Another RC to check off my list yay!

So while planning for the 2025 family trip, I thought exploring a new city will be fun. And of course, the RC there called out my name before I knew it heh.

ADDRESS – No, 18 Zhongshan Rd, Nanjing, China, 210018. Website.

CONTACT – Tel: +86 25-69788888. Email: rc.nkgrz.dutymanager@ritzcarlton.com / rc.nkgrz.gr@ritzcarlton.com.

LOCATION – the property enjoys a prime location in the Xuanwu district of Xinjiekou, directed to the subway station. It is also a prime spot for mall lovers as its linked to Deji Plaza which is a giant modern mall with fancy toilets worthy of a spot on IG (according to popular beliefs). The best part is its directly connected to the metro via the mall so pretty much easy access to getting anywhere. This location definitely feels like the Orchard Road of Singapore.

PRICE – Booking this stay was super complicated as I needed to find a way to book 2 rooms for 3pax with all having club access. With this being the priciest hotel in the city, I needed to strategize my booking a little and ended up with the following combination of 2 rooms, both with club access, skyline view:

• Room 1 – booked directly for 2x nights using points (70,4000 points/ night) + 2x nights with cash rate of RMB3,556/night under the $100 USD Property Credit promotion).
• Room 2 – booked via Hotelux 3x night using Stay 3 Pay 2 promotion (RMB RMB7,462 for 2 nights) which gives USD100 property credit of USD50 for hotel limo and USD50 property credit + 1x night using Hotelux points on a regular room + cash top up of RMB408 for 1pax club access.

I then applied 4x Nightly Upgrade Award for Room 1’s bookings for a 1-bedroom Suite. Phew.

PRE-ARRIVAL – Due to my complicated booking situation, I reached out to the hotel to ensure that all there is no miscomm with price, benefits etc. I also skinned up and asked if they can accord a RC lion to add to my collection and they said yes, yay!

I also asked about possible rooming arrangements whether or not my NUA clears and was guaranteed connecting rooms regardless which was nice of them. Throughout this rather lengthy and complicated process, the entire team was very patient and very quick in responses, even the Concierge team who assisted with a 2-day itenary for first-timers. Impressed even before my trip!

I also asked about airport pick up and was quoted RMB900 for a Mercedes-Benz E (RMB1100 for a Mercedes-Benz V and RMB1,500 for a Maybach). GULP.

About 4 days prior, I received a rather generic welcome email:

In the afternoon of the same day, I got an in-app notification that my Nightly Upgrade Award had cleared for the first 2 nights into a 1-bedroom Suite. Weird that I didn’t get any email for the clearance which usually happens. But ah wells. YAYYY. The other 2 nights remained pending though.

GETTING THERE – I ended up booking an airport pick up on Viator for SGD81 which is not the cheapest but more affordable versus the hotel’s quote. The driver was in the hallway waiting for us and was a super nice and polite chap.

CHECK IN – we arrived to an empty driveway where our luggage was immediately assisted with – points for a good start on-site! This arrival lobby was very modern, classy, and as expected of an RC. The property also seems to have an obsession with expensive stones as they are peppered as designs throughout.

We were assured that the luggage will be delivered to our room while we were invited to head up to level 38 to check in we exited the lift to a super nice lobby space with high ceilings and classy furnishings.

We were attended to immediately and enquired if we are able to check in at the Club Lounge directly as evening cocktails has started (plus we were starving after a no-food 5hr Scoot flight). The front desk checked our reservations, and we were buzzed up to the Lounge located on level 58 where a sit-down check in happened. The formalities took almost 30mins to sort out due to the complicated booking structure, but the staff was very patient and made sure that I was brought through as necessary.

But at least I had a glass of champagne in hand while waiting so all good!

ROOMS (the property gave us the top floor which was level 60 too!)

Club Lounge Access, 1-Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Yangtze River View

I was accorded Suite 6005 for 4nights even thought my NUA only cleared for the first 2 – and I’m super glad to have 130sqm of space!

Its always a good sign when the door to the room is big and this one was for sure big. The door opens up to a generous hallway with plenty space to place shoes, before the hallway into the main space, starting with the (really) huge living area.

This ginormous space is a shade of black and gold tones and designed to (I think) mimick a real living area based on the fact that there were builds of shelves peppered with books and artifacts. Apart from the huge TV, the addition of a telescope was a cute tough since we were on such high floor. The L-shaped sofa in the middle of this space was luxurious and probably good enough for 5pax.

On the coffee table sat my welcome amenity of the cutest (and largest) RC lion ever with 3 welcome notes and a creative set of cultural bookmarks.

Behind this space is a cosy work desk + chair fitted with charging ports, all behind another living room-esque wall peppered with ornaments and books.

Eight beside this is the underused dining room + mini bar / kitchenette area which was super useful for washing random stuff haha. This also comes with 2x coffee machines for some reason with pods, and a larger than usual in-room fridge which will be very useful for bigger groups. Complimentary water for the Suite were placed here, in cans instead of bottled which I don’t find as useful in terms of having water to bring out for the day.

And that’s only the living area.

Now we come to the wardrobe area which is plenty spacious, for 3 luggage side by side as well as plenty of hanging space (and hangers). In this space in the drawers are also the bedroom slippers (fluffy!), bathrobes (very comfy), and safe etc. Nothing unusual here but definitely an appreciated space. This space is nestled in between the bathroom and the entrance hallway and can be accessed from either sides which I found to be a super useful feature.

Coming into the bathroom, it is a very nice classy one with double sinks, a bathtub in the middle (it is supposed to come with get jet spray functions but we didn’t try), and even a chillax bench which ended up being super useful for doing my laundry haha.

There are then separate spaces for a standing shower equipped with Diptyque toiletries, as well as a spacious toilet. My only gripe is these 2 awfully personal spaces comes with glass walls although with patches of solids as a design so it doesn’t really offer the privacy that one needs. This also means this huge space cannot accommodating multi-tasking which is really a waste and not efficient.

Interestingly enough, the amenities are still Asprey Purple Water ones which must have been leftover from the previous stash.

The bedroom space was so cosy and oh so comfy – a completely cushy king bed with (too) powerful duvet, spacious bedside tables, a huge TV which remained un-turned on throughout the stay, and interestingly a single loungey chair in one corner. Blind and lightning controls are at the bedside panels and very easy to use.

Club Lounge Access, 2 Twin, Xuanwu Lake View

And then we were connecting to 6006, another 50sqm of pure luxury which was more than adequate even if we had 2x such connecting spaces – this came with cushy twin beds, a workdesk + chair, a window lounger, and a completely adequate bathroom with double sinks + bathtub. Still a great space!

RITZ CARLTON CLUB LOUNGE

Located on level 58, this classy modern lounge took up half of level 58 and was such a lovely space to chillax in for our stay. The decor carries on the black / gold tones, with touches of local artsy set up. Seating was aplenty with plenty of proper dining tables closer to the food area and then generous sofa seatings in various semi-private nooks with different configurations right through to the other end where the bar was.

As Club guests, we had access to the below benefits and we made sure we utilitized everything!

• Concierge 6:30am-11:30pm (superb service from Doris and Gray)
• Coffee/tea service to the room (every order delivered promptly)
• Complimentary 2x garment pressing per room per day (delivered back on time every time)
• Limo service within 3km 7:00am-10:00pm daily – special mention to this popular service, with the car being a plushy Merc and the best chauffeur ever who ended up giving a little tour of the city while being our tour guide. There are also on 2x occasions when the car was not available as its only available request and cannot be booked, and the club staff offered to get us a ride hailing with them covering the costs. This extra mile service I really appreciated.

Okay, now we come to the most important part of any Ritz Carlton Club Lounge – the 5 meal presentations and the only place I will willingly allow myself to overeat. drink. Over multiple sessions, we saw quality and thoughtful rotations of variety including plenty of protein choices which was very nice.

I do have to point out that unlike all of the other RCs I’ve been to, champagne and wines are only available in the evening (WHYYYY) which I thought was a little stingy, but there were beers all-day for those who need, including a local Baby IPA which was quite nice!

Anyways…..

Breakfast (6:30am-10:30am)

This is the same classy environment with a selection of food brough up from the main restaurant, with the spread focused on international cuisine with a couple of local flavors. Eggs are made to order, although we were told that omelettes were not available the one morning we were there – weird as the ingredients were all there so no idea why other egg dishes were available but not this? Anyhow the food tasted as expected, and coffee a little stronger than what was available at the main restaurant.

Lunch (11:30am-1:30pm)

There is a reason why this session is called Lunch instead of Light Lunch as there was nothing light about it at all! It was a full-on buffet with hot and cold dishes topped off with a live station offering 2 dishes, appetizers, sashimi (!), desserts, and salads / cheeses. We even saw a fried prawn dish with almond and on another day grilled salmon which was absolutely amazing.

Afternoon Tea (2:30pm-4:30pm)

We only tried this session once as we were out during on other days and while it was quite a regular high tea set in a tier, the scones were nice and we found out that the same set is served at the Lobby Lounge for RMB388 per pax so it was a must-try even though it was too much food.

Hors D’oeuvres & Cocktails (5:30pm-8:30pm)

The star session of the presentations, with the same variety and quality of offerings topped off with the highly anticipated 5J Cinco Jotas ham carved on-site. They were super generous with the ham as well, slicing right up to the end time and even brought out a new piece when need be. Kudos for not skimping on the offering!

The rest of this session’s food did not disappoint as well with sashimi once again, live stations offering steak, laksa, pasta, pho, foie gras, lamb – all quality stuff. And of course the usual cold appetizers, salads, cheese, fruits, desserts.

This session is when the bubbles start flowing too, as with the 3 types of red and 3 types of wines plus spirits. 3-hours seem a little short on paper for an alcoholic binge but in reality, more than enough. I wished they serve any other bubbles though as VC is not really premium and I don’t really like it enough but to each his/her own.

Cordials and Desserts (9:00pm-10:30pm)

This is usually nothing to stay up for based on past RC Club experiences, and it is also sadly true here. A handful of desserts (some overlap with the previous sessions), plus a hot dessert. There were however some differences in spirits eg a special Spanish gin and cognac was only available during the previous timing, and both were kept away at 8:30pm, replaced by Baileys and Kahlua once 9pm hit.

OTHER DINING

Club guests have an option to take breakfast at the main restaurant located on level 38, Lavandula. And this is where you should go for variety even if the ambience is much less peaceful. The space itself was very nice with full length glass windows letting in natural lights while the modern furnishings offered plenty of seats though most seem set up for pairs instead of groups.

Service at the restaurant was really good though and thumbs up to the staff & chef who brought me two whole plates of dragonfruit after I didn’t see it at the buffet line one morning and asked if they have any.

The spread whilst not the biggest I’ve seen, was already plenty enough with live stations offering eggs and 4 types of noodles, local cold appetizers and hot buns, dim sum, usual international selection like bacon and sausages, cheeses, fruits, cold cuts, yoghurts, salads, and of course plenty of carbs. A chef will also go around offering fresh eats eg freshly baked egg tarts, dumplings etc. Coffee was a little weak though as its brewed by the jug instead of a fresh cup by machines.

FACILITIES – these are located on level 40 and I tried my best to do a whirlwind tour of everything:

Fitness Centre (24hr) – I visited slightly past 6am every morning while I was there and only one morning did I see another pax there. The space feels still new and very clean, and offers a nice view from the floor and one of the most peaceful environment to workout in.

The Ritz Carlton Spa (10:00am-11:00pm) – I popped by to try out the wet facilities which were complimentary for in-house guests even without a spa treatment. I only ever saw 1pax in the same space so I really enjoyed the quiet time. The jacuzzi and sauna were nicely warm but the steam room just refused to steam up enough for some reason.

Other stuff like the shower room, locker facilities, and relaxation rooms were all as expected from a Ritz Carlton property.

Pool (6:00am-11:00pm) – the waters looks really inviting and I had planned to at least use this once during my stay but alas, I was unable to find any time between the eating and drinking.

OTHERS – My Suite included a USD100 to use on property which had no restrictions, so we let the mum take a 60-min body massage priced at RMB1,180 (ugh). She said it was okay only hah. The twin room had a USD50 property credit to use but there were restrictions on what we can use it for so we ended up ordering 3x drinks from the Lobby Lounge to enjoy with our Club lunch (kudos to the Club Lounge for allowing this special arrangement).

SERVICE – We were all super impressed with the service standards at this RC, especially with the Club Lounge team. There was nothing that was too much trouble for the entire Club team, from car requests, directions, drink requests, table service – all fulfilled with smiles and politeness. This same standard was also seen throughout the property from bell desk, front desk, staff peppered along the spaces greeting us with a ‘welcome back’ each turn, the entire Lavandula team, and the very kind chauffeur who was happily offered tour guide services to us. Amazing experience and great training and selection of staff!

CHECK OUT – this took a while to sort out as I wanted the folios in advance to go through but all sorted in the end and we enjoyed our last lunch session at the Club before we departed. Sob.

In Summary,

In my opinion, this is the only property to stay in the city even without club access – a no-brainer with such lovely rooms and service! Awesome experience.