Having stayed at Shantou's other 5 star hotel, the Golden Gulf, some six months ago, I had chosen Shantou's purportedly best hotel, the Meritus Shantou for our second Shantou trip (from 03rd to 06th November, 2010). Indeed, in all aspects, from hotel location, room layout and size, breakfasts, Club lounge, staff quality and service, this must be Shantou's best hotel - it was certainly 5 stars all the way!

Upon arrival in Shantou's Waisha airport some 30 minutes late, the Hotel has someone to carry a board with my name written on it. We were then ushered to the Hotel's mini-bus for our comfy 20-25 minutes free ride to the Hotel. Check in was at the 21st floor Club Lounge since we had booked a 85sq m Executive Suite under the Abacus promotion for 1,700 yen a night. Under this promotion, we were then upgraded to the same Executive suite but then on the Club level with Club facilities, ie suite room 2106.

Surprisingly, the suite did not appear very luxurious nor was it very spacious when we first entered it - I must admit that I was a tad disappointed at the first glance. However, after closer inspection, I must say that everything seemed new and all in perfect working condition (except for a left table lamp in the Hall.) A spacious bedroom comes with a King bed, large bathroom with tub and the biggest shower area. Separated by a door is the comfy living area with a 2 seater sofa, 2 arm chairs, a dinning table with chairs, an office table with a computer, tea/coffee making facilities and a powder room for guests.

There were two Philips brand flat screen TV in the suite, and it offers CNN and some other English sports channels. In addition, there were also some 30 or so China channels which we enjoyed very much from time to time. Toiletries were well provided for, including toothbrushes and tooth paste. However, in most China Hotel's suites, they do not feature twin beds. So, I had to fork out another 230 yen per day for a single bed to be put up in the living area - so both my mum and myself each have our own private space - which was a very nice arrangement for us. Mattreses were of the Simmons brand if I did not remember wrongly, so very comfy for a good night's sleep, not hard at all as in most China's hotels.

Feeling very hungry at 1.30pm, we had a quick lunch at the Hotel's Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor. Dimsum was both tasty and reasonably priced. However, the same cannot be said of its ala-carte items like Teochew Goose Meat (88 yen) and Oyster Ommelete (38 yen) - too expensive and not really that tasty in my frank opinion!

The yummy and great variety breakfast was to be had at the 1st floor restaurant. It can be quite chaotic on certain days, with staff at the Noodles and Egg station hardly able to cope ... quite frustrating for guests like us, too. I thought the Hotel should have allowed Club floor guests to have breakfasts at its 21st floor Club lounge instead (like some Hotels do in Hong Kong), but then again, you don't get to enjoy such a good variety of food at the Lounge ... I guess privacy does come at a price.

All staff whom we had met during our stay were incredibly nice and helpful, esp. Ms Cherry Lin from Club Lounge and Ms Jenny from Room Reservations. They were so free with local information, like tour and visiting hours and so on. Recommendations on where to find yummy Goose meat were also spot on - Choon Mei Li at ZhongShan Lu & Longyan Beilu branch.

Location wise, this couldn't be any better! It was merely two blocks to the popular Longyan Beilu. At this bustling area, you can find all sorts of Teochew local foods and dishes, all at very cheap prices! It was a very memorable shopping experience for us. This was esp. good if you are short on time. No need to take trishaws (5-8 yen), motorcars (10-20 yen) nor taxis (15-25 yen) to this area. Other good shopping areas are the Walmart at Nanguo Shancheng (5 minutes) and Pufong Lianhua/Lotus (10 minutes).

Upon departure, we too, took advantage of the free shuttle to the airport. The only catch is that they have departures at 10.30am, which we deem a little too early for our 12.50pm flight. Otherwise, no complaint and we thought we had been very well taken of by the hotel during our short 3 nights stay in Shantou.

The only two glitches of staying here are - our Suite was incredibly cold in early November (raining season partly to be blamed) and complaints had yielded a special 'two hole energy savings room-card' - which did not help. Should have requested for a portable heater warmer instead. Also, there were no thick woolen blankets in the closets, had to request for them but were given them immediately. The next thing was insufficient lighting in the whole suite, very bad for reading, but fine for other activities.

All in all, we did have a wonderful stay at this 5 star hotel. The Shantou city holds special meaning to us because our ancestors are from there. Otherwise, it has little to offer to the average tourist except Teochew City, which is a little more than an hour's car ride away (rented a Buick 7 seater car with driver for 800 yen for 6 hours - good value if you have more people travelling together).

If we are lucky enough to return to Shantou again, even being a Hotel snob like myself, I wouldn't stay anywhere else but here because I know that this has to be Shantou's best. If you are still not satisfied with this hotel in Shantou, I dare say you won't be happy with the rest of the Hotels there. Enjoy the Meritus Shantou, a truly Westernized 5 star Hotel.

Stay: 3 nights
Room: Meritus Club

Background
This was my first trip to Shantou and I was there to visit a close friend. The Meritus Shantou China was one of the hotels that I can find on the internet, and the rates looked pretty good. I booked a total of 3 nights for a Premier Room under the Abacus Quarterly Promotion (free internet access and upgrade).

Pre-arrival
The hotel did not advertise its free shuttle bus promotion from the airport (Shantou Waisha Airport, IATA: SWA) on its website, and I almost miss it; fortunately I did not and it saved me a good 75 RMB and from the unnecessary bargaining with the taxi drivers.

Check-in
The receptionist spoke some English which was rather useful, got an upgrade to a club room under the promotion, but here’s the catch… Club room without club facilities… i.e. no club lunge, no free breakfast, no cocktails, etc, etc… Initially, this was still acceptable…

Room
The room was a large room with a large bed, a HD tv and a Chinese computer. Towels with the words “Meritus Club” were the only reminder that this was a club room. Free mini-bar? Nope. Branded toiletries? Nope. Spectacular view? Nope (I got the view of an apartment opposite). The room did not gave a club feeling, neither did it gave a luxury feeling of being in a 5-star hotel. Apparently the upgrade was just an “upgrade” to a higher floor, no club access, no nothing (except for the towels)… Btw no newspaper was provided either for my entire stay… The hot water supply was not working on the first day that I was there, but this was promptly solved after a quick complain with the receptionist.

Lounge
After some discussions with the duty manager, I was given access to the full club lounge. The lounge was located on the 21st floor, with a much better view then my room. They serve only tea, coffee and soft drinks during normal hours, and a very limited selection of alcohol and food during the cocktail hour (5-something till 7pm). Breakfast was also not served in the lounge for club guests, it was held in the restaurant on the ground floor. The lounge was heavily underutilized and it was not hard to know why, but I did enjoy the quiet lounge and was most of the time there using my laptop (free Wi-Fi was provided). The receptionist was rather friendly and easy to communicate in English.

Dining
I tried breakfast and lunch at Brasserie Tatler. Breakfast was the standard buffet that is so common in international hotels nowadays, nothing really spectacular. I had an ala-carte lunch once in the restaurant; it was overly-priced and ordinary. I also tried dim sum at the Peach Garden, and this was a lot better than Brasserie Tatler. Prices were reasonable, but the food was so much better. However, prices for lunch and dinner were ridiculous; I recommend their dim sum for brunch.

Facilities
The public waiting area was grand, but it was starting to show its age. There was an indoor swimming pool and gym (both of which I did not have time to try out) and a rather conveniently located foot-reflexology on the 4th floor.

Location
There is pretty much nothing in Shantou itself. The only “shopping areas“ that I came across are WAL-Mart (about 15 minutes walk) and Lotus. Transportation is easiest by taxi and also the most expensive, extensive bargaining is required especially when boarding via or near the hotel entrance. There are also some good eateries around and are within a walk-able distance.

Overall
For the price of the hotel, the rooms are cheap and reasonable, but do not expect a spectacular experience. Also smoking is very common in China, especially in public areas of the hotel, so be prepared for this and request a non-smoking room if you cannot stand smoke like me.

Out of Ten
Accommodation: 5.5
Lounge: 4.5
Services: 5
Facilities: 6
Dining: 3.5 (Brasserie Tatler), 6 (Peach Garden)
Location: 6.5
Overall: 5.3

This is a Chinese hotel so be warned they will take money for a deposit and a hefty deposit the take. The breakfast wasnt great...but if you love toast then your in luck as it was very limted. The buffet in the evening was very expensive but due to a lack of resturants close buy there were no other options. This hotel is a base only and I would not return here if it can be helped but if you are a regular traveller to China then you will know choice is always an option. The staff on the check out spoke very little English but they said my depsoit would be returned in 2 weeks and as there have been many incidents of attempt fraud on our personal and business card in China you have to be careful so i refused to leave until my deposit was refunded as I was initially told that it wasnt possible on a Saturday. Always get receipts in China!

I travelled to shantou to visit a supplier - they suggested the Meritus Hotel as this is the best in Shantou; they had booked me in a superior room (non-smoking) however when i got there hey informed me there were no rooms of these available, so i ended up upgrading myself to a premium suite. The room was huge, with two bathrooms, an enormous shower and very comfortable room. I was miffed about not being allowed access to their club lounge (even thought i was staying in a suite). the breakfast's were reasonable, service pretty good and reasonable location. the downstairs gym also offered back and/or foot massages which were great value. i would stay here again.