"Mr. Jiang, I apologize for the wait. I am Zhu Zhe, the General Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's Pengcheng branch," she said, bowing slightly to Jiang Chen.
Hearing this, Jiang Chen looked up at the voice speaking from the bow and saw a short-haired woman with a pleasant face, wearing light makeup and a business suit. She spoke clearly and concisely, introducing herself briefly.
Jiang Chen waved his hand and smiled, saying, "I haven't waited long. Look, the drink I just ordered hasn't even arrived yet, and you're already here, hahaha."
In response to Jiang Chen's teasing, Zhu Zhe seriously told the front desk attendant, "Tell the production department to hurry and bring Mr. Jiang's drink."
Upon hearing this, the front desk attendant immediately replied, "Understood," and quickly ran to the production department to urge them on.
After instructing the front desk attendant, Zhu Zhe explained to Jiang Chen, who was sitting on the sofa, "Mr. Jiang, this is what happened: half an hour ago, you booked the Oriental Suite at our hotel for a month.
However, due to our hotel's oversight, that room is actually undergoing maintenance, and a staff member accidentally listed it on the platform. My main reason for coming is to express our apologies to you."
After speaking, Zhu Zhe stood up and bowed again.
Jiang Chen then understood. So, your attitude is so good, and the General Manager personally handled my check-in because the room wasn't available, right?
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes. He was a bit displeased now. His legs unconsciously crossed, and he leaned back, ready to go into attack mode.
Jiang Chen was about to erupt.
Zhu Zhe, however, changed the subject and said, "Therefore, we have upgraded your room, from the original Oriental Suite to the Presidential Suite. And you will enjoy all the normal courtesies of the Presidential Suite."
"?"
Zhu Zhe's last words interrupted Jiang Chen, who was about to go into attack mode.
Couldn't you just finish your sentence in one go? I was almost about to curse.
Jiang Chen's intended greeting turned into: "Are you sure? A room upgrade?"
"Of course, Mr. Jiang, I am very sure," Zhu Zhe said earnestly, looking into Jiang Chen's eyes.
Hearing about the room upgrade, Jiang Chen's displeasure turned into satisfaction. He completely ignored the earlier talk about the hotel's mistake and the room not being available. Jiang Chen had originally planned to book the Presidential Suite,
but when he booked the Mandarin Oriental on Meituan, why didn't he see the Presidential Suite as an option?
Thinking of this, he asked Zhu Zhe,
"Why didn't I see the Presidential Suite available for booking on Meituan? I originally wanted to book the Presidential Suite, and only booked this Oriental Suite when I saw it wasn't available."
If only you had called our hotel to book! The platform earned hundreds of thousands in commission for nothing!
Zhu Zhe screamed in her mind when she heard Jiang Chen's words.
"Cough."
Zhu Zhe coughed and explained, "It's like this: we don't list the Presidential Suite on third-party platforms. The highest room types available are only the Oriental and Cultural Suites.
The Presidential Suite is generally booked through our hotel's internal sales staff."
She then continued to say to Jiang Chen, "Mr. Jiang, if you find our solution acceptable, shall I escort you to your room now?"
Zhu Zhe's answer resolved Jiang Chen's confusion. So that's how it was.
"No problem, then Manager Zhu, please lead the way."
Jiang Chen had no objections to Zhu Zhe's proposed solution; he even felt like he had profited, after all, he only paid for a suite but got to stay in the Presidential Suite.
What he didn't know was that half an hour earlier, the Housekeeping Manager had informed Zhu Zhe that a guest had spent over two million to book an Oriental Suite for a month, and it was booked through a third-party platform.
When Zhu Zhe heard her subordinate's report, an over two million turnover was already the highest single income for their Pengcheng branch this quarter, and it was even booked through a third-party platform. It's important to know that hotels all have their own sales teams.
For high-end hotels like the Mandarin Oriental, guests booking suite-level rooms generally contact sales to book, which is much cheaper than booking through third-party platforms, where prices are always listed at the rack rate. With hotel revenue declining year after year, Zhu Zhe immediately decided to personally handle such a sudden appearance of a premium customer.
In fact, the Oriental Suite being under maintenance was just a lie fabricated by Zhu Zhe. The actual intention was to upgrade Jiang Chen to the Presidential Suite, but she couldn't say it directly, so Zhu Zhe came up with this method.
Everything she did was merely to retain Jiang Chen. After all, booking the Presidential Suite internally for a month also cost around two million, which was no loss for the hotel. Through this operation, she might even retain Jiang Chen as a major client.
And you know what, this series of operations, coupled with Zhu Zhe's personal reception, left a very positive impression on Jiang Chen, indicating that the service and problem-solving approach of a five-star hotel were indeed excellent.
Of course, it would have been even better if the drink Jiang Chen ordered earlier had arrived.
The belated front desk attendant carried the drink Jiang Chen ordered. Jiang Chen, holding his drink, followed Zhu Zhe into the elevator and ascended to the Presidential Suite on the top floor.
Inside the suite, Jiang Chen sat on the sofa. On the table were flowers, a fruit platter, and two bottles of wine. Zhu Zhe walked to the table, picked up a bottle of wine, and said to Jiang Chen,
"Mr. Jiang, this is a bottle of Yamazaki 18-year limited edition whisky, prepared for you as an apology for delaying your check-in."
"The rest are the normal courtesies for staying in the Presidential Suite."
After speaking, she placed her hands on her abdomen. Another young woman, dressed like a front desk attendant, stepped forward. "Mr. Jiang, here is your ID and room card."
Seeing Jiang Chen accept them, Zhu Zhe then said, "Mr. Jiang, all our basic facilities are available to you free of charge during your stay."
She then beckoned to another man in his thirties, impeccably dressed in a suit, who was standing outside the door, and introduced him: "This is our Presidential Suite's private butler."
He approached Jiang Chen, bowed slightly, and then began to introduce himself: "Hello, Mr. Jiang, I am your private butler, Xu Jinzhong. I will be at your service 24 hours a day during your stay."
Xu Jinzhong?
Jiang Chen looked at the introducing Xu Jinzhong and couldn't help but think of the Star River legend "Xu Shizhong," who had a name that differed by only one character.
After Jinzhong finished his introduction, Jiang Chen nodded to acknowledge it. Zhu Zhe then added,
"Mr. Jiang, if you need anything during your stay, you can contact Xu Jinzhong. He is our hotel's ace private butler and will do his best to meet your needs. If you are still not satisfied, you can contact me."
"To make it convenient for you to communicate your needs at any time, may Jinzhong and I add you on Feixin?" Zhu Zhe's earlier preparations were all for this moment.
"Sure, you can scan me." Jiang Chen took out his phone, opened the QR code, and placed his phone on the table.
Having received Jiang Chen's consent, Zhu Zhe and Xu Jinzhong both took out their phones, scanned Jiang Chen's Feixin QR code, and clicked to send a request. Seeing her objective achieved, Zhu Zhe immediately said,
"Mr. Jiang, please rest. I won't disturb you any further." After speaking, she and the other staff members bowed slightly again.
She then led all the staff except Xu Jinzhong out of the room. Just then, a knock sounded. Xu Jinzhong opened the door; it was staff bringing Jiang Chen's luggage and car keys. Xu Jinzhong took the luggage and car keys, placed the luggage in the adjacent walk-in closet, and put the car keys where Jiang Chen could see them.
After all this was done, Xu Jinzhong came out and said to Jiang Chen, "Mr. Jiang, your luggage has been placed in the walk-in closet, and the keys are on the table in front of you. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me."
Jiang Chen nodded to indicate he understood.
After speaking, Xu Jinzhong bowed slightly and opened the door to leave. Hearing the door close, Jiang Chen finally had time to survey the Presidential Suite. The interior was enormous, with a full L-shaped floor-to-ceiling window overlooking most of the Pengcheng cityscape.
Jiang Chen picked up the Yamazaki bottle, walked to the bar, found a whisky glass, and then retrieved an ice ball from the nearby refrigerator, placing it directly into the glass. He opened the bottle and poured a little in.
He then carried the bottle and glass to a chair by the floor-to-ceiling window, sat down, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a lighter, took a deep puff and exhaled, then took a sip of his drink. Jiang Chen felt something was missing.
After a while, Jiang Chen, holding his phone in one hand and his drink in the other, took a photo of the view outside the floor-to-ceiling window and uploaded it to his Moments, with the caption:
"This glass, to the future."