The Langham, Melbourne in Melbourne

Here's my experience:
From February 15-18, 2026, my family and I stayed at this hotel during Chinese New Year. All I can say is, it was incredibly disappointing and regrettable.

First experience: Reserving dinner was a huge hassle.
After checking in on February 15, I realized the next day was Chinese New Year's Eve. I saw a promotional flyer for the hotel's New Year's Eve dinner and wanted to check out the restaurant environment and make a reservation. That afternoon, we went to the restaurant. A staff member there told me he was only responsible for the adjacent afternoon tea area, and there was no one in the buffet area to help me with a reservation at that moment. He said I'd have to wait until lunch service began to find the relevant staff. When lunch started, a female staff member wearing glasses told me that it was dining time, and she would only show me the restaurant and take my reservation after all buffet guests had entered. She asked me to wait at the entrance, and she would come find me later. However, after all the guests had entered, we couldn't find her, and no one came to look for me. We ended up waiting at the entrance for half an hour. Since we had other plans, we took our children out, thinking we could find someone when we returned in the afternoon. But when we came back to the restaurant in the afternoon, a staff member told me that since there was no dinner service that day, the restaurant staff had already left. He told me to go to an office around the corner to make a reservation, but when we got there, that office was also closed. Afterwards, we went back to the afternoon tea area to inquire, but the staff there couldn't help either, simply telling me I could only check the restaurant situation and make a reservation the next day, as only the staff in the corner office had the reservation list, and no one else could access it. This series of events was utterly perplexing. I wonder if it's an issue of disorganized hotel management, with poor communication between staff. A simple dinner reservation shouldn't require such a runaround for guests.

Second experience: A Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with absolutely no thought or effort.
On the morning of February 16, we finally managed to reserve a table. Since it was Chinese New Year's Eve, I was very concerned about whether the dinner would feature our traditional Chinese food – dumplings. When I reserved, the staff member told me they would have them, and many other traditional Chinese foods. Indeed, we saw the hotel's promotional flyer for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner stating the same (Image 01). I was filled with anticipation, especially my child. But when we had dinner that evening, it was a huge disappointment. As we didn't see any Chinese dumplings throughout our meal, I approached the restaurant staff, the manager on duty, and finally the duty manager they called over. All of them responded in a bewildered manner, showing no intention of resolving the issue. First, a staff member brought out xiao long bao and siumai. When I asked if they had Chinese dumplings, not steamed dumplings or siumai, a female staff member on duty directly told me that she was Vietnamese and didn't know what dumplings were. I asked her, if the restaurant's promotional title is 'Chinese New Year,' do you truly understand Chinese traditions? She told me that today's dinner was not only for Chinese New Year but also for Vietnamese New Year and other neighboring countries' New Year celebrations. She also informed me that the restaurant's chef was German and also didn't know what dumplings were. It's safe to say that none of the restaurant staff knew anything about Chinese dumplings. Afterwards, a staff member who claimed to be a manager approached me (Image 04; since this staff member wasn't wearing a name tag, I've attached a photo, please identify them yourselves). He told me that he was from Hong Kong, and therefore didn't know about mainland dumplings, as they never ate dumplings in Hong Kong, so he wasn't familiar with what I meant by 'Chinese dumpling.' Throughout my inquiry, this manager showed no humility, nor did he proactively try to understand my needs or solve my problem. I showed him their promotional flyer and even photos of dumplings, but he repeatedly emphasized that he was just from Hong Kong, didn't understand Chinese traditions, and they never ate dumplings in Hong Kong.

Here, I would like the Langham Group to convey to this staff member that Hong Kong has been part of China for many years now. Even if they don't understand mainland culture, they should at least know something about Cantonese cuisine, and shrimp dumplings (har gow) are a representative Cantonese food. However, this manager completely ignored me throughout.
I was utterly astonished by the responses from all the staff mentioned above. Since the hotel is promoting 'Chinese New Year,' yet is completely ignorant of Chinese traditions, I have to ask: was there any thought put into the planning of this event by the hotel?
It wasn't until the next day, when I saw gyoza in the breakfast restaurant (please see attachments 02, 03), which is a food extremely similar to Chinese dumplings. Had any staff member shown a bit of proactiveness and looked at the dumpling photos I provided, they would have made the connection. But unfortunately, they simply dismissed my request with an utterly irresponsible attitude, lacking any sincerity or service awareness. What I don't understand isn't that the restaurant didn't have the dish I wanted, but the staff's dismissive attitude towards a guest's request.

The Langham Melbourne's New Year's Eve dinner, organized by the relevant planning and marketing departments without proper research and preparation, turned out to be a ridiculous 'unforgettable' Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, provided by Vietnamese staff, a Hong Konger who claimed not to understand Chinese traditions, and a German chef.