Hilton Garden Inn Chengdu Huayang {CHN}

I had a quick overnight at Hilton Garden Inn Chengdu Huayang before going to the airport.  I got my room for a rock bottom 5k points which was a no brainer given that rooms cost in the neighborhood of 500 RMN ($80) for most dates; this gives you more than 1.5 cent per point in value, almost triple what you would normally get for the vast majority of Hilton hotels.  

If someone has business in the neighborhood of the hotel then the location won’t be an issue, but if you are a tourist and you want to explore the city, this hotel is most likely not a good choice.  The hotel has a shuttle bus to the metro line 1 station Huafu Avenue, but only twice a day.  The metro station is 3km away from the hotel so not exactly close if you want to walk there, plus the fact that even if you take the metro it won’t be a quick ride because it’s not close to city center at all.  It does not make the hotel a good base to explore the city.  

As a Diamond I was upgraded to a deluxe room on a high floor.  I saw on Hilton.com that the junior suite was available but I did not ask about a suite upgrade at check-in since I was only at the hotel for about 12 hours.  An upgrade from the basic room to a deluxe room is nothing to write home about given that the price difference is only 50 RMN.  Cleanliness was good but not great.  The room is of a standard size and functional.  There is a bench the width of the room at the window, along with a working table.  The bathroom was ok but there were some black spots at some joints in the shower.  The hotel was a bit older than I expected; I thought it would be more modern particularly if I compare to my only other experience in a HGI in China, which was in Shanghai where my room was definitely nicer than in Chengdu. 

The mini bar was free; it had water, soft drinks, and one can of beer.  They also gave us a voucher for 20 RMN to use in the pantry which has some snacks, cup noodles, etc.  Breakfast starts at 6:30am but we had to take a taxi early to go to the airport so we did not eat in the restaurant.  They prepared two take-away boxes with yogurt, fruit, and pastries. 

Overall this hotel is good if you want a room for a bargain 5k points, and/or if you need to be in this part of the city. Otherwise I would not recommend it. Paying cash 400-500 RMN ($60-80) for a room here is questionable given that for maybe only 300 RMN more (paying about 750 RMN = $120) you could get a nice five star hotel, more modern, in a better location, and quite possibly better Diamond benefits.  For example at the Hilton Chengdu you would get lounge access and better odds of a suite upgrade.