Guinea Pig for the Park Plaza

A big perk about working in PR: You get so hooked up like how I just got so hooked up with an invitation to spend the night in the new Park Plaza Beijing West Hotel before it’s even officially opened!  Lucky for me, the Park Plaza’s Executive Chef, Matthew Van Der Zwan is one of my favorite people and extended a personal and very generous invitation to me alongside some big name VIPs and influential individuals in Beijing.

Standard Park Plaza Hotel Room

Last night, I was wined and dined and wined again before I slept like a baby at the new Park Plaza Beijing West Hotel (near the Wukesong National Basketball Stadium) for their soft-opening trial period.

As a participant in their pre-opening simulations, I was requested by the hotel to try out and sample everything the hotel had to offer – from their dining outlets (SOLID Dining Lounge & RED), drinking outlets (LIQUID Bar & Flame Lounge), and do something I’ve never dared do: take from my room’s minibar!

It was such a pleasurable experience from the get-go.  From the welcoming and friendly check-in to enter a beautifully sophisticated room with an enormous bed and high-tech comfort controls to get you what you really need most from a hotel: a night of beauty sleep.

And the second best thing only hotels can offer: Ridiculous Buffet Meals.  As much as I would have liked to dine in their in-house Chinese restaurant RED, I just pigged out at SOLID’s buffet dinner AND breakfast buffet.  Food overload is an understatement.

While I was there, the dinner buffet only featured a portion of what they will serve when they are officially open, but it already included a wide range of fresh seafood including sashimi, snow crab, Australian oysters, scallops, along with other shellfish, pates, delicatessen, fresh baked breads, fresh oven-cooked pizza, soups, noodle/pasta station, a wide range of Western & Chinese hot dishes, and a delicious assortment of desserts including everything from cherry clafoutis, cakes, tartlets, dessert shooters and other sweet treats.

Highlighted favorites: Range of fine Australian wines, fresh snow crab, chicken & corn soup, lamb dish, garlic mashed potatoes,

Review of Park Plaza Beijing West Hotel: Between Wanshoulu and Wukesong, on XiCuiLu (just beside the Natinal Basketball Stadium.) Targeting business and leisure travelers

Best Part:

• The glorious bed that awaits you in your room
• SOLID’s Dinner & Breakfast Buffet (fresh seafood, hearty soups, fresh pizza, breakfast selection, BOMB dessert spread)
• Diverse event spaces
• Matthew Van Der Zwan, the Park Plaza’s Executive Chef, is the most talented, motivated, personable professional in town
• Their prices for rooms, for dining and drinking is much more affordable than your expected hotel prices (a standard room per night will start at around 400-500rmb) – they have 263 rooms & suites
• All rooms come equipped with complimentary high-speed broadband internet access
• Equipped gym & locker rooms with sauna, jacuzzi and steam room
• Their Club Lounge on the top floor has a great view and food available 24/7

Comments:

• Instead of a spa, they have installed a larger business center with meeting rooms built for privacy and conference calls
• The Park Plaza’s location in the west side of Beijing will be targeting a market unknown to me (my knowledge of the west side is slim to zip).

Overall ‘guinea pig’ experience summed up in 1 phrase:  Trial Without The Error

PR Hot Tip: Always try to be among the first to see and check out new venues.