Phillipwei
December 26, 2025
Overall, it's a 60 out of 100, just barely passing. This score is based on Capella's own positioning as a luxury hotel. Generally speaking, it's not on par with The Peninsula Shanghai, and it's a world apart from Capella Bangkok. I won't go into the good parts, as those are what a hotel of this caliber should deliver anyway. Let me mention some areas for improvement, so they can be addressed.
The service was generally up to standard. The concierge, front desk, spa, boutique, cafe, and restaurants were all good. Engineering and in-room dining had slight flaws. As for cleanliness, aside from a hair on the bathroom glass door and some dust in hard-to-reach spots, everything else was acceptable. Considering the high occupancy during Christmas, the overall cleanliness was tolerable. The breakfast delivered to the room wasn't hot right away, indicating that meal preparation times weren't well coordinated during peak occupancy.
Finally, let's talk about the room's maintenance... it practically deserves a 0. The nightlight under the bed had fallen off, over half of the LED lights on the closet rail weren't working, and the two vanity lights in the bathroom buzzed so loudly it gave me a headache. The living room air conditioner, even at 32 degrees and maximum fan speed, provided no heating. Both the living room and bedroom intercom systems constantly emitted a buzzing sound while on standby. The most outrageous part was that neither of the TVs in the media room and bedroom worked. We called engineering to fix them, and re-connecting didn't help. Then the engineer actually said the TVs were broken... which is ridiculous. We could see the TV menus, so how could the TVs be broken? It was clearly a cable TV signal issue. Even though the hotel proactively offered solutions, including trying a new TV, guests pay over 6000 RMB a night to stay, not to help the hotel inspect rooms and do repairs. A final, completely unacceptable issue was that the electronic scale in the bathroom showed 'Lo' for low battery.
That 'Lo' really showcased the quality of Capella Jian Ye Li from another perspective – a slight 'low' peeking through its seemingly luxurious exterior. The Christmas trees in the lobby and restaurant had a pungent plastic smell within two meters; couldn't they buy a slightly better quality tree? And look at the cable ties – comparing them to Mitsui Kyoto and Capella Bangkok from the same group, the quality is truly beyond words.
Luxury hotels compete on details, and Capella Jian Ye Li, Shanghai, has a long way to go!
Original TextTranslation provided by Google