Booking China Hotels By Service, Not By Price And Star Grade

Jane Ji is a China Hospitality News reader and the supervisor of the management section of the technical department at Panasonic Storage Battery (Shenyang) Company Ltd. She is primarily in charge of managing the company's technical issues and business travel services.

When choosing a hotel or meeting venue, which of these elements — service, price, location, equipment, brand or style of decor — attract you most?
First, when choosing a hotel, the location is very important. Clients who travel by air usually choose a hotel that is close to the airport or is easily accessible from the airport. Long-staying guests will choose hotels that are near to shopping centers. The second factor is service. Though prices vary depending on the star ratings of hotels, good service is not limited by price and star rate. Good service and good facilities is one of the most important considerations in choosing a hotel, for example, our consideration will be whether the hotel has featured breakfast, whether it has a free laundry service for long stay guests and how their smoking floors and no-smoking floors are laid out. In addition, we also value the brand and reputation of hotels. So long as a hotel enjoys a good reputation, it will be our premier choice though it may be at a lower star level.

Which domestic hotels have you chosen for your events? Which hotels impressed you most and why?
Shenyang: Shenyang New World Hotel, Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel, Shenyang Rongfu Hotel.
Dalian: Hotel Nikko Dalian, Furama Hotel Dalian.
Beijing: Hotel Kunlun, Yuyang Hotel, Winterless Hotel Beijing.
Shanghai: Grand Soulxe Zhongyou Hotel Shanghai, Grand You You Hotel Shanghai.
Guangdong: Guangzhou Dongfang Hotel.
Each of these hotels has left a deep impression on me. Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel and Furama Hotel Dalian impressed me for their thoughtful service. Shenyang New World Hotel is popular among Japanese clients as it is close to the shopping centers and features convenient transportation. Shenyang Rongfu Hotel and Hotel Nikko Dalian are impressive for their expertise in meetings.

What problems have you encountered in using hotel products and service? What suggestions do you have for hotels?
With the growth of internationalization, most hotels have had international facilities in place. However, the majority of them have done away with bathtubs. As quite a lot of our clients are Japanese, we have to give up using some hotels that have good services and prices simply because they don't have a room with bathtub. Therefore, I suggest hotels keep some rooms with bathtubs.

At present, companies in China are affected by the global economic depression, how does your company balance the quality and price in choosing hotels under this situation? Do you prefer, continuing to use the professional services of international five-star hotels that involve a higher payment or shifting to local five-star hotels to save on costs?
At present, the world is hit by the financial crisis, but it is still important to choosing a hotel with good quality. We will still choose hotels that have good quality and good service for our important meetings.

What kinds of regular events does your company hold each year? Where do you hold these events?
Each year we will hold important conferences like agent meetings and supplier meetings. Usually we choose inland cities such as Wuhan and Qingdao for agent meetings. We will choose local hotels for supplier meetings, though sometimes we go tourism cities like Sanya in Hainan. We have held our events at Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan and Kylin Hotel Qingdao.

Through which channels do you select hotels or venues for your company events?
Often we do this by on-site inspection. We make a final decision on which hotel to use after making comparisons of different hotels.

Which domestic hotels do you think are fashionable in terms of facilities?
Simply speaking, "travel" means to go and look around. In the modern society, people are facing heavy work pressure, but their living standards have gradually increased, so traveling has become a necessary part of their life. Spending some time and go out to relax for a few days and keep the heart at ease can be called traveling. This kind of travel makes higher demands on a hotel's hardware facilities.

"Fashion" is an abstract concept. For people of different ages and at different times, fashion may mean different things. Often a product is sufficiently fashionable, but it is not necessarily good in quality. These days there are not so many products that are both good in style and quality. For hotels, fashion may just mean a temporary "in style".

China Hospitality News is committed to offering the most comprehensive reports on China's tourism industry with the aim of providing the latest industry news to buyers both home and abroad. What do you think of our products? Which columns are you interested in most and why?
I like China Hospitality News very much. It's practical and reader-friendly and can help us quickly seek out the new information we want. The "Feature" columns especially offer us detailed data of hotels and the surrounding places. This reassures us when choosing a hotel in a strange place.

Can you please recommend some travel destinations, both in and out of China, to our readers?
For China, I strongly recommend Yunnan and Tibet. For those who want to go abroad traveling, I think the Maldives, Egypt, and Japan are all pretty good choices.

What are your hobbies and which type of traveling do you like?
I like sports, travel, and studying cuisine.
For traveling, I prefer going to see the sea, to indulge myself in a hot spring, and to go to places that have historical value, leisure or strong culture atmosphere.