Hotel The Ritz-Carlton Hongkong

The hotel is in the ICC and is well connected by train to the airport as well as the shopping mall, Elements.

In one word, the service was terrible. I wanted to treat my boyfriend to a surprise weekend getaway for his birthday and bought the Suite Dreams Package, which is described as follows on the hotel website:" Dreams come true at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong. Indulge in a romantic getaway with your beloved and create a memory that will last a lifetime." Huge mistake. I cannot emphasise enough how misleading this description is. Do NOT fall for this package. The description should actually read "Nightmares come true at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong. Unromantic getaway with your beloved. Scar yourself with memories that will last a lifetime."

The Suite Dreams Package is described as including the following: arrival limousine transfer (any destination in Hong Kong), romantic dinner for two at Tosca (on one evening), 80-minute aromatherapy massage for two among other things.

I was surprised to receive an email from the concierge a day before the limousine was to pick up me and my boyfriend, informing me that the limousine ride would be HK $450 and that there would be an HK $800 per hour waiting charge if the driver were to wait for more than 15 minutes. I immediately wrote back to enquire if the transfer was not already included in the price of the Suite Dreams Package. The concierge replied that it was indeed part of the package and apologised for the confusion. This was a teeny tiny blunder compared to what was to come.

The limousine was to pick me and my boyfriend up the following day at 1:00 PM. To cut a long story short, the driver went to the wrong building, 5 minutes away from where I live and finally managed to arrive at our place at 1:45 PM.

Upon arrival at the hotel, the hotel staff came up with all kinds of excuses to explain the blunder and avoid blame. Apparently, the limousine driver had been held up by protesters en route to pick us up. Even more unbelievably, they blamed the management of my building, saying that they had not been allowed to wait for us. This has never been an issue and is complete and utter nonsense.

We got to our hotel suite at 2:10 PM and ended up having to cancel our lunch reservation at Inakaya, which was scheduled at 1:45 PM, since the restaurant stopped serving lunch at 2:30 PM. The hotel compensated by arranging a table for us at The Lounge and Bar, one of its own outlets, where we ate a sandwich and pad thai on the house. However, this in no way made up for our disappointment at missing the chance to dine at Inakaya, something I had planned more than a month in advance.

What made matters even worse was the 80-minute aromatherapy massage for two included in the package. My boyfriend was led to the men’s changing room and I to the ladies’ to get changed for the massage. So far so good. Afterwards, I was escorted by my therapist to a massage room for one person. I asked the therapist where my boyfriend was, and was told that we would be having our massages in separate rooms. This surprised me as the Suite Dreams Package is described as a “romantic getaway with your beloved” and separate massages in separate rooms is the exact opposite of romantic. I asked the therapist if there was an error. The therapist informed me that to get a couple’s room, I had to upgrade at a price of HK $900 or so. Since money was not an issue, I told her to get me a couple’s room immediately. The therapist told me that the two couple’s rooms were full and had to be booked in advance. My boyfriend and I ended up having the 80-minute aromatherapy massage for two in separate rooms.

My massage ended at 6:46 PM, 14 minutes before the romantic dinner for two at Tosca, which I had scheduled for 7 PM. I postponed the dinner to 7:30 PM as I urgently needed to express my dissatisfaction with the massage as well as my growing distress anticipating whether or not the romantic dinner for two would be just as disastrous as the massage.

I spoke to a duty manager and told him that any reasonable person would assume that the aromatherapy massage for two included in the Suite Dreams Package would be in a couple’s room since the package is described as a “romantic getaway with your beloved”. He apologised and told me that he would check what the Suite Dreams Package should include. I also informed him that after the separate and unromantic massages that my boyfriend and I had, I was extremely distressed that we would be seated at separate tables for the romantic dinner for two at Tosca. He assured me that he would personally see to it that the dinner arrangements would be up to standard.

Fortunately, it turned out that my boyfriend and I were seated at the same table for dinner. However, the damage had already been done by the unromantic massage and I could hardly enjoy dinner that night. As we sat down for dinner, the waiter asked if we would like champagne. As my boyfriend likes white wine with his meals, he asked for the wine list instead. We never got it and were given rosé champagne on the house, in addition to an extra dessert. I appreciated the gesture, but knowing that my boyfriend does not like rosé wine, would much rather have chosen a wine to my boyfriend’s liking from the wine list. As for the extra dessert, it was delicious but unnecessary as we already had dessert included as part of our meal. The rosé champagne and the extra dessert did not change the fact that the aromatherapy massage for two in separate rooms was completely and utterly unromantic and a real cause of distress and anxiety for me.

After careful consideration more than a month ago, I chose The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday weekend over many other five-star hotels such as The Peninsula and The Mandarin Oriental. Being a new and upcoming hotel with a world-class reputation, I was confident that this was where we would experience, according to the hotel slogan, an “elevated luxury lifestyle”. However, this was not the case.

My biggest complaint is, of course, the 80-minute aromatherapy massage for two in separate rooms. I can honestly say that I did not enjoy a single second of the 80-minute massage separated from my boyfriend, wondering how the hotel could market the Suite Dreams Package as romantic. Any rational person would assume that the massage, which is part of the so-called romantic package, would be enjoyed by a couple, together in the same room without the need to upgrade to a couple’s room for HK $900 or so. However, since this was not the case, the hotel is seriously misrepresenting the Suite Dreams Package and misleading its guests.

As for the gestures made by the staff to apologise for the blunders, all I can say is too little too late. The lunch on the house to make up for the lunch we missed at INAKAYA and the additional items that were given to us at Tosca after the bungled separate and unromantic massages do not make up for the fact that I was severely distressed during the 45-minute wait for the limousine, disappointed at missing the lunch I had planned at INAKAYA and, worst of all, spent an agonising 80 minutes during the massage wondering how things could have gone so wrong and terrified of what the next blunder was going to be. I started planning my boyfriend’s surprise weekend getaway more than a month in advance, but it turned out to be nothing like I had envisioned it to be.

The only member of staff I felt was naturally hospitable and welcoming was Mr Nils B. at The Lounge & Bar. On the actual day of my boyfriend’s birthday, he kindly escorted us to a table with perhaps the best view in the entire restaurant where we had champagne and cake on the house with our breakfast. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank him for making us feel welcome that day.

However, I’m afraid that one hospitable member of staff is not enough to make me ever want to return to the Ritz-Carlton. I had one chance to make my boyfriend’s birthday weekend special and memorable and to “create a memory that will last a lifetime”, as the Suite Deams Package is advertised. I will definitely remember my weekend at the Ritz-Carlton for a lifetime, but not in the way I had hoped. My weekend there will always remind me of the distress, disappointment, tears and shock of what was supposed to be a romantic getaway.

The Front Office Manager gave me his namecard as I was checking out, asking me to call him to arrange a romantic dinner the following weekend to make up for all the blunders. His gesture simply cannot make up for the fact that my boyfriend’s romantic birthday getaway was an absolute catastrophe. I do not see why I should give the staff a chance to ease their conscience. Guests who choose to stay at a hotel like The Ritz-Carlton choose to do so because they expect top-notch service. I no longer have such expectations from The Ritz-Carlton. The staff there had their chance to make my boyfriend's birthday weekend spectacular but failed us miserably.

I warn any couple looking for a romantic getaway NOT to choose the Ritz-Carlton's Suite Dreams Package. Doing so will cause you grief as I learnt the hard way. If you are looking for impeccable service and a blunder-free getaway, do NOT consider the Ritz-Carlton but go to The Peninsula or The Mandarin Oriental where you are guaranteed a five-star-hotel-worthy experience.

The following are the hotel's outlets:

The Lounge & Bar
The Chocolate Library
Tosca (Italian)
OZONE Bar

Other than The Chocolate Library, which I haven't been to, the food served is generally good.

Great swimming pool and hot tub.

I stayed at a Premier Island Suite. Great view of Victoria Harbour. Loved the power shower and the Nespresso machine.