I have stayed in a fair few of the Hilton Group’s hotels in China now (mainly Hilton and Doubletree) and the two things I could always count on were a comfortable mattress and something approaching a western breakfast. There are always niggles and anyone paying top dollar to stay somewhere is entitled to the appropriate expectations.
Hampton by Hilton, Qilihe Bridge failed those expectations miserably and in so doing have damaged their cachet in my eyes.
The room itself was fine, roomy and yes, the usual standard of mattresses. English news and western film channel on the telly, which annoyingly switched off just before midnight. There was a very limited selection of western food on the room service menu, at a guess two soups and four main courses, one of which was the Hampton sandwich but with no indication as to what was actually in it! I hadn’t eaten all day but nonetheless, armed with a bottle of red and some jing jo I decided to fast until having a delicious breakfast in the morning, for which I had been charged 40y on arrival.
No bathrobe, no TV guide, no disposable razor (there’s always a Philip Thomas Roth razor to go with the Philip Thomas Roth toiletries) and annoyingly, no bar soap - not even the little one you get by the sink and which I always use to shower with, hating gel as I do. As for the internet, it would have been quicker to write a letter by hand, given the speed of sending emails.
I first had misgivings about the soundproofing of the rooms late last night when I could hear every door closing on my floor. No traffic noise to be sure, sixteen floors up but not much use if you can hear your neighbour fart. And indeed in the morning I was awoken by a TV from an adjoining room. The guest didn’t have it on loud, in fact it was quite low but it may as well have been on my bedside table.
So I got up earlier than intended, showered but didn’t shave, and headed down to the dining room famished. My heart sank as a waiter showed me where the coffee and soya milk dispensers were because all the bains marie were occupied by such delights as dumplings, congee, stewed cabbage and probably pig brains etc - everything any self respecting Chinese could possibly want for breakfast.
Do you have anything English? Err, yes, fried eggs! He showed me a beaming chef standing behind a plate piled high with fried eggs, done the Chinese way - smash em and turn em. They could easily have been cooked last week for all I knew. And who on earth considers fried eggs on their own to be breakfast? Even sunny side up?? I walked out after commenting that this was not acceptable. Unsurprisingly, nobody offered me my 40y back, just gave me inane grins.
I am sure they were unperturbed over the prospect of getting a bad review on TripAdvisor. On my return home I discovered they aren’t even listed on it! I have emailed Hilton Group expressing my displeasure and have also submitted a new entry to TripAdvisor, hopefully they will now add Hampton and my review to their site. For the Londoners reading this, that hotel is a Hugh Jampton!
Of course, with no breakfast to eat I felt quite weak after 36 hours without solid sustenance and there was no prospect of being able to get anything remotely edible either now. I was now beginning to wish I had chanced the Hampton sandwich last night.
Leaving the hotel early I went to BHG to shop for what I need tomorrow. Suzy and Sheila as usual are coming but this time unless there is a snap Chinese teachers’ meeting, Janet is coming. Janet sent me messages yesterday asking if she could bring a friend. Seeing as I have six pizza trays, plates aren’t a problem and they will have pepperoni and jalapeno pizza for main, my special chicken wings for starters and hopefully apple pie and ice cream for dessert. It’s ok, we won’t eat the food, we just want to come and see it and take pictures. WHAT?????
Who the hell says they’d love to come for dinner, not eat and just take photos?? Needless to say, she has been left in no doubt that if they come they will most assuredly be eating it unless they don’t find it to their taste!
Earlier I spent an hour boiling the apples Harriett gave me last Thursday and then getting my hands covered in dough and my first ever apple pie looks to be almost baked. After all the effort I will cry tomorrow if it turns out to be a disaster. It looks the part though!
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