tradernick

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum....I seem to have a knack for misplacing my posts. So mods...feel free to move

As I write this I'm in Shanghai in the Hotel Indigo, overlooking the river with it's continual traffic of sand, coal, lumber, and dinner cruises. I have a corner river view premier room...very nice. The view is absolutely magnificent, at least on those days when the haze/smog isn't too bad. The hotel is very modern and new. The staff is helpful and eager. The only complaint I have is....THE PRICE. This place is grossly overpriced in every way except the free wi-fi. I was here for two nights, then went to X'ian, and am back here now readying for my journey home to usa.

In X'ian I stayed at the New Century Holiday Inn and it was also nice and modern, though it's WAY inconvenient if you're a tourist. It's about a 20-30 minute taxi ride from downtown, city wall, temples, museums etc. And the price is much better....about $70 usd for a king room. There is currrently lots of construction next door and they like to work through the night, but lucky for me I'm a good sleeper so it didn't bother me much.


Hope this info helps someone

Nick

Jamoldo

Hi Nick, thanks for the informative post. Hope you get to check out the China forum more, or post here in the future if you have any more questions on travelling in China. We try to be a pretty helpful (and opinionated) bunch here, but do our best to help out.

mnredfox

OP, sounds like you're an IHG fan. Yes, Xian needs some more PC hotels other than the HI that is very far away, though it is a good place since it gives plats free lounge access.

Watch out for the DCC Scam there though.

Shimon

You were really lucky. The sky in Shanghai when you came was the best I have ever seen it. It made Shanghai look like a normal city! I am right now in a city south of Shanghai and it is depressing but not as bad as 3 weeks ago when this white dust covered the city.

moondog

IHG simply doesn't work in China, guys; apart from HK, they don't have a single cool hotel. SPG is also pathetic, but they do have convenient properties in BJ and SH.

Chinatrvl

That will depend on your preferences. A "cool" hotel? I'm undecided about the greater evil - staying at a W and all these pseudo-chique hotels (erm, Ren, erm) or a yurt. I'm probably too old for this stuff.

IHG has an immense coverage in China, Accor comes in close.

mnredfox

+1. I've used IHG almost extensively in China. A lot of really cool CP's and IC's, and HI's work great (so do HIX) when you're looking for budget places.

But keep in mind, moondog is a Marriot fan. I'll refrain from bashing Marriot.

PTravel

The best and most reasonable hotels that I've stayed in in China are not part of western chains. They're business class hotels that cater primarily to Chinese. That said, I've had reasonable luck with Accor and Starwood, somewhat less with Marriott.

jiejie

This squares up with my experience also. When I can get what I need (except points for the stay) and similar quality for half the price or less than the western brand names, what's not to like? The only thing I sometimes have issue with is the lack of true non-smoking rooms in most non-chain hotels in China. Usually I can switch to a room more to my liking though. And often you need some basic Mandarin for communication as little/no English will be spoken.

moondog

I am hard pressed to think of any IHG properties in Beijing or Shanghai that are in desirable locations (the Indigo in SH almost gets a free pass due to the price of its real estate, but even that's not in the heart of any action). Can you guys provide counterexamples?

mnredfox

Well, desirable location is somewhat debatable but to your point I agree. The best IHG's in Shanghai are of course the three IC's. IC Pudong isn't bad for Pudong locations, and I will concede the IC Puxi isn't the best location in Zhabei. In the IC forum though there was a pretty good review about the new Hotel Indigo on the bund.

As for Beijing, again depends on location. IC Financial Street is a pretty good location. I don't mind the Beichen though far away, location is great for me as I have business in the area. But in general, you're mostly right.

moondog

If we were to create one of those polling threads and asked it Financial Street was a good location, I'm pretty sure the no column would prevail. While it might work for the tourist sites, it's simply too far away from where the bulk of us live/work/eat (traffic is brutal up here).

susiesan

Can you give me the names of any chains of these fine Chinese business hotels? I'm starting to do research on hotels for my trip in October as it is now only 6 months away. I'll need hotels in Beijing, Yangshuo, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. At least 3 nights in each place but Shanghai, which will be one night only passing through.

moondog

I don't think he mentioned "chains" in his post. Most of nice ones tend to be unaffiliated IME.

Chinatrvl

I rarely get to stay in Beijing, but there's a decent CP on Wangfujing which now has even a great management... Plus, there's a new one located very close the airport express in chaoyng. Financial Street is -imo- just as good or bad as staying in the southern CBD.

For Shanghai, I used the IC Pudong as a homebase for years. It's in the perfect location for business, subway, and malls - unlike very many other hotels in Pudong. Furthermore, staying close to shanghai station (IC, HI, HIX) is certainly interesting for those that do not necessarily want to stay in the Nanjing lu area (i.e. everyone who's been to Shanghai more than twice )

Second and thrid (and even smaller) cities are, however, more important to me. IHG has a great presence there, e.g. Dalian, Chongqing, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan etc. (Until a few years ago, the HI Hohhot was the only decent hotel in this "exciting" town - something I still can't appreciate enough when I was there frequently )

What concerns "stunning" (or cool), I can offer IC Nanjing (thrid tallest hotel) which actually has better views than the PH Shanghai (due to the fact you get a >180° view and Nanjing is less high-rise) or Chengdu (stunning, breathtaking, kitsch, awful, you name it) - and many other nice properties like IC Huizhou or CP Lijiang...

I agree about Chinese hotels. However, researching them and getting them "managed" (book, cancel, change) simply takes more time than just logging in to Priority Club (or other). I also very clearly know what I'm gonna get in an Interconti. Spending 60-120 nights/year in hotels in Asia, chosing large chains is simply a tad more convenient and disconcerning for me.