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The way the hotel manager operates the Banyan Tree Shanghai On The Bund is akin to a dishonest egg seller in a wet market. One asked for egg A but is given egg B, C and D but not A. I have booked a Panorama Riverside Retreat-King room but was told that the room is not ready at 12pm when we reached the hotel. At close to check-in time 3pm, I was offered a free room upgrade to a bigger room at the corner of the hotel with 270 degree view. Sounds good? We can in fact see only 45 degree view or less of the bund, the rest of view is surrounding buildings and trees. The room is warm and dry. I asked to change it back to the original room we booked but the front desk staff said it was not ready (at check-in time 3pm?). Another lady took over, I assumed she is the front desk manager. So, she offered a similar but better "upgraded room" with the view of the Oriental Pearl tower. The room is at the other corner of the hotel. The moment I stepped into the room, I felt extremely uncomfortable and there was no view of the bund, only trees. I wanted the view of the bund when I booked the room, not the Oriental Pearl Tower. It was a West facing room with direct sunlight shining through. Extremely warm and extremely unlivable. I requested to change it back to the original room. The lady staff told me to remain in the room until the original room is ready. In the meantime, the manager showed me another room that she claimed is smaller but reserved for a guest (with two single beds). I stepped into the room, my, isn't this the room type that I have booked? Bund view minus the king size bed. Why is it that the room has been secured for the guest who has not turned up at 3.30pm but our room is not ready and reserved for us at 3pm? The manager kept trying to convince me that the room is small and the upgraded room is bigger. I told her it didn't matter if the room is small as long as I can see the view of the bund. So, we waited until around 4.20pm in the hot and sunny corner room as suggested. We suspected that the staff or manager is not going to change the room for us. So, I went to the front desk again and this time is a male staff who helped looked through the room options and finally allocated a room that he claimed again is an upgraded room but smaller than the corner rooms. I have to keep emphasise that all I want is the view of the bund, room size is secondary and I already know the size at time of booking. How small can a Banyan Tree hotel room be anyway? By the way, the room we booked is still not ready at 4.30pm and was told they still need half an hour. So, after wasting an entire afternoon with the front desk manager, having paid for our room, we eventually got a room with the bund view and the oriental pearl tower. Why do the hotel front desk people want to make guests go through the hassles. I had headache after going through this episode of rooms viewing. Imagine viewing 4 rooms in one afternoon! Doesn't this sound like buying eggs from a dishonest egg seller in a wet market? The front desk manager and the team have lowered the image of the Banyan Tree, making it cheap and developing mistrust between the guests and the brand.We have in fact travelled close to 3 hours from the Hangzhou Banyan Tree to the one in Shanghai, only to find the huge contrast in hospitality standards. I gave Hangzhou Banyan Tree a 5/5 rating. The Shanghai on the bund Banyan Tree is a 2/5 rating. 2 stars are for the helpful and friendly staffs working on the ground and room service.The Front desk manager is grooming a team of liars, it is very damaging to the Banyan Tree brand.No use apologising after guests gave negative comments. Please do something about it.
