Crowne Plaza Shenzhen Longgang City Centre by IHG

The hotel’s restaurant is great, with a buffet dinner that’s good value. As an in-house guest, I think it comes to around US$23 per person after the discount, and includes sashimi, seafood, caviar, suckling piglet and lots of other gourmet food. There’s a shopping center close by, though its food outlets aren’t very interesting. Better malls are farther away in the city square area. It has everything you’d expect from a five-star hotel. The problem is the nightclubs and music bars outside, which can blast music late. On a Saturday it went on until 4am, and the north side of the building is badly affected. The hotel acknowledges the issue by providing earplugs in the rooms.

The buffet had a good range, with changes each day to keep things interesting for longer stays. The Chinese restaurant food was wonderful too. If you skip the buffet breakfast, I’d especially recommend the Chinese restaurant’s all-you-can-eat and drink (all-you-can-eat and drink) menu. The newly opened Dayun Tiandi (Dayun Tiandi) is very close by, which adds to the appeal. Room amenities were high quality, the bed exceptionally comfortable, and though the hotel could use some renovation, it’s well maintained overall. We enjoyed our stay. I had mixed feelings after seeing both positive and negative reviews, but Daisy Guo made check-in a positive experience. She was upfront about possible noise from either side of the room and let us choose our preference. We heard no noise during our three-day stay, and appreciated the two pairs of 3M soundproof earplugs in the room. Daisy was friendly and helpful. We were a little disappointed that pool users had to wear swimming caps. The female staff member who helped us was extremely dedicated and went out of her way to resolve it. The pool was a bit too deep for us, but her attentiveness to our comfort and feelings stood out, even though she wasn’t at fault. One front desk staff member was less helpful when I asked about a delivery, simply telling me rather coldly that deliveries were left on a table near the entrance. By contrast, concierge staff member Sear Lin proactively offered help and stayed helpful while we handled our delivery order.

I stayed four nights for a business trip and had a very nice time. It’s a luxury hotel with everything you need, including a nice swimming pool and gym. Credit cards are widely accepted for paying for rooms, restaurants and bars.

A decent place with a nice lounge. Breakfast has a good spread, and dinner at the restaurant is decent too. The construction outside can be noisy now and then.