My partner and I booked a four night stay at the Mandarin Hotel in Xiamen for ourselves and his family - eight people in four rooms. I used a Chinese web agent and decided on the Mandarin as it was a reasonably priced five star option and included breakfast.

The hotel was quite a way out of the town but the rooms were comfortable, clean and well fitted. On checking in we were advised that breakfast was served from another building in the grounds - this was a bit of a pain, but transport was supplied.

After a good night's sleep we all met in the foyer for transport to breakfast but was advised that they didn't have a driver to take us to the other building! After fifteen minutes and a bit of a fuss, they did find someone.

When we arrived for breakfast we were advised that the restaurant was at the top of a long flight of stairs. When we explained that two of the group were well into their eighties and couldn't climb the stairs, they simply kept pointing to the stairs. After another fuss, they showed us to the lift that went to the restaurant - why this took so long we will never know.

When we arrived in the restaurant we were asked for our room numbers, which we gave and proceeded to the buffet. The selection was quite good - a bit strange - but, generally, ok. We then started selecting our food when we noticed that we were being followed by a waitress who was watching us suspiciously. After a few minutes she went off to get a young man in a suit who started jabbering at us in a torrent of Mandarin and waving his hands about. When we managed to get him to speak English he aggressively demanded our room numbers again . We explained that we had given these to the waitress when we took our table, but he just kept demanding them in a loud and exitable manner.

After a right barney, we managed to understand that he was accusing us of trying to 'steal' four breakfasts. I explained that our rooms incleded breakfasts but he wouldn't stop shouting! Finally we managed to understand that he was saying that only 'one' breakfast was supplied per room and the second had to be paid for! As I had gone to so much trouble to ensure that breakfasts were included, I explained that this was not correct and refused to sign for four breakfasts.

The drama continued with the young man and the waitress pursuing us to the outside of the building where we took our transport back to the other building and the argument continued at the reception desk. I explained that five star hotels either supplied breakfast with a room for both occupants, or didn't supply any at all. Logic and common sense got me nowhere and, finally, I advised them we were checking-out after our pre-arranged meeting in town.

When we returned at noon, I was pursued for over twenty minutes by rather sweet a Front Office Manager who kept promising 'surprises and presents' if we stayed. After being pursued up to our room with more pleadings, we managed to pack our bags and went down to pay.

Then they stated that one room had a 'broken soap box' and another had a 'seal broken on bottle of mineral water' which they demanded payment for! I explained that after all their promises of surprises and presents, this final drama was totally misplaced! Eventually they dropped their claims!

Finally we got away and left the rather bizarre Mandarin to its own devices!