We spent one night at the Westin Nanshan opposite the Window of the World theme park in Shenzhen just over the weekend. We converted our AsiaMiles points for a standard room, and upon arrival the receptionist sold me a two-person breakfast package that includes an afternoon tea set (for two) and free wi-fi all for a cost of 399 yuan plus 15% service charge. As a breakfast is already 205 yuan this package seems a good deal. In fact, it turned out to be of great value.

Our room was located on the 12 floor and facing the Window of World, giving us a great view with lots of trees and a small lake in a completely open space. However, on Saturday night there was a variety show (apparently a nightly event) followed by a small-scale firework display (only on weekends), and we felt the noise level was quite high even in our room with all windows closed. Fortunately, the whole thing quieted down shortly after 9pm.

The hotel has been opened for some two to three years and things remained quite new and in working order. Our room was nicely decorated, but nothing luxurious. The open bathroom was quite large, and could be sealed off from the rest of the guest room by a number of sliding doors. The bathtub was located virtually at the middle of the room, but it was kind of small. The lighting was sufficiently bright, something I consider important.

From our room we could see the heated outdoor swimming pool on the third floor podium. It looked very nice and I really wanted to go swimming as it was a sunny day. However, I was suffering from a cold (nothing serious) and with outdoor temperature at about 20 degree Celsius I decided against it.

We went shopping in the afternoon, and got back to the hotel shortly after 5pm. As we felt a bit hungry, we decided to take advantage of the afternoon tea, which was offered at the lounge on the second floor, right next to the business centre, from 5-7pm. There were very few people around, probably because it was mainly a business hotel and few guests were stuck there on a Saturday evening. Still, there were three meetings going on at the business centre while we were eating at the lounge. Although the food selection was a bit limited, quality was quite good, with things like smoked salmon, sashimi, vegetable salad, fried noodles, curry chicken, cheese platter, fruits and desserts. There were also red and white wine, liquor, beer and soft drinks, but no fresh juices. We tasted a bit of everything, and before long we were quite full and decided to skip dinner entirely.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the coffee shop next to the lobby. There was a tremendous selection of food, from Western to Japanese and Chinese breakfasts (including noodles, congees and dim sums), plus lots of fruits and desserts.

We checked out shortly after breakfast, so we actually spent much less than 24 hours at the hotel. Still, we had great interaction with the staff there – everyone that we talked to or handled our requests was extremely friendly and helpful. All in all, it was a good experience.