TL;DR: My flight was delayed and the Hotel refused to allow me to check in a day late or work with me in any way.
There was an issue with my flight when traveling from Shanghai to Hong Kong and I realized I would arrive a day later than the time my reservation was for. I contacted the hotel to let them know and to confirm my reservation would be held. They replied telling me that they can't talk to me, that all communication has to go through Hotels.com, the site I booked the Hotel on. Uh, ok. So I contact Hotels.com and they get back to me and tell me that the Emperor Hotel refused to honor the reservation, or give me a refund! So basically because of a flight delay they're going to take my $740 and throw me out on the street without any place to stay in a foreign city. I contacted the hotel again to verify, but they again refused any communication! I say again: the hotel flat-out refused to speak to a paying customer over the phone, or answer any questions by email, even when it was, to me, an emergency situation. Thankfully, I was able to get a last-minute reservation at a much better hotel at a comparable price, but I am still very upset that the Emperor Hotel essentially stole $740 from me. There is a special place in hell for people like that.
In all my years of travelling I have never encountered a hospitality business that is run this way. STAY AWAY from this dump at all costs. It is clear that their business model is not based upon customer satisfaction, but on fleecing your for every penny they can get. I wouldn't feel safe in their properties and would be very concerned about leaving valuables unattended in the room. These people are crooks and scam artists and should not be in any business, anywhere in the world.
I should add that when I saw the hotel for myself I realized it is quite dirty and is located in a remote, industrial part of town. You can do much, much better for a similar price in HK. read more