Hongqiao State Guest Hotel to experience state-level courtesy

At 4:30 pm, the plane landed at Hongqiao Airport. After 30 minutes, I was already in a comfortable room in the administrative building of the Hongqiao State Guest House. Excluding the time to get out of the airport and the time to wait for a taxi, it is about 15 minutes on the road.

This is a five-star garden hotel with a long history, full of mystery and fashion. In the past, only Chinese leaders and foreign heads of state were hosted here. Now it is also a place for business celebrities to meet and say hello to each other. Some CEOs of multinational companies and their families live in a villa here for a long time. All the facilities and services here bring guests the ultimate convenience, comfort, and an incomparable sense of dignity.

Recalling the experience after entering the hotel just now, I am in a good mood. When the taxi just entered the gate, it was not a high-rise building, but a lush garden scene. Surrounded by green trees, the red roofs of villas could be vaguely seen, as if entering a noble manor. I didn't expect such a paradise in the city surrounded by steel and concrete in Shanghai. The taxi went around the trees and lawns, passed the splendid fountain, and drove to the main building of No. 6. The kind doorman came to help me open the door to pick up my luggage and take me into the hotel lobby.

Although it is half a century old, all facilities still show their original style. Antique lamps, antique vases, exquisite screens, bronzes and other decorations can be seen everywhere, making the whole environment full of aristocratic temperament and quite royal style. After checking in at Building 6, the main hotel building, the bellboy led me to the red golf cart and took me to the Administration Building, where I was about to stay. As soon as we entered, the courteous lobby manager and other staff were already smiling and welcomed the guests at the door. The lobby manager took me all the way to the room. Meanwhile, the bellboy has placed my luggage properly. So far, I also have a preliminary feeling about the state-level courtesy.

The administrative building is mainly designed in Western style. The rooms are very spacious, and there are relatively independent areas for rest, meeting and work. As soon as you enter the room, fresh welcome fruits appear, placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa in the living room. The desk is also specially prepared for me with fragrant pink roses, and there is a room service guide in Chinese, English and Japanese, which lists the services enjoyed by guests on the executive floor, including "According to the room service". The occupancy rate can be extended to 4:00 pm; Free Executive Lounge (10:00 am to 8:00 pm) and afternoon tea service; Buffet breakfast in the Executive Lounge or Palm Island Cafe; 24-hour butler service and luggage service; free use of swimming pool and gym; free in-room tea and coffee service; free shoe shine service; free use of meeting rooms and unlimited Internet access for 2 hours per day. All the disposable products here are also of first-class quality. For example, the toiletries in the bathroom are Italian Bvlgari brand.

The most relaxing thing for me is the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the small semi-circular balcony in the guest room. Standing on the balcony, the large garden of 200,000 square meters has a panoramic view.

The first time I called the front desk, I was amazed that the caller immediately called my name. When I went downstairs to wait for my friends in the lobby, someone brought a cup of black tea. When I wanted to go out, the waiter reminded me: "It's cold outside, do you want to add a coat?" It feels good to be cared for.

Waking up the next morning, the sun was shining, I opened the floor-to-ceiling door on the balcony, and there were chirping birds outside. Looking out from the small balcony, you can see various trees such as cedar, camphor, ginkgo, etc. everywhere, and the wax plum is blooming with bright yellow flowers.

In the morning executive lounge, guests enjoyed refreshing morning light and a hearty breakfast.

Because this hotel has hosted countless political dignitaries, out of curiosity, I deliberately visited the conference hall and banquet hall here, and they are all noble and elegant, especially the two 7 meters in the No. 2 Presidential Building Seeing the magnificent conference hall and banquet hall, people can't help but imagine the crowded situation here. It is no wonder that many Chinese and foreign companies scramble to hold annual meetings at the Hongqiao State Guest House every year. This is a place that gives people a sense of accomplishment.

At noon, I ate at Donghuxuan, the hotel's Chinese restaurant. The dishes here are really highly recommended. Among them, the secret steak is a special dish. It is made from the world-famous Japanese Kobe steak. The meat is delicate, tender and gluten-free, and it is extremely delicious. And the hotel's catering feature - state banquet, can be called the first choice for banquets in Shanghai. It has received many Chinese and foreign leaders and business celebrities. Former President Mr. Bush Sr., Singapore Cabinet Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Mr. Li Ka-shing, and China's first space hero Yang Liwei have all visited this hotel and tasted the "state banquet" here. .

When I left in the afternoon, I was a little reluctant. I think the convenience of business activities here, the personalized and high-standard services, coupled with the green environment and unique historical and cultural background, together constitute the attractive charm of this hotel.

General Manager Interview

Interviewee: Cao Wei, General Manager of Shanghai Hongqiao Guest House

Hongqiao Guest House is a five-star garden-style hotel with a long history, combining mystery and fashion. . In the past, it was a pure state guesthouse, which received domestic leaders and foreign heads of state and dignitaries. The hotel has 216 elegantly decorated rooms, more than 50 villas of various styles and 16 fully furnished apartments. In addition, the hotel has a wide selection of restaurants and bars, banquet halls, conference halls, fitness centers, and more. In mid-2002, the hotel spent 200 million RMB for the reconstruction and expansion project, adding modern elements on the basis of retaining the original architectural style.

In the past, the Hongqiao State Guest House mainly received political dignitaries. Has its positioning changed now?

This positioning will not change much. In a sense, this hotel is a reception window in Shanghai, which represents the reception level and style of Shanghai.

This hotel has a good government resource advantage over its competitors. We now have a pursuit, every mission and every reception is a wonderful appearance. Every reception becomes a demonstration of our real-time products and services. Just like two days ago, a leader just invited the leader of Kazakhstan to dinner, and it felt very good. Now many receptions from their embassy are prepared to be placed on our side.

In addition to the characteristics of reception and the advantages of customer sources, our current geographical resources are also very good. We are located in the central area of two rings and one vertical: we are between the inner ring and the middle ring, and the one vertical refers to the elevated Yan'an Road. The traffic is very convenient. And we are on one side of Hongqiao Development Zone, on the other side is the high-end residential area of Gubei. It can be said to be both right and left.

And the second phase of the reconstruction of Hongqiao Airport will start soon, business charter flights and hotspot flights will all be here. These advantages will be of great help in the future.

Of course, we also have cultural background, historical resources, and some little-known stories that can be used. There are many resources that we can turn into featured products that are well suited to market needs. Therefore, since it entered the field of vision of business people, many business guests are attracted by the garden and various products here. Our business guests account for 60%, and foreign guests also account for 60%.

How do you use these advantages to provide guests with products and services that are different from other five-star hotels?

How to do it differently from others, perhaps the most important thing is to start a dislocation operation. Different from the current high-end hotels, we have a large garden of 200,000 square meters, which contains various combination products, including villas, office buildings, apartments, and guest rooms. Various options can be provided for different customers. But the problem we face is that now there are other garden-style hotels in Shanghai, how can we be different from them? We now have a vision and a slogan - "The Elite Lives a Wonderful Life", which is to integrate our services into the lives of our market customers. To make them here is to enjoy a taste of life and have a way of life. The target is locked in business exhibitions, leisure and vacation, and living in peace and health. We are suitable for living here, and surrounded by green trees, it is a natural oxygen bar. Last but not least, for celebrations, our lawns are perfect for large outdoor celebrations.

In addition, we will also make some products with cultural background as a foil. We often receive state guests, and in the catering, we will promote the essence of state banquets to experience the courtesy of state guests, so that everyone can enjoy the beautiful and delicious food. We have a very good relationship with many embassies, which not only opens up a high-end market platform for us, but also enables us to share resources to engage in some activities. For example, each consulate has its own foreign chefs, and we invite their chefs to make us some dishes with corresponding themes, and we can hold a food festival of all countries.

In addition, there are more and more foreigners in China who also want to integrate into the city of Shanghai. We can use this platform to solve their social problems and their learning to integrate into Chinese culture. These aspects are what sets us apart from other hotels.

Generally speaking, what we want to do is a themed hotel. Through reasonable market positioning, we let different groups of people have different understandings of Hongqiao Guest House. Maybe politicians think what the Hongqiao Guest House is, business people think it is, and foreign children think what the Hongqiao Guest House is. Different markets, we will have different main products, we try our best to meet different markets, because this hotel has different products. For example, we have very good grass, and some areas will even become a paradise for international children. But the purpose of our children's service is not only for the children, but more to pay attention to the parents behind them and the resources of multinational companies.

Nowadays the hotel competition in Shanghai is fierce, and sometimes we have to operate the hotel with unorthodox concept of the hotel industry. For example, there is no hotel in China that has a mascot yet. We can collect mascots, on the one hand to expand the influence, and on the other hand, there are other follow-up work that can be carried out after the mascots come out.

What impression will the business people have when they come?

Convenience of business activities is a must, and in addition to solving these, they can also feel some other things here. For example, you can enjoy tranquility and leisure here, instantly resolve the fatigue of business activities, and feel the respect of different courtesy and business activities. There are also some small services, such as some hotels deliver milk and chocolate when the turndown is turned on, but we may deliver seeds here. After the guests bring them back, they can grow plants and bloom. It may multiply the charm of a green hotel and induce guests' memories of good experiences.

The business atmosphere here is very strong, and there may be many opportunities that cannot be found. For example, we have Fangliang Crab Banquet here, which is a famous place to eat crabs in Shanghai and even in the whole country. Maybe this old club meets the old boss who has been with him for a long time and promotes cooperation.

Our clientele is not many, but the level is high. We will consciously build a special high-end social platform in business. Business guests may find unexpected business opportunities by surprise during their stay. This may be the most attractive place for business guests who will stay here in the future.

If you were asked to recommend a hotel to our readers, what would you say?

First of all, I hope that managers can taste the different connotations from other high-star hotels when they come here. Coming here, they may feel a sense of paradise. After leaving, I hope they can reminisce about a good time here. Finally, he can make a wise and emotional decision, where is his favorite business trip in Shanghai - a "Home away from home, office away from office" that makes him fascinated.

We now account for 30% of our repeat customers, and some people come here 20 or 30 times. But there are still many, many people who don't know about this hotel, which shows that the market still has great potential, and our business opportunities are unlimited.

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