Review: The St. Regis Qingdao

About The St. Regis Qingdao

After the AMEX Platinum Card refresh added an extra $300 FHR credit, I happened to be going to Qingdao, so I booked a one-night stay at The St. Regis Qingdao to check it out.

The St. Regis Qingdao is located inside the landmark Haitian Center, a roughly 369-meter-tall tower in Qingdao’s Shinan District. The hotel sits next to Fushan Bay, with views west toward the historic Badaguan area and east toward May Fourth Square, the Olympic Sailing Center, and the Hong Kong Road commercial district. The hotel uses nature-inspired artistic design, along with refined facilities and the signature St. Regis Butler Service, to create a stay experience high above the sea and mountains. Guests can also experience the storied Astor family tradition of hospitality. Set within this grand landmark building, the hotel offers sweeping panoramic views throughout the stay. The St. Regis Qingdao positions itself as an ideal place for inspiration.

Booking

The AMEX Platinum refresh happened on September 18, and the FHR credit increased to $300 and reset at the same time. So on September 18, I booked The St. Regis Qingdao through AMEX Travel. The hotel was fairly expensive at the time, and the total after taxes was already over $300. But since I could get $300 reimbursed anyway, I basically treated it as paying $66 for the hotel. On top of that, FHR bookings already include perks like breakfast for two, late checkout, and room upgrades, so it still felt like a very good deal.

Since I was only staying one night, I didn’t bother sending a dedicated pre-arrival email. The day before check-in, I just messaged the front desk through the app to ask whether an upgrade might be possible. The reply was basically a template response saying they would have to check room availability the next day.

Check-In

We took the subway to a nearby station and walked along the coast to the hotel. Qingdao’s weather was very comfortable.

• The plaza at the hotel entrance

Right across the street from the hotel is the sea, and there are even a few small sandy areas where you can go down and walk around.

The lobby is on the 59th floor. I have to say, when the weather is good, the ocean view is really beautiful. There’s a great view in every direction.

• It really does feel like the sea and sky blend together

However, the hotel was completely full that day, so when we arrived at 1:30 pm, the room still wasn’t ready. The front desk said it would be ready in an hour, so we stored our luggage and went out to eat first. What was frustrating was that when we came back close to 3 pm, the room still wasn’t ready. Even with FHR + Marriott Platinum, we still couldn’t check in until after 3 pm, which was pretty ridiculous. We were upset enough that we asked them to call a manager. But because the hotel was sold out, the manager couldn’t really do much either. After a lot of back and forth, they finally gave us a room on a lower floor, and even said they had reassigned a foreign guest’s room to us first, which was honestly kind of absurd.

So before arrival, I’d definitely recommend telling the hotel your actual arrival time so they can prepare your room as early as possible.

The Stay

To be honest, there wasn’t anything especially memorable about this St. Regis. The bedroom area and bathroom area felt almost 1:1 in size.

• The old-school executive style is still very obvious

The bathroom area was quite comfortable and very spacious. The floor-to-ceiling windows plus the bathtub were a nice touch.

The walk-in closet was also pretty large.

They also provided some snacks and fruit as a welcome amenity.

The night view was decent, though it was a bit foggy, so the photos didn’t come out very clearly.

And this is what it looked like during the day.

Breakfast

One highlight was that toppings like braised beef and others were self-serve, so you could add as much as you wanted or just eat them on their own. The smoked salmon was especially popular and kept running out, but the staff restocked it pretty quickly.

They also had Laoshan Cola, and you could grab a few bottles to go.

$100 Dining Credit

With an FHR booking at The St. Regis Qingdao, each stay comes with a $100 dining credit. It can be used at the various restaurants or for room service. However, when we checked in, the restaurant had switched to buffet service, so there was no à la carte menu available. As a result, we had to use the credit on room service instead. Their $100 credit was valued at RMB 650. The spread below alone cost more than RMB 600. The sea intestine rice bowl was pretty average—there wasn’t much freshness to it, and it mostly just tasted salty.

Pool

We went to try the pool at night. There was basically no one there, and it was quite relaxing.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the hardware at this St. Regis is perfectly fine, but the stay experience was pretty average and didn’t really feel like St. Regis-level service. The location is good, close to the waterfront and major attractions. In the off-season, rates can drop to around $200.

Still, I have to thank AMEX for the free stay.