Sofitel Kunming

“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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