Sofitel Harbin 5 stars

Thanks to Wang Ying, director of the housekeeping department, for her warm service and timely cleaning of the room.The room is very comfortable to live in and feels like home. Very happy trip to Harbin.

We spent Xmas in Sofitel Harbin and had a fabulous break. Everything was great, from the hotel limo pick-up at the airport, to the welcome on arrival, our terrific room, the hospitality in the Club Lounge, the breakfast and the joyful Xmas Dinner, complete with Santa wearing a protective mask. Everyone knows that Harbin in the winter is really cold, but the warmth of the welcoming staff could not have been better. To name staff is difficult because I can't remember all of the names, but among them special thanks to Lydia who generally looked after us, Sybil in the Club Lounge, Guilio at breakfast and the driver who drove the airport limo as well as the bus to the Ice Festival. There's a terrific park opposite the hotel that was covered in fresh snow throughout our stay and which has an excellent walking track as well as lots of family activity playing in the snow. The Ice Festival was sensational, and a fast train day trip to the snow resort of Yabuli was also memorable. Top marks to the hotel, the staff and to the sights of Harbin. Our 2020 Xmas was one to remember.

Had recently been to the Xian Sofitel so had expected something similar but sadly not. Overall suited what we need and first impression was great with Santa greeting us at the entrance. Rooms were nice although we'd booked 2 rooms as we were a family of 5 but one room stunk of smoke so we had to move. Thankfully they acted reasonably quickly. Breakfast was solid without being delightful pretty standard fare dominated by Chinese cuisine. Might go back if I was in Harbin next time.

I have found a bit strange that the VIP lounge closes at 8 pm at night. The offered drink at the lobby bar is only coffee or soft drink. After long negotiation, we managed to have two glasses of wine. When I asked for some ice (warm wine) the attendant told rat the bar was closing at 9 pm. It was 9.09 ... I think such a level of hotel, with many international customers coming for the ice festival, should consider to have a more user-friendly service ... By the way... we have a platinum membership ... PS. The arrival at the airport was also difficult. Taxi drivers did not want to take us to the hotel. We had to negotiate with people not really willing to talk to us ...

We went there during the Chinese New Year 2020. It is around 40-45 minutes from the ice and snow festival (without any traffic). The facility is nice (nice room and pool) but service was very bad and not clean. We had 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts there. There were a lot of choices... but clearly not fresh from the day. It might have been better to have fewer choices but more fresh. Several of them were served at least the 2 days we spent there. The worst part was during the breakfast. Not a single table was cleaned when we arrived (around 1 hour before the end of the service). 70% of the tables had no longer customers but tables were full of their plates and wastes... if you do not ask for water in the coffee machine, then the machines will not be checked for 20 minutes. You might wonder if they have issues of number of employees because of corona viruses/ Chineses New Year... there were several employees in the restaurant but not doing anything proactively.