The Excelsior is one of those mid-level hotels that tries to be a first-rate hotel, but can't pass muster. That they are owned by the Mandarin Oriental chain only makes it worse, since the staff thinks they are working at the Mandarin, but without the training and resources to bump up the service and amenities to make a stay here memorable or enjoyable. Certainly, if someone was not used to staying at first-rate hotels, they wouldn't notice how young and unprofessional the desk, lobby and business center staff are here. It's hard to describe it, since the differences can be subtle to those not used to good service, but to see what I mean simply walk into the lobby of the Peninsula in Hong Kong, and walk into the lobby here. Not taking into account the physical differences, which are not worth comparing (the Penisula is a more expensive hotel) but it doesn't cost anymore for a well-trained, professional and friendly staff. The Excelsior stumbles badly. The rooms are way over-designed. They look like a designer's first job, with an attempt to include everything they'd ever read about for a "hip" hotel (which this is not). A glass window from the shower to the room (senseless in this setting), glass sink bowl (always messy looking), backlighting, cove lighting, hidden lighting everywhere -- there are seven different light switches just for the room. It's silly -- and all the built-in furniture, shelves, tables, sofas, closets -- everything is over-wrought and jammed into the space making a typically small Asian room even smaller. I never did figure out how to turn the backlighting off inside the frosted glass closet. The room redo's are likely new, since they are in pretty good shape, but it looks dated -- mid-1990s stuff. The business center looks like it was passed by when the rooms were upgraded --definitely 1980s looking -- a get this, a 20 percent surcharge for calling DHL to pick up my box of laundry I was sending home. Every hotel I stayed in on this trip called DHL for free. That surcharge was absurd. And when I complained about it (a US$120 "extra" charge for making a phone call!! THAT was more expensive than THE ROOM!) to the manager on duty, he said "it's the hotel policy". Yes, but it's still stupid, policy or not. And a real hotel, offering real service NEVER tells a guest with a legitimate complaint, "it's the hotel policy" shrugs and walks away. As an overall experience was the stay bad? No, but what irks me is when a hotel pretends to be classy and service oriented, and it is not even close. Just be honest, Excelsior, you are a pedestrian hotel. Don't pretend to be anything else --that's what makes guests upset. If the hotel had simply advertised themselves as a middle-of-the-road place, my middle-of-the-road experience would not be nearly so disturbing.