IFC Residence

The excellent location, fresh breakfast, quiet rooms, comfortable beds, and generally clean accommodation were the positives during our stay of more than six days at IFC Residence. The housekeeping team were helpful and friendly, and reception welcomed us warmly. But to me, the property feels more like a 3-4-star place than 5-star luxury. Service was disorganised and often inattentive to cleanliness, especially when used dishes were left uncleared. Things improved noticeably when the manager was presumably at the property: cushions and seat pads were put on the garden furniture in a reasonable time, rather than the usual wait of at least 30 minutes for 34 chairs; the eight parasols were opened much faster; and cups and breakfast dishes were cleared promptly. Once the manager was gone, things slipped back to the same pattern. The terrace ashtrays were consistently overflowing and not emptied regularly, even though the terrace didn’t seem constantly busy. The omelette chef also fell short of 5-star service. It regularly took at least 5-10 minutes just to make two fried eggs. For the rates they charge, they should improve the organisation and service. The “excellent” reviews on Trip.com are hard to understand.

Our 2BR was awesome, with HK plugs throughout, lovely heated toilet bowls, and imported products, thanks to being part of SHK group. Taxi drop-offs were no problem. Service felt a little reluctant, and getting out meant changing lifts twice. There’s good coffee in the mall downstairs, and a Galleries Lafayette mall one metro stop away, so that was all good. The gym looks great, but it lacks pull-up bars and other ways to work your arms besides free weights. Around the location, many Meituan options are more gentrified, but still fine if you know what to order.

The location is handy: the second door takes you straight into IFC Mall and the metro, so you don’t need to use the main entrance. The rooms are big and have a kitchen and laundry. It’s a residence I’d recommend staying at when you’re in Shanghai.

The indoor play area gave our kid somewhere to spend a little time, and the breakfast team, housekeepers, and plumbers were also much friendlier than some of the other staff. Being right beside IFC mall made it easy to get around with a pram. Still, over six nights the service and upkeep fell well short of what I expect from a five-star hotel. We arrived at 6:30pm on the first day, and the extra bed included in our booking still hadn't been set up. When I tried calling about it, the room phone was dead. The amenities staff were unusually impatient. One hurried through my question about detergent that came without a label. On another day, a different staff member repeated three times that I should hand over our dirty quilt cover for a clean one. I was already getting it and didn't mind handing it over, but the repeated prompting felt unnecessary, and he didn't even thank me afterward. We're guests at a five-star hotel, not family members expected to do favors for the staff. On our last night, water leaked through the ceiling beside our open luggage. We were lucky to spot it before our things got even wetter. We were told a blockage at the swimming pool on the 26th floor caused leaks in our room, as well as the rooms next door and above us. My spouse heard the water dripping onto a towel in the bucket the staff provided. I was asleep in the living room, so it didn't disturb me, but in the morning the towel had brown stains, and some of our belongings and luggage were dirtied. That was really upsetting. We accepted the complimentary breakfasts offered because of the late extra-bed setup and poor service. A free breakfast wouldn't make an incident like a ceiling leak okay. IFC Residence needs to do much better with service, facilities, and maintenance.