Originally chose this hotel due to how close it was towards the Guangzhou East Railway Station and the overall pretty positive reviews we saw. However, our experience was very different than we expected.
The first issue we encountered was the smell of the room. This went hand in hand with the circulation and state of humidity. We turned the air on to be cooler, but something about the circulation or machine must have been off because a musty and moldy smell was in the room when we came back later that night. We attributed it to the humidity so it wasn't too bad, and we were able to get an air purifier for the room as the hotel staff had no dehumidifier. But I think this is a concern they need to look into as we noticed even as we turned on the warm air, cold air, and option to dehumidify to help, there was no perfect option. For example, the towels took a while to dry even when you lay them flat. Also when we initially wiped down the table upon entering the room, it took such a long time to dry. Towards the end of the stay, we also noticed how this humidity has affected the bathroom, particularly the shower which shows signs of water mold. This is a health concern for hotel guests and needs to be addressed for the future.
Considering that this hotel was started in 2021, the hallway carpets were not reflective of that and its dirtiness/darkness are pretty concerning considering this is one of the things you see before even entering your hotel room.
The biggest concern and annoying thing was the elevators. During check in, all 3 elevators were working. But that night or the next morning, one of the elevators was constantly out. It also wasn't the same elevator that was out. After the first one got fixed, the middle elevator lift stopped working.
The hotel did put up/had a notice saying that peak hours are 9 am to 2 pm and that the elevator may pass because it was full, but even outside of these "peak hours" at 8 am to even 8 or 9 pm we would have to wait up to 10 to 15 minutes and several elevator passes before we could get on. The one thing that made it more frustrating is that the elevator buttons wouldn't always stay lit. Regardless of if the elevator passed bevause it was full or we were simply waiting, the buttons would constantly flash off.This was true even on the 1st floor. You would have to press the button several times trying to get the button to stay lit to make sure the elevator would stop on your floor. This was something we also heard other guests experience as we made conversation when waiting for the elevator.
We did make some calls to the front desk using the number on the notice, and they did let us make use of a service elevator, but still there was only 1 elevator, and it was also clearly an older elevator that was not supposed to be for guests.
We reiterated these concerns to the front desk, particularly the elevator situation and humid/moldy room smell at the end of our stay. The man at the front desk was apologetic and seemed to note these concerns on the computer before offering us a small set of hand creams. We do want to note that this staff member and all the staff members we encountered were very good and gracious. However, given these hotel building specific issues, compared to other China hotels that are newer and similarly priced or even cheaper, we will not be staying here again. Give the expense of this hotel, we'd rather stay at a farther hotel and use the difference in price to pay for a didi to the railway station.
Will mention though, the laundry room was very clean and big, and was a great addition as it was a free service with laundry detergent and disinfectant.
