Pullman Zhuhai

In my previous review, I wrote that Sofitel Guangzhou saved my last hope with the Accor. In this review, I would say, if I am a bit less prudent in reviewing a hotel group, Pullman Zhuhai would have eradicated that bit of last hope. I did not expect much since I know the market segment the Pullman brand targets is merely the moderate upscale market. However, what has happened with you, Pullman Zhuhai? I suppose this is perhaps one of my shortest comments on the hardware of a hotel since nothing inside Pullman Zhuhai deserves any elaboration. Everything, from the lobby to the room, is more typical and boring than typical and boring. You cross the front door, which has no bell person stationing at, then you see the teeny tiny lobby on your left. Being small is not necessarily a problem; see MO Guangzhou and MO Guangzhou. The problem is that – alas, I really do not know how to describe it – the tiny lobby space has nothing there at all. You get one long bench for check-in desk, and that is basically it! It is under-articulated to the extent that I doubt if the hotel hired anyone to do any design with its lobby at all. I would not be surprised if now someone told me the lobby was just randomly assembled on-site without any design in advance. I think it is really a shame to a Pullman that its guests need to put it with an Atour hotel side by side: I stayed at one Atour hotel when I was in Zhuhai, and, interestingly, I found the lobby of that Atour hotel much more articulated than the one in Pullman Zhuhai. Its room is even worse. If the lobby was assembled without a designer, I could still see that it was assembled by a construction man with some common aesthetic sense. The room was the same, but by someone without even that common sense. It was, again, more typical than typical: you see a short corridor once you open the door and on the left is the small bathroom and toilet; walk three steps then you see the bed, facing the TV; walk three more steps you see a sofa, then the window, then that is it. It is the layout that has been copied and pasted to countless hotels which do not care about design at all in China for countless times. Unfortunately, Pullman Zhuhai is just part of this club. However, Pullman Zhuhai has two things more. Firstly, it is small; I mean, really small; small to the extent that I would definitely have hit my head right against the window if I closed my eyes and walked ten straight steps from the door (or I may have already hit the bed in between). Secondly, it was coarse. The room blindly celebrated the color scheme of yellow and gold, which is just not the right thing for anyone born after 1970! Simply put, I do not know how to appreciate this small, dull, and shocking golden room. Can the service make the hardware up? Unfortunately, it cannot. No one queued up when I checked in, so I do not understand why the check-in lady still needed to rush things as if ten thousand people were waiting for check-in behind me. She just simplified everything to the extent that she just said three things to me: (1) you checking in?, (2) I may need to use your ID card?, and (3) your reservation includes no breakfast and the elevator is over there. Alright! Efficiency and being cold are not the same thing, and it cannot be clearer that Pullman Zhuhai is the latter. They just did not intend to show their guests a bit of hospitality; even the staff in the McDonald's next to Pullman Zhuhai managed to welcome their customers more passionately than Pullman Zhuhai did! So, is Pullman Zhuhai the Burger King in the hotel industry? I always regard the check-in as the most critical moment for a hotel to leave a good impression to its guests. It is the moment that almost defines how a guest would perceive the level of service in a hotel. Unfortunately, Pullman Zhuhai scored zero here. However, after some thought, I believe I should not say that the service of Pullman Zhuhai is a zero-point one. Doing so is not fair to other zero-point hotels like Atour and Yitel. The services at Pullman Zhuhai deserve something even less than zero. Here I need to mention one story I encountered during my stay at Pullman Zhuhai. I left the hotel to have my dinner nearby at around 10 PM. I saw a bell person standing at the center of the lobby (perhaps that was why I could not see any bell person stationing at the entrance – they were all having their good time in the lobby doing nothing). I randomly said hello to him while I was walking. I did that out of the simplest etiquette since I was walking toward his side (so I saw him and he saw me). Guess how he responded? He glared at me for a few seconds, then turned and walked away. I was so shocked that I wondered if I was doing anything offensive! I have been to some hotels where staff did not respond to the greeting from guests (like the infamous W Guangzhou); I have even encountered some hotel staff who would just look at me when I greeted them (like the fictitious Four Seasons Macau. However, it was my first time facing a hotel staff who would glare at me and angrily walk away when I greeted him. I am extremely curious what thought he had in his mind that would prompt him to act in such a way, a way that we would not behave in even if we are just encountering a random person greeting us on the street. But this is still not the end of the story. Two days after I checked out, the hotel called me as a standardized practice to do a survey with me. I told them about that weird encounter with the bell person. What surprised me was that they did not seem to understand how annoying the issue was but said, "oh, so you think the bell person is not hospitable enough." I am really puzzled how a hotel can take a guest's feedback on such an annoying issue so casually and uncaringly. She did not ask me for any further information and said they would work to improve, of course, in a really SOP tone and sentencing. To be honest, how can a guest believe that a hotel would really treat this issue seriously when the hotel simply thought it was a simple issue about the degree of hospitality and without any further inquiry? It is like how a victim of theft can trust that a police officer would work on his case when the police do not even ask him what has been stolen? Sorry, Pullman Zhuhai, but you really do not serve to be called the Pullman. IHG has recently stopped allowing a number of properties in the US to use the logo of Crowne Plaza since they are not up to that standard. I won't be surprised that if Accor does the same in China, Pullman Zhuhai will no longer be called Pullman Zhuhai. Also, if I am not prudent and judge the whole Accor group by looking at this hotel alone, I would never ever stay at any Accor property again either. Being typical and boring is not a fatal problem, but when a hotel is boring, overly standardized, eliminates design to the minimal extent, and has rude staff, it is a fatal problem.

The hotel stay was very pleasant and comfortable.The staff was approachable and helpful. They always provide immediate help if required, and considerate suggestions. The location was convenient for getting around.

Hotel bien situado en la ciudad,con magnificas habitaciones y un buen servicio en general.Su cercania al boulevard comercial es muy conveniente para los huespedes,les ofrece una gran variedad de tiendas y restaurantes.

La ubicación del hotel es la mejor, tienes cerca muchas cosas, desde la estación de Gongbei hasta centros comerciales, el servicio, la comida, el trato, la habitación, muy buen Hotel, el staff es de lo mejor y te ayudan en lo que sea, lo recomiendo al 100

El hotel tiene la muy buena calidad del grupo Accor tanto en lo edilicio, comodidades como atención del personal. Suma el hecho de estar ubicado en un centro comercial distinguido con buena oferta gastronómica y de marcas internacionales.