Club Med Guilin 5*: all-inclusive resort amidst karst mountains for families

This was the worst hotel I've ever stayed at. I brought my kids here with high expectations, but the experience was terrible, and the staff had absolutely no service awareness. On the first day, we went for archery, and when my child arrived, they said their shoes weren't suitable. The crucial point is that they didn't mention beforehand that sports shoes were required. I even tried to buy a pair for my kid at the hotel's shop, but they didn't have the right size! After a long, drawn-out explanation, they wouldn't let him play. My child just sat there watching. Later, they said he could try a soft bow and arrow, but they just talked about it and didn't give it to him. After another long wait, I asked again for the soft bow and arrow for my child to try. Only then, reluctantly, did they bring it out. If they had just brought it out earlier, it would have saved all the hassle. On the second day, it was activity time, and we were rushing to get there. I asked a restaurant staff member to call a car, but their attitude was dismissive and unhelpful. It took 20 minutes to call a car, and when I messaged management on WeChat, their replies were slow. They just kept saying sorry and that the car was on its way, but after waiting another ten-plus minutes, there was no car in sight. Eventually, they just stopped replying on WeChat. My child missed out on all the activities. Also, the afternoon tea and restaurant dishes weren't very diverse. In short, it was utterly awful.

This was by far the worst hotel of our National Day holiday trip, unbelievably bad. The room was incredibly basic, and the facilities were shockingly outdated. The bedsheets, comforter, and pillows were all damp, making it impossible to sleep. When I tried to call the front desk, I found that the phones in both of our rooms weren't working, so I had to communicate with the butler via WeChat. It absolutely did not justify the price of over 7,000 yuan per night. The only upside was that it was suitable for kids. In reality, we could have stayed at another hotel, and simply paid extra for our children to participate in the activities there during the day, which wouldn't have cost much more. After Club Med was acquired by a domestic consortium, the only change has been massive price increases, essentially charging an '***** tax.' After this experience, I will never return to Club Med.

The rooms were old and had a guesthouse style. There was a clear shortage of staff, and the service was poor. The staff members were not enthusiastic, and the village chief was rarely seen except during the evening performances. It felt like the place was forced to operate.

The room was tiny, with a window that never opened. There was an open cutout between the bathroom and the room, which would be really awkward if you were staying with an older child. I had really high expectations before going, especially given the price. But when I arrived, they just gave me a boilerplate overview and then showed me to the room, leaving me to figure everything else out myself. No surprises there. Only the basic amenities were included; all outdoor activities were extra and ridiculously expensive. The buffet had no character whatsoever. Paying over 2500 for a night's stay was a total rip-off. I wouldn't recommend it.

The facilities are very poor, and the hotel environment isn't good either.

The overall experience is poor. A Malaysian village chief brought a group of Chinese employees who prefer to speak English. I feel that the cleaning staff and restaurant waiters are more enthusiastic towards mainland Chinese people. Other management staff and the front desk are responsive to foreigners, warm and hospitable to Hong Kong people, and deal with mainland Chinese people. From booking the room to checking in, there has been no butler or service staff to contact WeChat to understand the itinerary and needs. There is no butler service after checking in, and the front desk is indifferent to you, which is also affected by the service attitude. From the moment of checking in, the overall feeling is average. Going out to take the battery car in the park depends entirely on luck. If you call the front desk, it will take at least half an hour. The design of the whole room is quite special. Most of the rooms are the kind with a connecting door in the middle and then locked, so the sound insulation can be imagined. I called the front desk and asked if our two families, if both have a connecting door, can we change to a room with a connecting door together. Although it was changed in the end, when changing, they actually said that our room would be charged extra and upgraded for free. Isn't it funny? Just open the middle door and then say that there is an extra charge. The overall food quality is average, you can eat enough, but don't expect too much. The only thing is that the environment is OK.

The room facilities were outdated, and the staff were indifferent. Even the cleaning lady greeted us politely, but the so-called "GOs" (Guests and GOs) and other staff were extremely cold. The recreational facilities were old; the children's playroom only had a slide and a trampoline, and the safety net was damaged. My child was a little over a month shy of four years old, and they refused to enroll him in daycare without any explanation. They simply wouldn't accept it, showing a complete lack of service philosophy. If they had given an explanation, we wouldn't have felt there was a problem. However, many online reviews mentioned that the "GOs" at daycare had poor attitudes. Although we didn't have daycare, we noticed during our stay that they were indeed impatient with children and would yell at them. Compared to the service in Lijiang, it was far inferior. During the Spring Festival, the room rate was nearly 3000 yuan per night. If the room facilities were inadequate, the service should at least be adequate. The front desk staff, whom we added on WeChat during our stay, never contacted us again until we left, when they messaged us asking if we could leave a good review. It was truly speechless.

The room facilities are old, the service attitude and awareness are poor, and the included meals are like a big pot of rice in the canteen, which is unpalatable and easy to fill up. In the free yoga program, the yoga teacher wears dirty leather shoes to teach. During the teaching, he sits on the yoga brick and only talks but does not demonstrate. The teacher is so fat that the teacher is probably unable to complete the movements himself. This shows that the free program is extremely unprofessional. Horse riding, SPA and other slightly interesting projects require additional charges.

This one in Guilin covers a large area, and the facilities are really old. The sound quality of the KTV is not good, the buffet is so-so, the rooms are old and the floor drains are not good, the rooms are hard to find and the corridors are winding, the golf is very amateurish, and the other games are only for children to play. The KTV is only one hour. But for the unique GO culture of Clubmed, these poor hardware can be tolerated. What disappointed me most was that the GO culture has changed. This hotel is becoming more and more like a traditional model. The service attitude is polite but distant. The GO culture that was originally a blend of cultures has become rigid. If you don’t know, you would think you are working in a state-owned enterprise. I heard with my own ears that a GO was scolded for recommending a tour guide to me at my request. I don’t understand why the kind help became a violation of principles, just because he recommended it to me during working hours instead of after get off work? It was alienating, depressing and suffocating. It was stipulated that you could not ask a GO to accompany you without someone to accompany you. You had to leave immediately at a certain time. There was basically no one to accompany you when you ate. There was no one to chat with at the bar. It was completely evolving into a traditional hotel. There was no human touch. When encountering a problem, they did not try to solve it but brought out the rules. They did not even allow for a disclaimer for activities that were not accepted, and there was no room for them. They did not make concessions in other places. I came here for a happy vacation and worked in a state-owned enterprise. I moved to a traditional hotel after staying for one night. The restaurant manager Huang and the GO who was scolded for pushing my tour guide were really friendly and caring about meeting customer needs. The overall GO atmosphere of this hotel has changed, and this brand has stopped here.

Because of all the good things about Lijiang club, I tried the second club. My god, I have been traveling for more than 10 years and my friends call me a travel blogger. I stepped on the biggest thunder. Anyone who has a little requirement for food and accommodation should never come. I checked out early and left. The children had to go home on the first day they arrived. The room smelled musty. The eldest said that the sofa smelled bad and the bed was a little hard to sleep on. We comforted ourselves that the hardware was not good enough, let's take a look at the software... Then we were very disappointed. At 9.30 pm, when everyone was having fun, the second child fell asleep in the evening theater, and it ended a little after 9 o'clock. There were not many people. Forget it, I won't say anything. This thunder is not cheap. What can't we do with so much money? 😥