Personal service

So during my second week here in Beijing, I'm not feeling the personal service that I felt my first week here, so I'm going to write about it.

My first week, I spent a lot of time hanging out in the executive lounge and chatting it up with the friendly staff. It was really easy because my room was on the same floor. One of the staff members, Dee, was always saying hello to me, and all of the staff knew my name from day 1. Dee is pictured to the right. When I was brought to my room for the first time, the bellman turned on lights and mentioned one particular light that he liked to have on because it created nice ambiance.

This week, I didn't feel the same friendliness. I was not shown to my room. The staff in the executive lounge were a bit too professional. I called upon my 'personal butler' occasionally for some tea or hot chocolate, and that was nice, and the people were very friendly, but nobody was particularly chatty. I suppose it's possible that the typical traveller at swanky hotels doesn't want to be bothered. On the flip side, the young gentleman that served as the door man in the evenings always welcomed me to the hotel, recognizing my face. He would ask how my dinner at x location was, etc.

I should mention that both hotels had a very professional staff and I think that if I had made more effort, I would have made my second week more memorable.