If you arrive by taxi, it does seem strange when staff casually dressed (a blazer and T-shirt with Human on it) opens the taxi doors and help you with your luggage, you make your way in and are greeted at reception with staff dressed the same.
When you go to the lifts to go to your room or to the lower ground or basement, you need to go outside where the taxi dropped you off to get into the lifts and the reason why is part of the lift is made of glass so you can have a great view of the area and the northwest skyline as you are going up to your room.
We had a trio room, it was smaller than I expected as there was 3 adults sharing this room, it did have a fitted wardrobe, but we had 3 suitcases and 3 hand luggage as well. The beds were comfy and the bathroom had a separate shower cubicle (which almost felt like a wet room) as well as a bath. The room decor was modern and minimalist and apart from the size of the room the downside was the sliding bathroom door, it was made of glass, it rattled every time you open or close the door which is not great when you're asleep and someone needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
My reservation was direct with the hotel and included buffet breakfast which was in the Astor restaurant in the basement, the restaurant is large and had lots of seating areas, normal tables & chairs, canteen style and casual/informal style (like the coffee shop Central Peak in Friend US TV show). There was plenty of food and beverages on offer Chinese, Continental, Hams, Cheeses, Salami and Western dishes, there was also a noodle station, but it was a bit hidden in another seating area, there was no signs, you would only know if you was sitting in that area. The food and beverages were great, especially the fresh fruit (pineapple, rock, water and yellow melon) it was sweet and not soaking it's own juices. The only negative point was the food and beverages was not in a central position, we were seated near the entrance/exit of the restaurant so you would need to walk about 20 meters at the back of the restaurant to get to the bread, rolls, toast, croissants and pastries.
All the staff were great, very friendly and helpful, the guys who help you with your luggage would always call the lift for you or hold the lift doors, it is an informal chic 5 star hotel.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.