Travel China and Beyond

Don’t miss out on the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven on your next trip to Beijing!

On my recent trip to Beijing to visit friends and purchase new stock for my online store Chinafinds, I stayed in the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven. For anyone not familiar with this hotel, it is a real bargain jewel. Its biggest drawback is its location, which is convenient to the Hongqiao Pearl Market and the Temple of Heaven itself, but not to anything else. However, it still fairly central and a fairly short cab ride can get you anywhere you need to go. I really like the hotel because 1) the price is right (about $100 for an executive floor room with buffet breakfast included) 2) the staff are very kind and attentive 3) the rooms, at least on the executive floor, are clean, well kept up and comfortably furnished 4) the food in the breakfast buffet is good. I have stayed in many fancy and expensive hotels around the world and consider myself to be quite a hotel snob, but this place meets my basic standards and doesn’t break the bank.

Hotel Reviews: Hong Kong Island Le Meridien, Kowloon Sheraton, Shenzhen: Venetian Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Shangri-La (LuoHu)

I have been asked on a number of occasions for recommendations on good / convenient hotels in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. There are many travelers (both business and tourist alike) who need to spend time in both cities and/or stay in one and have to do business in the neighboring one as well…long story short, here is a brief set of views of hotels in Shenzhen and Hong Kong:

• Hong Kong Island: Le Meridien Hotel
• This hotel is located on the South side of Hong Kong island, in the area called Cyberport, located near by Stanley.
• The hotel is relatively new — my first stay there was in the Fall of 2004. It is a modern hotel with very good amenities, attentive staff, and excellent rooms. At the time (2004) it was one of the hotels I knew about that had flat panel TVs (plasma TVs) in each room
• Here is a link to some photos from the hotel:

Hotel_Reviews_SouthernChina_HongKong

• Kowloon: Sheraton - this hotel is located on Nathan Road very near by MTR station and near by plenty of pubs, restaurants, and shops.  If you are craving for some British pub atmosphere (if you have spend a tad too long in Asia) you can visit a great pub in a basement near by the Sheraton and have some good beer and pot pie.   The hotel itself is very comfortable.  Great rooms, the rate is bit on the expensive side, but given the location that can be expected.  You can get to the hotel with a shuttle bus from the airport (same for going to the airport).

• Shenzhen:  Venetian Crowne Plaza.  If you are going to do most of your business in Shezhen you might as well stay in Shenzhen (rather than Hong Kong).  The hotels are definitely cheaper on the Shenzhen side of the border.  The Venetian is an excellent hotels.  It is part of the chain that includes the Holiday Inn, but believe me there is nothing in common between the two.  Actually, in Shenzhen, there is also a Holiday Inn hotel, which I DO NOT recommend.  The Holiday Inn (based on one stay there) is not a hotel that warrants the amount of money you need to spend.  If the Venetian is booked then you should opt for the Shangri-La (located near the Shenzhen railway station).
  The Venetian is an excellent hotel for both business and tourist travelers.  It is located near by the Windows of the World park, and about RMB70 from the Shenzhen airport, or about RMB80 from the Ferry dock (for the ferry from Hong Kong Int’l airport).
• The Shangri-La is located in the area called LuoHu.  This hotel is conveniently located if you need to make day trips into Hong Kong.  You can walk to the border (about 5 minutes from the hotel), cross on foot through immigration, and on the other side get on the MTR (the Hong Kong mass transit railway), and head for TaiPo or Kowloon areas among others.

Quick Review of Beijing Shangri-La, China World, Kerry Center Hotel, Traders Hotel, and Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven

So you are planing for a trip to Beijing. Your next question is, which hotel should I stay in. Aside from Corporate requirements (if you are on a business travel) or room availability, you can consider what area of Beijing you will have to spend most of your time in. Here are some recommendations and brief reviews:

• Technology area of Beijing - Haidian District, ShangDi area:

If you are visiting the technology area of the city — i.e. Haidian Disrict or ShangDi, you will be better off staying in the Shangri-La. The hotel is located near the 3rd loop road in the Northwest part of town. The rooms are very nice and comfortable, the rates are great (probably a lot to do with the fact that the hotel is a bit out of the main downtown area of the city). The outside of the hotel does not look very impressive, but do not let that convince you not to stay there. The inside is completely renovated. In the back of the hotel there is a very nice Chinese garden (with the “mandatory” courtyard pavilions), which is a place for a nice afternoon tea or a walk. The hotel staff is very attentive, Cafe Cha has a great breakfast and dinner buffets, and if you desire you could sample the good Japanese restaurant. Overall a very comfortable hotel. One additional bonus, for those of you with business plans for visits to technology companies in Haidian district, the location of the hotel will save you the hassles of the 3rd loop road (if coming from downtown).

• Central part of Beijing (near TianAnMen, GuoMao, WangFuJing, the Forbidden City, Panjiayuan Market…)

If you are going to spend most of your time in the Central part of the city then China World, Traders Hotel, Kerry Center are all good options.

China World — probably one of the fanciest hotels in Beijing (aside from the Grand Hyatt, Peninsula, or St. Regis); Very conveniently located - a subway station is located in the underground floor of the shopping mall under the hotel; Also in the underground mall you can find a grocery store, as well as some other stores. Behind the hotel is a parking garage (if you need to meet with folks living in Beijing — they will need a place to park — believe me a good choice for those of us who live in Beijing and have had to meet people coming to visit), across the street is an extension of the shopping area with some restaurants. The South Beauty Sichuan restaurant is a good choice. The rooms of the China World hotel are very posh — and the entire hotel is very beautiful.

Traders Hotel - this is a more budget oriented (business fare wise) hotel, member of the Shangri-La chain. The rooms are definitely a bit more worn out (in comparison with China World and Kerry Center) but still a relatively god deal given that the hotel has the same location as China World.

Kerry Center Hotel - this is considered one of the most visited business hotels in downtown Beijing. Another hotel part of the Shangri-La group, so your membership card for frequent stays in properties associated with Sheraton, Westin, Starwood, etc should work. The rooms in this hotel are good. However if you consider the price and quality, you may be slightly disappointed. Now, if you are new to Beijing, you should definitely consider this business hotel. The reasons are many — airport pickup service (will get you through immigration, etc. very fast), English speaking staff — will answer your many questions and make recommendations on restaurants, places to meet, place to go shop; location in a shopping mall - near by (underground or at same ground level) shops for food, clothing, pharmacy. So, all in all, a good choice for short visit and a good place to start your experience in Beijing.

• Area near the Temple of Heaven and HongQiao market

And finally if you want to be still near major sites like the Temple of Heaven, but in more low key hotel, then the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven is a good choice. The hotel is new, the staff is very pleasant, and actually a good choice for stay in Beijing for someone familiar with the city and at least rudimentary knowledge of Chinese language. You will need those skills to navigate around (get a cab, ask for a place to be taken to, etc) — but the hotel is a good value. My wife and daughter stayed there in March of 2007 as we had moved from our Beijing house — and had an executive floor room with breakfast (in the business club lounge) for about RMB800 per night. An excellent deal!

And here is my daughter’s opinion on these hotels: (I am not kidding — these are her viewpoints — so take it from a 8 year old):

Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven — her rating is “Awesome!” Why? If you visit out of season, you will be one of the few guests and that means you get great service from the staff, and plenty of attention.

China World — a really fancy hotel, with a shopping center underground, very beautiful, with wonderful music being played in the lobby by a string orchestra + a piano

Here is an album with photos from hotels worldwide:

Hotel_Views

I will keep updating the set with images from multiple cities and regions. Keep checking back for more

Adding more to the blog…Hotel Reviews are coming

Well, over the last few years I have spent a significant amount of time staying at various hotels across Asia (in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, India).  So it is time to reflect on those experiences and provide the readers of this blog with some additional information on the region - personal opinion (that is all it is ) on the specifics of a bunch of business and tourist grade hotels.

Over the next few weeks I am going to add feedback on the following hotels:

• China:
• Beijing Shangri-La, China World, Traders Hotel,
• Shanghai: Reneissance Pudong, Portman (Nanjing Lu), Hilton
• Shenzhen: Crowne Plaza Venetian, Shangri-La (at LuoHu);
• Chengdu: Sheraton
• Nanjing: Sheraton
• Taiwan
• Grand Hayatt, Westin;
• Thailand:
• Patong Beach: Holiday Inn Busakorn Wing
• Japan:
• Tokyo: Sakura Prince Hotel
• Hong Kong:
• Kowloon: Sheraton
• Hong Kong Island: Le Meridien
• Macao:
• Hayatt

I will add hotels as I go forward.  Happy reading and travels.