ElevatorEnthusiast

Hi, folks! I loved my time in Shanghai, so I’m thinking of taking a longer trip at some point later this year with a real visa. My biggest passion in travel is visiting different hotels, so I always stay at a different hotel every night. Luckily, China seems to have no shortage of Marriott and Hyatt properties to try. I’m looking for opinions on different cities to either make sure to visit or to avoid. If it matters, I’m very visibly a Westerner with no Chinese language skills (sadly). Outside of hotels, I enjoy walking around cities, parks, shopping malls, etc, to observe the day-to-day culture and feel of a city.

As mentioned, I have been to Shanghai (which I would love to visit again), Hong Kong, and Macau. I definitely want to visit Beijing and Shenzhen. Presumably, I should also visit Guangzhou from Shenzhen. Other cities I’m seeing with lots of hotel options seem to include:

• Changsha
• Changzhou
• Chengdu
• Chongqing
• Fuzhou
• Haikou
• Hangzhou
• Huzhou seems to have a circular Sheraton
• Nanjing
• Nanning
• Ningbo
• Qingdao
• Sanya? I’m not a huge resort person, but maybe Hainan is worth visiting?
• Shenyang
• Suzhou
• Tianjin
• Wenzhou
• Wuhan
• Xi’an
• Xiamen
• Zhongshan

narvik

Yep, all of those!

Not sure how 'adventurous' you want to get with your hotel choices, or where you normally search for them, but if you search for hotels with trip.com, you'll find some quite uniquely [fake] traditional/rustic/authentic places.
I'd not stay in these every night, but for the occasional 'experience' they can be quite 'interesting'.

YariGuy

All of your choices are good, but I would avoid Sanya. If you like lounges almost none of the hotels on Hainan have lounges, and they are pretty isolated.

889

Your list seems blind to Chinese geography. It can be real tiring travelling around China, even with HSR.

Take a look at a map and see what works for a good linear route.

So maybe Shanghai - Hangzhou - Shaoxing - Ningbo then down the coast to Guangzhou with stops at the cities en route.

Just one possibility; there are many others.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Of course, the list was in alphabetical order - I’m just getting acquainted with the actual geography - though, I know some stuff like that Suzhou is close to Shanghai, etc. I also wouldn’t try to get everything in a single trip as that would be unrealistic and tiresome. Your point on HSR is interesting - doing that vs. domestic flights is something to consider, but I’m sure that’s a topic for another thread!

IluvSQ

Aside from hotels, Hangzhou and Xiamen are interesting places to visit.

gudugan

Speaking of interesting hotels, I stayed here: https://us.trip.com/hotels/detail?hotelid=97715606. It was impossible to find.

The gaming PC in the room was theoretically a very nice touch, but it required a Chinese id card to play any of the games, so it was useless to me. But a very cool concept!

Get 3 of your buddies and play video games all night, take a nap on the bed right next to the chair. Get some food delivery and you're good to go

uanj

My biggest pleasant surprise of a hotel in China was the Tianjin Astor, a 150-year old hotel that has grown to include the buildings that surround it. Though my stay was 10 years ago when it was part of Sheraton's Luxury Collection (which is no longer is), I thought of this for you since it has what is possibly the oldest elevator in China, from the Otis Company. There's also a museum in the basement. A lot of diplomatic missions were stationed there and there is area is a bit reminiscent of the Bund in Shanghai. Very charming place, not perfect, but something out of the ordinary for a one-night stay.

It will make a nice contrast to the comfortable, chic and modern hotels you see everywhere in China.

The Astor Hotel Tianjin, Best price guarantee

uanj

OP, sorry this thread does not seem to be getting much traction. I'll add a few in cities not on your list:

Guilin-city is super easy to get through, center of tourist industry in the Li River. Hotel is Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel which is an old state-run hotel maybe from the 70s which in more recent years they managed to cover with a waterfall on the back side. I stayed there in the 80s, before the waterfall, it was very different back then. The city turned off all power at 8 pm and lower floor rooms were highly desirable. Certainly no longer an issue. I've gone in recent years to watch the waterfall show. Unusual and unique, totally touristy. A Vegas type of hotel with attraction approach you don't see much of in China.

Lijiang is in Yunnan province and features many ethnic minorities including the Naxi. There are at least two really nice resorts the: InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town Resort or Grand Hyatt Lijiang. I stayed at the IC before and it was as nice as an upscale resort in Thailand and immediately adjacent to the heritage ancient town. If you are into engineering the intricate water system of the ancient town was fascinating to me. Touristy but very picturesque. I've heard good things about the Grand Hyatt, too.

Can you give us more hints what type of hotels you are interested in? Things that make no sense, like being shaped like a giant teapot or a giant ring? Or more traditional culture and not a contemporary route 66 approach to lodging?

kelvinT2

Since you enjoyed walking around cities, shopping malls, and to observe the day-to-day culture and feel of a city, I would recommend three cities for you.

Changsha: I think Changsha has its own "feel" because of its unique blend of glamour and nostalgia is one of a kind, especially around the Wuyi Square Shopping District. I love the vibrant mosaic of past and present from that glitz of modern boutiques meets the charm of retro alleyways. Mountain YueLu, Yuelu Academy, and Hunan Museum(all located at the center of the city) are also must visited historical sites. Orange Island is a also a must see, famous of its iconic Mao's statue

Accommodations in Changsha:
For Marriott, JW Changsha is brand new and a lot of people in China parised it to be the best JW in recent years other than JW Marquis Shanghai. St Regis and W Changsha are a little bit suburb (but on top of a metro station) with less ideal view(regis is on top of a high rise building so it's fine, but W got really bad view), but they offer great services. The luxury Collection Changsha is not really LC feel, but a great choice if you either want a great lake view, a fan of Zaha's architecture, or vote for a lakeside walk.
If you want great location and views, choose Hyatt. Grand Hyatt Changsha offers the best river view and still locates within the Wuyi Shopping district. There might be another choice depends on when you arrives: Park Hyatt Changsha is about to open in the mid 2024, a 310m tall high rise building on top of IFS mall with great view and location.


Chengdu: I think Chunxi Road shopping district stands out as the best shopping destination in mainland China, famous of the Chengdu IFS(one of the best classic mall experience) and Chengdu Taikoo Li(renowned for its open-plan and lane-driven mall experience). Also, yhe area is also rich in traditional department stores, diverse malls, and an traditional shopping street. Other interesting walking areas can be explored, such as Kuan Zhai Alley.

For the accommodations in Chengdu, I wouldn't recommend those Marriott properties(St Regis, Ritz, W, and JW are all poorly rated in China's forum). I would recommend to try something different like the The Temple House which located inside the Taikoo Li(probably the best boutique hotel in Chengdu).

Chongqing: a megacity distinguished by its unique topography. You could get a sense of its urban vibrancy with walking around the its renowned spots like Hongya Cave, Chaotianmen, and Jiefangbei shopping district.
For the accommodations in Chongqing, the Westin seems to be the best Marriott property in downtown area. If you want to try other hotel group, Regent seems fine.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Thank you, all - working on getting my visa this upcoming week, so these are all useful tidbits! As for types of hotels, I like comfortable and opulent - no matter if it's old or new. But, I do love the suggestions of unique hotels that you wouldn't necessarily find outside of China, as well :-)

889

Head to Shamian Island in Guangzhou, spend a night at the White Swan then walk right over to the Victory for your second night.

moondog

The White Swan was the first hotel I experienced in China at 19 years old; quite an interesting introduction to the country.

889

Forty years ago, walking into the White Swan was like entering another world.

It's almost forgotten today that places like that were once off-limits to most Chinese people.

PES_B1

You can try the great hotels along the JingGuang Highspeed Line (京广高速铁路, Beijing-Guangzhou Highspeed Main Line), which includes major cities such as Guangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Beijing.