Originally Posted by
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?
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
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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
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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...
Originally Posted by
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.
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.