Hilton Qingdao Golden Beach

Being a so-called 5 star hotel, especially one that's under Hilton Hotel franchise, the serving staff in the restaurant (the one that serves buffet breakfast) definitely needs more intensive training, if they are trainable. While my wife and I were having breakfast, sitting right next to our table were 4 hotel staff, chatting loudly, probably enjoying their free breakfast. One was in fact occupying one of our empty seat in our table, showing a complete neglect of boundary and personal space. At the end of their meal, the one who was intruding into our space, even tried to light up his cigarette to smoke, in a "No Smoke" restaurant. If my wife did not reprimand him, he would have just go ahead and do what he pleases. Of-course, not a word of apology was offered for his offensive act. Apparently he thought that was within his right to do so, despite it was a No Smoking facility. Such a kind of behavior was shockingly appalling and would not be seen in any decent hotel anywhere else in Asia, definitely not in Hong Kong. The serving staff in the restaurant was inattentive to the guests' need. We ran out of paper napkins for our table, and none of the servers paid any attention, even though several of them walked by our table many times. Neither did they come to pick up our empty plates after we finished. Perhaps that's their definition of "buffet' dining, because in Chinese it means "self-help" and they are taking it to mean literally, that the guests were to help themselves??

For our family get-away, we decided to stay at the Hilton hearing good things about their pool and kids areas. We have 2 girls, 4yrs old and 5yrs old. We started with a standard room but not satisfied with the size upgraded to a deluxe and that worked out much better for us. Our stay was comfortable and the staff was excellent. The play area for the kids on the 2nd floor was better than expected. It was more like what you would find in a mall around China though not too big. The pool area was great for the kids. They had 3 areas for swimming. 1 for very young children, one that was a little deeper more like an overgrown hot tub without being too hot and the main pool area. My kids liked all three. The lifeguards were very attentive and looked after all the kids with a watchful eye. Of course you have to watchout for the slippery areas and of course my 5 year old slipped and hit the back of her head on the ground. She cried a bit but seemed ok. However I told the lifeguard about the accident and asked for her if they could check her out. The lifeguard came to my room and examined my daughter. She threw up which gave us an indication that she needs to go to the hospital. To representatives of the HiIton Hotel went with me and they were absolutely fabulous in getting us to the front to see a doctor and even paid for all the charges. I didn't have to do anything. After the examination and CT scan, the doctor said everything was ok. Thank God. Thank you Hilton for your help.

This was one of the nicest hotels we have stayed at all around. We arrived on the sleeper train in the morning, and we went and dropped our bags early and they arranged us a room earlier than normal check in (which was nice with our still sleepy kids in tow). We enjoyed the location, right across from the beach (although with the construction it took a little bit to figure out how to get to it). It is easy to access the city (although a little bit pricy). The hotel was clean, amazingly friendly staff, the breakfast actually had variation from day 1 morning to day 2 (which is rare in the nice 4 & 5 star hotels in China) and it was really good. The pool was a comfortable temperature (not always normal) and clean, with a kids pool that was small and not overly entertaining but the kids enjoyed being able to touch. The fitness center was nice as well although we didn't have time to use it. The room itself was pretty good, great view, nice balcony, although we had an electrical issue (lights kept shutting off and on intermittently), but they eventually came and fixed it. Overall the best hotel we've stayed in in China. Areas for improvement (Locker room isn't as nice as some others, pillow wasn't as comfortable as some other hotels), areas of standout (staff, cleanliness, responsiveness, pools, breakfast, gardens outside).

Room was not so clean, and very cold with weak heater. (winter time staying)