Photo: VCG

Universal Studio Beijing has been facing increasing criticism over service and hygiene issues from some Chinese consumers in recent days, after a video blogger showed its grand hotel did not replace pillow cases with new ones and clean close stool for new customers.

In response, Universal Studio Beijing said it has launched an investigation and will take further measures in accordance with result of the investigation. "We attach great importance to the situation shown in the video, and this is not in line with our usual hygienic standards," a spokesperson was quoted as saying in media reports.

The investigation comes after a tourism blogger posted a video online on Wednesday, pointing to a slew of serious hygiene and safety issues of the Universal Studio Beijing Grand Hotel. In the video, the blogger stayed in the Kung Fu Panda-themed hotel room - which charges around 2,800 yuan ($434) a night - for one night, and his friends checked in the same room the next day. 

The blogger used a special night writer pen to mark glasses, cups, towels, pillow cases, bathrobe and close stool in the room. The marks only appear in special lights and could be easily washed away. But the next day, his friends could still identify most of the marks on the items, which indicated that the hotel did not either replace or clean them for new guests.

The blogger also claimed that his room card, which cannot swipe into his room, yet could swipe in the elevator to access to each floor of the hotel, posing safety risks. The blogger claimed he has kept non-stop video recordings as evidence.

As the video went viral, some netizens said that they are disappointed in the theme park. "The theme park just opened, but how dare! Its service quality, in contrast to the fees it charges, is so low," a netizen commented.

Some also called on Beijing market regulators to step in the investigation and supervise its rectification process.

The criticism over the service of the US theme park comes less than a month after its grand opening in Beijing's Tongzhou district on September 20. Universal Studios Beijing has welcomed thousands of tourists since, and has become one of the hottest travel destinations in the seven-day National Day holidays.

Global Times