talking about! We are vomiting even fluids, watery diarrhea every hour, unable to move from our beds, missed our work, the health bureau is asking questions due to us being health care providers! ||I understand that sometimes that it is difficult to pinpoint the cause, and I do not want to point fingers. But the correspondence attitude made me speechless... ||||2. Birthday cake||We were traveling for my son's birthday. I communicated this prior to our stay, and they replied with an email that they would prepare a cake for us. ||Nothing came. I understand this is a "service", but if they are unable to come through, we would have prepared something on our own instead of waiting for it...||||3, Smoking hotel||Please be warned that this is a full-on smoking hotel. There are ashtrays and matches provided in the room, and in the hallways.||We stayed in the executive suite, and it smelled of smoke. We didn't bother to ask to change rooms, since we had small kids and it was too much trouble to change the room after only being allowed to check into the suite at 4pm (we arrived at the designated check-in time of 2pm, but our room was not available then. They let us stay in a different room until our room was available).||||4. Amenities||The coffee pods (nespresso) and the Chinese tea set in the room were great. ||The bathroom amenities were written as L'occitane on the webpage, but they were not. I was surprised that the shampoo was a "conditioner in shampoo" type, which I've only seen in motels in the last 10 years. Would have brought my own shampoo if I knew they would not be L'occitane.||||Hardware is good, but the software...well, we will not be recommending...

Here are my observations:

1. Room problems and unresponsiveness from the manager-on-duty. I was told that I got an upgrade at check-in, but indeed, I preferred to NOT be upgraded. The room number is 817. It sits right on the service platform, where workers can walk on the service platform and with the un-tinted big window, they can see everything in the room. I felt like that my family was in the showcase and people outside can see everything inside our room. There is no privacy at all. And the so-called bridge view was blocked by the big poles from the construction. (see pictures attached) And I must close the curtain during my entire stay. I have talked to the manager on duty when I checked in and saw the room (a young gentlemen), I prefer to be NOT upgraded and going back to my original booked room (mountain view suite, not the bridge view suite). He said that he will go back to talk to his boss, but never get back to me (I stayed for 5 days total, never hear back from him)

2. Lack of enforcement of the smoke-free facility - It is a "smoke free facility" by the sign of the hotel (The sign is right in front of the hotel). But no one seems care about to enforce this rule. There were ton of people smoking right by the door of the hotel lobby and with the winds blowing, strong smoking smells in the hotel lobby. Someone even walks into the lobby with cigars on. The manager on duty saw this but did not stop him. The sofa in the lobby has freshly burns from the cigar (see photos). I stayed on the 8th floor, and someone must be smoking from the room as there is a strong cigar smells in the hallway.

3. The ceramic wares (plates and bowls) are chipping off on the edge and it is very dangerous – See photos. Almost every plate in the executive lounge is chipping off. With the sharp edge, it become very dangerous to the hotel guests.

Overall, poor management, the manager-on-duty does not seem to care about his customer. And to me, he does not qualify for...