Sofitel Kunming

“Luxurious stay in Kunming”

We recently stayed at this luxurious hotel with our family, and it was truly a wonderful experience from start to finish. Our room was large and incredibly spacious, giving everyone plenty of room to relax and feel comfortable. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered an excellent view of the city, es… more

We recently stayed at this luxurious hotel with our family, and it was truly a wonderful experience from start to finish. Our room was large and incredibly spacious, giving everyone plenty of room to relax and feel comfortable. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered an excellent view of the city, especially beautiful in the evening when the skyline lit up. The bathroom was also impressively large, spotless, and very well designed. Everything felt clean, modern, and comfortable, which made it easy to unwind after a long day of sightseeing. Breakfast each morning was elaborate and offered a wide variety of options, although vegetarian and western food options were limited. What truly made our stay special, though, was the staff. They were consistently friendly, attentive, and professional. They went out of their way to help us book a city tour, making the entire process smooth and stress-free. Overall, we had a fantastic family stay and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for comfort, luxury, and exceptional service.

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“Beautiful Lobby, Classic Sofitel Experience”

I usually stay at Sofitel whenever I travel because I know what to expect. The service is usually very consistent, but every now and then a property really stands out. Sofitel Kunming was one of those. The lobby was the first thing that blew me away. The ceiling must be four or five stories high, … more

I usually stay at Sofitel whenever I travel because I know what to expect. The service is usually very consistent, but every now and then a property really stands out. Sofitel Kunming was one of those. The lobby was the first thing that blew me away. The ceiling must be four or five stories high, with a huge red sculpture rising from the floor all the way to the ceiling before stretching across to the other side of the building. It’s hard to describe, but it gives the whole place a really grand feeling. There’s also a nice indoor swimming pool. The room isn’t the newest in terms of design, especially the wooden wall décor, but it’s very well maintained. The marble flooring at the entrance and the marble floor and walls in the bathroom still make it feel luxurious. One thing I really appreciated was the staff. Most of them could speak English, or at least understood enough for simple conversations. It made everything a lot easier, from check-in to asking a few questions during my stay. I also liked the Lanvin bathroom amenities. Nice little touch for a French hotel brand. I was lucky enough to get a complimentary upgrade to the 39th floor. The view isn’t spectacular, but it’s still nice seeing Kunming from that height, especially at night. Breakfast is served on the 49th floor, and the view alone is worth getting up for. The buffet is huge, with the stations laid out in a big circle that almost wraps around the whole restaurant. There was plenty of food, but the selection leaned heavily towards Chinese dishes. I would’ve liked a few more Western options, especially an egg station and bacon. Nothing deal-breaking though. Sofitel is usually my first choice when I travel, so I probably judge it a bit more harshly than other hotels. Overall, this is a luxurious hotel even though it’s not right in the city center. The impressive lobby, comfortable rooms, friendly staff, and reliable Sofitel experience made it a really enjoyable stay. I’d happily stay here again if I’m back in Kunming.

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“A Great Overall Stay Experience”

This is a follow up to my preliminary review written on 11th June, the second day of my 9D8N stay, which has since been removed to allow for this detailed review. As an Accor Platinum member, my room was upgraded to Club Floor level, with additional room benefits. My other family member, also a P… more

This is a follow up to my preliminary review written on 11th June, the second day of my 9D8N stay, which has since been removed to allow for this detailed review. As an Accor Platinum member, my room was upgraded to Club Floor level, with additional room benefits. My other family member, also a Platinum member, also enjoyed a similar upgrade. As stated in my previous review, we had a very pleasant check in experience, As a matter of fact, my positive experience with Sofitel Kunming started even before arrival, when I got in contact with Mr Lemon Ji re our rooms arrangement requests. Lemon responded promptly in a positive manner and even accommodated our very late changes subsequent to our initial request. As we were eligible for Executive Lounge access, most of our requests for assistance and services were channelled through the lounge team members, like Gary, Larnes, and Nian, who were always friendly and serve with enthusiasm. Having said that, I must add that the hotel front desk is always well-staffed and all staff members were efficient and friendly during our brief encounters. We had breakfasts daily at the L49 restaurant and were always greeted cheerfully by a trainee/intern in the name of Olivia. I am sure she will have a great future in the hospitality industry. The dish offerings in my opinion were geared towards local tastes and options. Unfortunately I had not been able to sample enough premium western/international dishes to push me over for a lunch/dinner international buffet as first contemplated. In terms of dining experience, we were really impressed with the food options and services at Le Chinois, on which I have submitted a separate review. I would also like to make a special mention of the unsung heroes - the housekeeping team. I believe they work as a team so it may not be fair to quote just a few names. However, both I and my family member in another room of the same floor were very impressed with the quality and promptness in housekeeping services and responses. As for the lounge experience, it certainly serves well as an oasis, with its comfortable seatings and gorgeous view, for relaxing and unwinding after venturing out sightseeing. However, it would help to elevate the lounge standard (and properly reflects the hotel's 5-star status) with the offering of some premium (rather than the most basic) drink choices. I had been declined a request for a Chamomile tea during the afternoon tea session, which was quite disappointing. Also, the dish offerings during the happy hour sessions also got a bit repetitious after a few days. I hope the hotel management will empower its lounge service team to go beyond the pre-set scope (of standard offerings) to accommodate reasonable requests from its guests (elite or otherwise).

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“Nice Hotel with the Stunning View of Kunming City”

During the first week of August, our group has business trip to Kunming, Yunnan. So, we decided to choose Sofitel Kunming as we see them as one of the most competitive price among the Luxury Hotel in the city. There are many positive part about this hotel. First is the price. Second is the location… more

During the first week of August, our group has business trip to Kunming, Yunnan. So, we decided to choose Sofitel Kunming as we see them as one of the most competitive price among the Luxury Hotel in the city. There are many positive part about this hotel. First is the price. Second is the location. It may not located at the shopping district (it took around 20 minutes to the City Center due to heavy traffic in Kunming). Still, the hotel is in a convenient location. If you have car, it is not that hard to travel around. Now, the hotel atmosphere is excellent. Nice decoration and spacious lobby. However, the seatings around the lobby are limited. But we can move to the bar close to the elevator for welcome drinks and having proper group meeting. But we later found out that each floor has beautiful seating with city view. It is more suitable for a small team meeting. The only downside is the we did not get assigned on the same floor. So, it is not very much use for us. Moving to the room, I have been assigned to room 3720 and two of my colleagues are on the same floor. Meanwhile, other members of my team got assigned to 34,35, 43 floors respectively. The funny part is that the reception tried to upgrade me (as Accor member) to club floor (43 floors) but somehow ended up getting the twin room of our booking to that floor. Irony enough, I ended up on 36 floor (single king size room), while both of my secretaries ended up getting upgraded instead. Having said that I am still satisfied with their attempt to accommodate me with upgrading (even they got the wrong room to be upgrade, at least my secretaries can enjoy the club lounge while they are free). For the room, I really like the design. My room can see the Kunming City. The room is nicely decorated. The bed is large and the pillows are comfortable. The working desk is perfect for me to use for preparing necessary documents for the meeting. The WiFi is good. The amenities are well prepared. Also using environmental friendly materials are one of the best features. I really like the shower area. Nicely designed and the water pressure and temperature control are excellent. The room service staffs on my floor are lovely and very attentive. I asked for more drinking water and throughout my stay (4 days), she never forget to added a few extra bottles to my room. Despite all of the positive things about the room, our group found one problem (all member on 37 floors) is the temperature control of the air conditioning. Despite the air conditioning is working very well. The temperature seems unable to be change. One of the night of our stay, has heavy and humid rain. The room temperature rose due to the humidity. I woke up 3 times that night and tried to adjust the room temperature to 18-20 for colder sleep. The temperature was stuck and unable to change. So, me and most of my team members have the same problem. That night none of us can sleep peacefully throughout the night. I suggest the hotel may need to look into that problem. Another part is the breakfast, the restaurant located on 49 floors with magnificent Panasonic view of the Kunming City. The restaurant set up is beautiful. The waiters and waitresses are polite and attentive. But there are so many downside in the breakfast. I have to admit that if I haven’t book the breakfast and did not experience the breakfast service, I may raised the score of this hotel to full 5 stars. I deducted 1 star from the breakfast section alone. First is the meal selection. The lack of meat section is clear. Most of the meal selections are vegetarian especially the Chinese food. But I respected that the Yunnan is known for mushrooms and vegetables. So, I moved to internal meal selection. The problems are as follows. The bread selections are limited. The muffin is ok but croissants are too dried. The breads are too dried as well. The jam selections are excellent but lack of cheese choices and the butter are limited. The quality of meat in the sausages are disappointing. The chicken is ok but the pork is too salty and tough. The chicken breast is too greasy. The pumpkin and tomatoes are fresh and good. Now the most disappointing is the egg station. The station is mixed with other grilled selection. The fried eggs are overcooked. If you want sunny up fried eggs or scramble eggs, you have to ask them to do it. Also, no choice for the omelette ingredients. Throughout our stays, the second day was the worst as they are overcrowded. The sausages have ran out and no filling up. The overcooked fried eggs are gone. So, I went to ask for sunny up fried eggs and omelette BUT the staffs asked me to come back as the cooks are busy cooking fried tomatoes (which is not running out). That morning, I have to go to the city for meeting. So, I ended up having fried pumpkin, fried tomatoes with overly dried croissant. It is probably the worst hotel breakfast that I ever have from even 2 stars hotel. If I wrote review on that day, I may be angry enough to downgrade the hotel to 2 or 3 stars due to the denial of egg station services. Luckily, the house keepers who did not forget to clean my room nicely and did not forget about extra water save the day for Sofitel Kunming. If there is no improvement in the section, my honest recommendation is to avoid hotel breakfast option. Even Ibis hotel by Auckland Airport cooked better breakfast than Sofitel Kunming. I hope my criticism would be taken considerably. So, the breakfast selection at this hotel can be improve to the same standard with other Sofitel in China east coast.

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