One of my favorite hotel brands in the world is The St. Regis! The St. Regis is of course now part of the Marriott group, and was formally part of the Starwood (SPG) group before they merged! Ao everyone knows I am now VERY LOYAL to Marriott, as I was the SPG!
I had a short, 2 night stay at the St. Regis Beijing, which was not enough time! The hotel was fabulous and over the top in every aspect! I will say starting out that I totally recommend this hotel to anyone and everyone!
Booking
I booked the St. Regis using a standard cash rate. The reason I did this is because the St. Regis, in general, is usually very expensive (rightfully so), but in this instance it was VERY REASONABLE! I paid, with taxes and fees, about $150 USD as night!
Yes thats right! So how could I not pay cash for this? China is usually a very good place to get luxury , five star hotels at a very reasonable price! As is the UAE, India, and Egypt.
Transportation
A new option on Marriott.com , and on the app, is the option to book “activities” for each destination you are going. Marriott has partnered with PlacePass and Viator to offer these options. This is the first time I have used this service, but I did for this trip, and was very pleased. I usually use Blacklane in Beijing, but this was half the price. I will say with Blacklane you get a Mercedes E class and for this trip I was in a very nice Black VW Passatt, so not that big of a difference and well worth the $100 savings. The driver met me with a sign at the airport and the whole process went fabulously! The great thing besides the price is you earn Marriott points for booking these “activities! Check out Marriott Activities Here.
Arrival / Check-In
The arrival and check-in went very smooth. When I arrived, a bellman whisked me to the front desk, and once I gave my name, the agent politely excused herself to go to the back office. When she returned, she was accompanied by the front office manager, and director of rooms, which greeted me very warmly and made me feel very welcome. The check-in process was fast and I was escorted to my suite by the front office manager and a bellman. On our way to the suite the manager was giving me the rundown of the hotel.
The Room / Suite
Let me just say… WOW!
I used Suite Night Upgrade certificates from Marriott prior to my arrival to make sure I got a suite, and I was , in fact upgraded to an Ambassador Suite. I always check my app over and over before arrival to see what type of room I am getting.
Upon Landing In Beijing, I checked my app, and to my surprise , I had been further upgraded to the “China Suite”, which is the Vice Presidential Suite of the Hotel.
Upon walking into the Suite I was blown away! It was not only large and luxurious, it had the best view in the hotel! I was on the top floor, corner and had ALMOST 360 degree views.
The Suite was around 1,000 square feet, and had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, spare bath, office, and reception area, bedroom, walk – in closet,
along with the classic, fabulous St. Regis white marble bathroom!
Waiting for me in the suite was a massive bowl of fruit, some candies, and sparkling water (benefits of having an ambassador).
The only things about this room that was classic St. Regis, was, of course the luxuriousness , and the main bathroom,
everything else was done in a Chinese decor, and was very nice.
The Business Center / Lounge
This particular St. Regis is a bit unusual in that it had a quasi executive lounge! I have seen this once before at the St. Regis Mumbai, and its always a welcome pleasure to have an executive lounge ge, even if it is just open for 2 hours.
The Business center was one floor above me , in which you could use the grand staircase, (Yes this high up they had a grand staircase), or the elevator. In the business center all day long there was not much available in terms of food and drink, but had computers, tv’s and a nice place to lounge.
At 6pm every night, they closed the Business Center, and turned it into an executive lounge for Marriott Bonvoy Platinums and above. The staff then brought in tons of nice food, snacks, and made cocktails to order, actually, great ones!
This was a great addition to this St. Regis, and just goes to show the level of service they abide by! By brand standards, Marriott does NOT require them to have ANY type of lounge or happy hour. Another sign that this is is a TOP NOTCH FIRST CLASS HOTEL!
Food
I was met in my suite by the Director of Food and Beverage shortly after arriving, to go over my dietary needs as my Ambassador , the FABULOUS Brandi ,had sent over my details after booking, describing that I was a Vegan, along with other requests and details. I basically told him like I tell most hotels, as long as its 100% plant based, I will eat it (except avocado), and to please have the chef just make me whatever he wants with a local flair. They did not disappoint.
I had my Ambassador breakfast, in-suite like I always do at St. Regis , (Although, I did have to ask them to remove the charges from my final bill when checking out, as you usually cannot get your free breakfast option via in-room dining. , I always do this while at St. Regis, so , when at the St. Regis…)
Both mornings the breakfast was great! You could tell they was not used to Vegans (its like this all over China), but you could also tell they really were trying to please me and showed in interest in learning!
I had dinner once at Celestial Court, the Chinese restaurant, and again, the service, and food was absolutely amazing! The service was some of the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world, on par with Cipriani, Mexico City (this is my bar for fabulous service).
A very unexpected and nice thing the head server did when I was leaving, was to present me with a package of fried chili peppers that I had mentioned I really liked (They was an appetizer snack on the table). When she handed me a white St. Regis bag with these inside I was so taken aback! ( I have since ordered them on Amazon, they are that good! ).
The last day for lunch , as I was waiting to leave for the airport, I ate in the lobby bar. What I liked about this fabulous hotel is as soon as I gave my room number to anyone, hotel wide, they greeted me by name INSTANTLY, as did the waitress, and said , “Dr. Baker, we are aware of your dietary needs, and could I point out the food you are able to eat?” LOVED THIS! I had tomato soup and French fries. And it was also great!
The Spa
I know, I know, I’ve already said this a zillion times about this hotel, but the Spa was also AMAZING!
The St. Regis is know for its spas, and this one did not disappoint. Besides the wonderful massage I took, there were also 3 hot spring fed baths ,
in varying temperatures you could bath in, as well as a sauna and steam-room!
IF, I had any thing on the negative side to say about the Spa is that a massage cost about the same as a nights stay in the hotel. It seems that maybe the hotel could adjust the cost slightly to go along with the hotels rates, but, it is what it is!
The Staff
I have to say, EVERY single member of the staff that I encountered at the St. Regis Beijing was absolutely first class amazing! The level of training and dedication to service was apparent , and its not only St. Regis Standards, its ABOVE these standards!
Wrap-Up
I will say again, this hotel was absolutely amazing! Everything about it from the hotel itself, to the staff, food, spa, and everything was over the top amazing!
I highly recommend this hotel, and I for sure will return.
I later learned that the hotel reached out to my ambassador for a picture and details about me, and again, shows how they truly wanted to make my stay fabulous, as I am sure they do everyones!
Have you stayed at the St. Regis Beijing? Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks for reading and , PLEASE, TRAVEL MORE!
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