It was between Ritz Carlton Tianjin and Ritz Carlton Suzhou for the 2026 family trip and after taking into consideration the logistics of getting there, Tianjin won. And not that its was any bad choice – I mean look at this breathtaking official picture!

Address – No 167 Dagubei Road, Heping District, Tianjin, Tianjin, China, 300040. Website.

Contact – Tel: +86-00-4006886886. Email:rc.tsnrz.duty.mgr@ritzcarlton.com.

Price – an average of RMB2,500 per night booked via the Ritz Carlton Reservations team directly for 2x base rooms, which is not cheap by any means for a Chinese city but I also used my Club Upgrade certificate for both roooms which made it a great deal in my opinion.

Location – the property is located in the financial centre of the city, and a okay-ish walk to it’s historical and cultural landmarks. But in the immediate vicinity, not so much other than a small handful of local stores and erm a Starbucks?

Pre-Arrival –

This was a stay with multiple pre-arrival engagements as I was flying into Beijing and needed an airport pick up for the 2-hour ride to th e hotel. I also arranged with the concierge for a 4-hour tour for 4pax for RMB1,600 being our first time in the city. And then there were the usual early check in requests, confirmation of Titanium benefits etc. All these were super efficiently handled and confirmed without any delays.

5 days prior, I received a generic welcome email with some hotel info:

2 days prior, I recieved another welcome email from the Guest Recognition Supervisor which I then took the opporunity to reconifrm all my arrangements, including a request for a Suite for my room

Getting There – for comfort and safety, we decided to splurge by paying RMB2000 on the hotel pick up service in a Buick GL8 Van as we were landing in Beijing Capital Airport and it was a 2-hr drive away. It was also an investment for an early check in since we would be arriving at the property ahead of the 3:00pm check in time.

However, this turned out to be the first time a 5-star hotel airport pick up was the most non-5-star of this trip.

The driver waiting for us at the arrival hall was indeed holding a signage with my name on it but he was very causally dressed, on the phone, did not bother to say hi or anything along the line, and simply gestured for us to follow him. It feel like being picked up by a grumpy school bus driver who did not want to be there. Certainly not the welcome I was expecting from a Ritz Carlton airport pick up.

The driver also did not communicate with the property on our arrival as unlike all my previous experience, no staff was expecting our arrival as we pulled up at about 10:30am in the morning. We were asked the basic questions as if we did not arrive via a hotel-arranged transfer. Kudos to the staff for escorting us to the Club Lounge for check in when I inquired but all these could have been done pre-emptively.

As we pulled up to the building, the European vibe of this property was full on – so pretty!

In this process, we took the time to admire how pretty the property’s public areas were – truly unique and worth a visit at least once in a lifetime!

The default check in area at the main lobby was similarly photogenic and not bad a spot to arrive in at all.

Even the lifts and guest room hallways were great photo spots.

Check In – this took a much longer time due to the booking permutations and varying benefits but all good was I was able to process all this while seated in the Club Lounge, all good! They weren’t able to accomodate us on the same floor was the Club but did manage to get us connecting rooms yay.

I was also informed that one of the rooms had been upgraded to a Club Executive Suite, yayyyy. I was then handed the Club welcome letter and off we went, just in time to check out the end of the breakfast session (more on that later).

Room – Club King (50SqM)

This was room 1801 which is the smaller of the 2 rooms accorded – still a great space for 2pax actually! The very thoughtful welcom enote in petals on the bed was probably because I informed them that it was the family’s first time in the city. Cute!

The above connects to the Club Executive Suite (105SqM), 802, and I was very impressed with the amount of space! Plus, the whole space was immaculate and very well maintained for a property which opened in 2013. The wide hallway starts off with the half bathroom with its own half closet – I love Suites with a second toilet!

Then comes the gorgeous living area which comes plenty of areas and too many seats we use sit on – including a proper work desk which became our charging station. I love the entire design and whitewashed shelves even as the books on it were fake books.

More of this space was allocated to the very European fancy living area with comfy sofa, TV, and more shelves with ornaments. There was a similar petal welcome note on the table here which made our day,

The bedroom area was simpler in comparison and I was slightly disappointed that the bed was not the mega king type but oh wells, its still a super nice space and bed was plushy enough (pillows were a little thin though).

Beside the bedroom was this….. very uniquely designed dressing area as well as a good sized wardrobe area – very useful when you have 2x ladies going about doing stuff. Hairdryer was Dyson which was befitting of a RC. Bedroom slippers also passed the plush test!

Finally, the marbled bathroom had double sinks, separate toilet and shower, and a bathtub which we never ended up using.

Later that eveing, a welcome note and a platter of fruits and drinks appeared in our room which I thought was a nice touch.

The Ritz Carlton Club (website) –

Now, this Club Lounge was actually one of the prettiest, carrying through the European theme decor and the space very neatly cut out into different types of seating to suit various group sizes – so something will surely suit you whether you are up for proper dining or just chilling with high tea and drinks. Any seat you choose will guarantee a cushy spot for catching up or unwinding after checking off touristy stuff, with plenty of photo spots to spend time on. A really lovely space and an impressive RC Club Lounge!

Breakfast (6:30am-11:00am)

We had the chance to try this on arrival day which the staff kindly granted us access to even though breakfast benefits arent due to start until the next day. This was a rather basic spread I thought, with the usual breakfast stuff available, inclduing an egg station, and notably a dim sum trolly for the taking. Taste wise – average, with coffee being Nespresso.

Light Snacks (12:00-2:00pm)

We also only tried this session once as we were out during these times after that. As per most RC standards, this was not mega buffet but small quality offerings which were more than enough for a full meal, incluiding a hot soup. Quite a good amount of proteins as well, asnd fresh vegetables both hot and cold were plentiful.

This session was the start of the alcohol, where wines, beers were available – they were decent enough.

Afternoon Tea (2:340pm-4:30pm)

The poorest showing of the sessions BUT this was also the only session where real champagne is available – this was so strange and quite stingy of them I thought. I mean its actually a really nice champagne so limiting it to only 2 hours each day is pretty disappointing for a RC Club, least to say one having the reputation of the best RC in China. Boo to that.

The sweets and savories were middling and did not rotate as well.

Hors D’oeuvres & Cocktails (5:00pm-8:00pm)

Our favorite session of the lot each evening and we defnitely marked our attendance each night. This saw a more generous full meal selection comprising a live staton, plenty of proteins, cheese, soups, appetisers, desserts, fruits, salads – everything was tasty! The menu rotated each night so we did not get bored at all, and plenty of alcohol sure helped too.

There was also quality Jamon J5 ham which they put out only during weekend so yays! But I thought the Nanjing RC one tasted better for some reason (at a higher premium though).

Speaking of alcohol, the open bar during this session was a fantastic addition – bottled negronis, the same wines, a sparkling one too in place of proper champagne, an iPad with cocktail / mocktail menu, and the staff was happy to fix up any thing else not on the menu –> the Espresso Martini turned out decent enough.

Desserts and Cordials (8:00pm-10:00pm)

We skipped this session as we zonked out early each night but based on past experiences, this was no loss.

Club Benefits –

A club benefit of a RC Club which I love is the Club Car on-demand service where they provide a one-way chauffeur ride to any destination within a fixed radius – it was 3km fior this RC which was actually plenty to get us around for most we wanted to go to. Its worthy to note that this cannot be pre-booked (although a 5-min ‘advanced’ request works okay).

And kudos to the team that on occassions where the Club car was not available, the staff offered to order a Didi Premium on their account. Yay to nice treatment!

Breakfast – served at Zest from 6:30am-10:30am, this was a huge selection of everything local and not-local like most 5-star Chinese hotel’s buffets – more than enough to start the day with. There is no way anyone will go hungry in the morning here!

Coffee people alert – you have to ask for “freshly ground machine coffee” to get a fresh strong cup. Otherwise by default, the staff will pour you from their Starbucks-ish ready pot which was very lacklustre. And then you get confused staff who don’t know the difference and either still pour you from the pot anyways, or tell you they do not offer the fresh one when the coffee machines were on full-on display in the restaurant. Weird and probably not enough training – somewhat funny but definitely exasperating.

The space itself was huge and fills up quickly by 8:30am but it was also never chaotic which was a plus for sure.

Facilities – Ritz Carlton Spa

I had a quick adventure here to try out their steam roomm and sauna which were both awesome. The space was immaculately clean and I would have loved to get a massage here if not for the crazy prices.

They even had a relaxation room of sorts

The Pool located on the same floor was peaceful and although not exactly heated, the water temperature was maintained at 28 degree which was okay-ish for a quick swim. Like most pools in China, a swimming cap is required for pool usage so I had to get one for RMB48.

The Fitness Centre (24hrs) was an okay-size and mostly very peaceful at 6:00am on the mornings I went – but no view as the property itself offers limited height anyways.

Service –

Other than the breakfast issue above and the poor quality of their airport pick up, I also encountered the most unusual issue where I woke up on my second morning to see my Suite’s doorway LEAKING and quietly flooding. So at the unearthly hour of 5+am, I had to call for assistance through many to and fro, the matter was finally resolved in the next few hours.

BUT the way the issue was handled was not at all smooth (follow ups, calls, questions) and I was honestly very annoyed that something like that could happen at a RC.

They did try to bribe me with an apology token of fruits and chocolates after that.

There was also confusion about how the USD100 hotel credit can be used for which was also eventually sorted which got me my second giant RC lion to accompany the Xi-an sibling.

Check Out – we had a 9:00am flight to catch so had to leave the hotel ahead of breakfast timings and the hotel prepared breakfast boxes containing breads, eggs, fruits for 4pax to go. Billing process was smooth with no issues.

In summary,

So happy to add another RC Club to my list of stays, this one being the most unique in terms of architecture although not the best RC Club offering I’ve had.