N Reasons Portman Ritz-Carlton Loves Her

Waking up early in the morning, tucked into the fluffy goose down duvet and somewhat unsure of where I am. A ray of sunlight penetrated the gaps in the flannel curtains and sprinkled on the fluffy little lion under the crystal table lamp, and then I completely recovered from the good dream of the night - I have already spent this time at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The first night of my trip to Shanghai.

OK

Yesterday's flight was pushed again and again due to the weather, and it was almost midnight when it landed at Pudong Airport. Fortunately, there is no need to wait in line for a taxi in the cold wind with a group of people anxious to go home and in a fretful mood. As soon as they left the departure hall, they saw Li Jia's driver Lao Chen and his crown car waiting on the other side of the side road. The familiar smiling face was a little tired, but still so kind.

Portman Ritz-Carlton has a group of veteran employees who have been working in the hotel since its opening in 1998, such as Lao Chen, Nick in the hotel lobby, and Lisa in the housekeeping department, all of whom have worked for nearly ten years. Every time I come to Shanghai for business, I see them in the hotel, even if I only stay for one day, I will feel like coming home. When I watched French movies before, in those historic hotels, the drivers or waiters were often gentle, kind and gentlemanly white-haired old men. I couldn’t help but imagine that the Portman Ritz-Carlton was probably the best chance for this kind of birth in Chinese hotels. A place for "noble waiters".

As soon as the car drove up the corridor of Shanghai Mall, I heard the gurgling sound of the marble water curtain wall. Although it was late at night, there were still guests coming and going in front of the hotel. Shanghai is a city that never sleeps, and here is the famous Nanjing West Road. There is also a bar street that is the latest in Shanghai. Many hotel guests like to sit there, listen to music and dance. I sometimes go out for a drink with my friends, but that's forgot yesterday, because what I needed most at that time was the comfortable queen size bed in the room!

Stay

Put on my dressing gown, turn on the LCD TV, cut back and forth between CNN news and the MTV band, decide to get out of the goose down quilt and get up to wash--visit next door at ten o'clock in the morning Clients of the Plaza 66 office building can take a leisurely walk if they leave early.

This year, Portman Ritz-Carlton's guest rooms have been renovated, including the bathrooms, in warm tones like gold, beige, and coffee. There are only a few Chinese freehand paintings on the wall, which add a little book fragrance to the bedroom; the agate panels are warm and rich, and they look rich and warm. Broadband Internet access is also more convenient, and the interface and network cable are in the drawer next to the desk. But it's not really what I care about the most.

There is an endless stream of new high-end hotels opening in China, especially in Shanghai, where one opens about every month. It's a matter of opinion as to whose room is more spacious and refined. The point is that the Ritz-Carlton staff knew I would have a perfume lily in my bathroom, and it had to be in the same place every time I came, which no other hotel would think to do. And the lobby here is definitely not the most luxurious, because the tradition of the Ritz-Carlton lobby is "exquisite and intimate", a waiter who can call out the name of every regular customer and greet you with a smile. That kind of aristocratic temperament precipitated by eighty years of history cannot be learned by others.

Food

At four o'clock in the afternoon, I came back from a busy day outside, went to the executive lounge on the 43rd floor to read some materials, and had afternoon tea by the way. It is much quieter than the coffee bar in the lobby, because the elevator to this floor requires guests to hold the key card of the executive floor.

There are not many people. A middle-aged Asian man on the big sofa is staring intently at the screen of his laptop, with a five- or six-year-old daughter under his knees, he is busy cleaning himself while eating cookies The small backpack looks really interesting.

I chose the sofa by the south window next to them and sat down. The mint tea in my hand and the Phalaenopsis on the coffee table were quietly fragrant. Outside the window is the Shanghai Exhibition Hall, also known as the Friendship Hall, which is said to be the witness of the Sino-Soviet friendship. There is also an identical one in Beijing, with a strong Russian architectural style. In the distance, the rows of red sloping small buildings behind the elevated buildings are old-fashioned residential buildings in Shanghai. They are hidden in the middle of several modern buildings.

I had dinner with my friends at Xia Yuan Chinese Restaurant on the second floor. In terms of fame, this place is not as famous as Palando Italian Restaurant and Huakuang Japanese Restaurant - those two places in Shanghai have almost become culinary landmarks for foodies. However, the hand-painted plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and the zheng music of the fishing boat singing at night can especially create the traditional flavor of Chinese food. There is also the most exhaustive wine list in China, with more than 500 wines alone. The classic Cantonese dishes are light and delicious. My friend just came back from a vacation in Southeast Asia. She served soup with four treasures vegetables, sea tiger wings and dumplings, and a few delicate side dishes were perfect for her "curry stomach".

Drinking

At night, go to the Ritz-Carlton Bar to listen to jazz. Shanghai is now hard to find authentic jazz, and even fewer quiet jazz bars, and this is a good place to go. There has never been a loud voice, and the sound that fills the air is the music played by the band led by Danny Woody: Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo, all of them are American original.

There is also a famous cigar bar next to it, which is the place with the largest collection of cigar brands in Shanghai, with more than ten kinds of top cigars in the world. Some guests will store their unfinished cigars here. The small drawers are marked with their names, which can also be regarded as a status symbol.

I'm a non-smoker and I love the cocktails more. The bartenders at Ritz-Carlton are all young women, and everyone has a special cocktail made with their own special attention: Midnight Sun or Lonely Road, each with their own style.

A translucent crystal beam above the bar looks like a sky full of stars. Suddenly I remembered a sentence from Hemingway. The old man who loved to find novels, but tried to get rid of melancholy all his life once said: "Whenever I dream of life in heaven, the scene always happens at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel." With the music, click Before you know it, it's late at night with a cocktail.

Executive Interviews

Interviewee: Ralph Grippo, General Manager, The Portman Ritz-Carlton

The Ritz-Carlton is a Marriott International hotel company ) of the most high-end brands, the customers are mostly high-class people who know how to enjoy and pay attention to taste. Founded in the United States in 1927, it currently has 60 hotel chains around the world. It uses the lion and crown as the brand logo, which symbolizes the rigorous and noble management style.

The Portman Ritz-Carlton opened in Shanghai in 1998 and is the only hotel in mainland China so far. It has won the "Asia's Best Business Hotel" award and the "World's 500 Best Hotels" award for many years in a row. The current general manager Gong Borui took office in August 2005. He has a total of 17 years of rich management experience in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group.

As a world-class luxury hotel, compared with other five-star hotels in China, what do you think is the most distinctive feature of Portman Ritz-Carlton?

I think it's the "people" of Portman Ritz-Carlton first. We treat every employee as a gentleman and a lady, and their smiles and meticulous service are the keys to a great experience for our guests. So we select our employees carefully, and provide them with very good training and respect for each of them. I want to make sure my guests get the best and most responsive service. No one wants to wait, especially in a fast-paced city like Shanghai.

What makes Ritz-Carlton special is that every guest here feels like the most special guest. You know, our hotel is very busy, and our goal is not to make guests feel like they're just one of hundreds, but the only one.

I often hear that Ritz-Carlton offers tailor-made services to clients. Attaches great importance to "Guest Recognition" (guest information identification), what preferences do you record the guests?

Almost all. Including what the guest told us, and what we observed to serve him better, was recorded in as much detail as possible. For example, when you come home and open the refrigerator, what do you usually want to drink the most?

Should be water.

What water? Mineral water or pure water? Is there any special brand? With or without ice? Add lemon or lime?

I love Perrier mineral water. Without ice, add lemon.

You see, this is what we want to do, when a guest says he likes water, we try to find out which one he likes. Just imagine, when you come to the hotel next time, the waiter handed you a glass of water, you may be very happy. But if the waiter served a glass of Perrier with lemon and no ice, you would think it was very sweet, because it was served just for you. We want to provide a guest with something he really likes, not just something random.

How do you get this information, by asking the guest directly, or by observation?

Most of the time we observe. For example, colleagues in the housekeeping department will observe that some guests like to sleep on the left side of the bed, so when the turndown is turned on, we will drive on the left side. Many other hotels will only train their staff to turn their turndowns in a certain direction because they want the rooms to be consistent. And Ritz-Carlton arranges all services according to the preferences of the guests.

In the past we have tried not to ask guests. However, some guests may only come once or twice a year, and there is not much opportunity to observe, and we really hope that he can feel the hotel's intentions for the first time, so now we sometimes take the initiative to ask. For example, ask the guest's secretary when making a reservation, or ask the guest's opinion when he arrives. These information are recorded in the system. When the guest makes a reservation again, he enters his name and he will see various information, and we will provide personalized services based on these.

These are the best ways to keep regular customers coming back. Portman Ritz-Carlton rarely advertises, so how do you get those potential guests to try it out for the first time?

Most of the guests who come here for the first time are recommended by old guests. The customer has experienced it, and if he really likes it, he will recommend it to his friends. This word of mouth is our best advertisement.

I know about 80% of Portman Ritz-Carlton are foreign guests. Do you have any plans to attract more domestic guests to Ritz-Carlton?

Currently we are the only Ritz-Carlton hotel in mainland China. In the next two years, Ritz-Carlton will open two hotels in Beijing and new hotels in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. At that time, Ritz-Carlton will be more famous in China and attract more domestic guests.

Actually, even if your home is just 5 kilometers away, a weekend at the hotel can be an enjoyable getaway. Enjoying a good meal, listening to jazz in a bar, or watching the latest foreign movies is a pretty good experience.