Le Meridien Hotels in Chongqing

Overall, as stated by many other reviews, this hotel is the value-for-money champion. Personally, I would rate if a hotel were a real five star hotel or simply a 'self-proclaimed' five star hotel based on the service rendered. Le Meridien Chongqing excelled in this aspect. Every staff member I had interacted with was friendly and warm. Check-in: Was swift and unlike many chinese hotels which are distrusting of their customers, they did not ask for a deposit. Saves the hassle. Room: It was spacious, I had previously read some other reviews which complained about the red cupboard at the entrance was terrifying, but personally I liked the chinese style decor. The aircon was slightly noisy and not the most effective, but I liked sleeping in a slightly cooler room. The bed was comfortable, although one side seemed to be more 'slept in' than the other, possibly a sign of the hotel's age. I did also notice some stains and wear and tear in the room but it was nothing serious so I will let that slide. The greatest sign of wear and tear is the shower head, which although was Hansgrohe branded, felt like it was about to break when I tried to change the shower mode. Toiletries were from the Malin+Goetz brand, which I really liked! But of course, ThisWorks branded ones used by Marriott hotels are slightly better. Facilities: There was an indoor pool and a well-equipped gym- with a smith machine, something that is not available in some 5 star hotels. Impressive! Breakfast: This was the greatest let down in the stay experience. As I was going up the lift, I noticed a sign stating that breakfast was on promotion at 68RMB per person. That could not mean anything good. The breakfast experience was cut to the bone. There were almost no hot cooked food options, except from basics such as eggs, toast, cooked chongqing noodles(plain) and dumplings. There is simply no way that this acceptable as a 5 star hotel breakfast, something that seems to be mentioned by other reviewers. Other hotel restaurants- Not too sure why I bothered to try out the other hotel restaurants after the disappointing breakfast but, the chinese restaurant served food that was tasty, but the so-called ala-carte buffet was not great. The food options seemed like leftovers from another hotel buffet or something, and I counted a total of 5 pieces of beef when I ordered the dish 'black pepper beef'. Service was good and seemed well-intentioned though, although they seemed puzzled that I was not ordering more-- The food was not good! Location: Located in Nan'an, I had chosen this hotel as it offered better value for money than its 5 star competitors in JieFangBei or the Conrad. It was also located in front of a Rail Transit station although I only used it once since the trains were crowded and it was quicker to grab a DiDi around. I think the biggest plus regarding its location is the adjacent Wanda Plaza, which had everything from a Sephora, Uniqlo and many other shops. I regretted not visiting it first before hopping on the train. To summarise, I would recommend a first time visitor to Chongqing to stay in this hotel, but would I visit it again? Perhaps not, as I would like to try out other options in Chongqing that are newer, and can provide better breakfasts.