The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street

I stayed for two nights and didn't have a good experience. Here are the practical issues first. I asked for a memory foam pillow and an air purifier, but neither arrived at first. When I asked again, they had completely run out of memory foam pillows. The purifier came late at night and its light was too bright for sleeping. Body lotion wasn't replenished during either night. There was no laundry bag or order sheet in the room. After breakfast I asked for the sheet and learned laundry had to be collected by 10am to come back the same day. I called at 10.30am, and on that first call, before I complained, they were going to charge twice the price for a rushed order. My laundry came back at 7pm the next day. Housekeeping staff were very unfriendly. At arrival, unlike at other luxury tier Marriott hotels I've stayed in, nobody helped take my luggage out of the car. The breakfast spread was nice, with a good range at the live egg stations, including eggs Benedict. Guest services did try to sort out what they could, and I appreciated the effort. The room felt dated. A lot of water leaked out of the shower, though there was a bathtub I could use instead. I emailed the hotel, but they offered no compensation, only a complimentary room upgrade. The problems interfered with my rest, and for this luxury tier I didn't feel the stay was worth it. I won't be back, especially with other good options like JW Marriott.

The shower kept leaking onto the bathroom floor, which had me worried about slipping. I mentioned it to the staff, so hopefully they'll fix it. The generous breakfast buffet was lovely, and I'd recommend booking a room with breakfast. What really stood out was the service. The front desk staff were fantastic and went out of their way to help when I was having trouble paying for a tour. The location was great too, and the stay was good value compared with what it would cost in the United States or Europe.

Itziar made a big difference to our first trip to China. We had trouble getting our VPN working at first, and she fixed it right away. She also made sure our internet connection worked, helped us set up Alipay for ordering food and making payments, and shared useful tips and places that we wouldn't have found on our own. As Spanish travelers far from home, we were grateful for her help. She was kind and professional, and handled all of it with real care. The hotel doesn't have many English speakers, so we had worried about the language barrier. We travel a lot around Asia, but this was our first time in China. Every day, Itziar greeted us with a warm smile and gave us thoughtful attention. My partner and I haven't met anyone like her at a hotel before. When you're thousands of kilometers from home, that kind of support means a lot, and it helped make our trip one of our most memorable. The hotel management should value her highly. She's a real diamond with international guests. Please take good care of her, people like Itziar are rare.

The rooms and executive lounge are nicely appointed, and I was pretty impressed with the hotel, which is attached to the mall. Lounge access has to be purchased separately, though, as it isn't included with Bonvoy status.