MaldivesFreak

Ambassador: China?! Gotta be kidding me. That's the worst response from an 'ambassador' I've ever seen on a forum. Anyway, on to actually helping the OP.....


I can recommend the Hilton Chongqing. Had friends stay there and they had only good things to say about the property. Also, with DoubleTrees the level of English spoken by the staff isn't going to be quite up there with the higher echelon brands so you may want to keep that in mind. Have you checked out the TA reviews of any of the Chongqing properties? Might be worth a look.

I would also recommend visiting both. Try these dishes when you get to either city: 水煮活鱼 & 四川烤鱼. Fantastic!

painintheuk

I am in the Hilton Chengdu now after having had 2 nights in the Hilton Chongqing. Unfortunately, I have had a terrible cold for the whole time, so haven't been able to do most of what I wanted or sleep particularly well - not the hotels' fault, though!

The Hilton Chongqing was nice. The location is good with 2 metro lines within 5 minutes walk and easy walking distance to the 3 Gorges museum (definitely worth it - I got the 20 RMB 'bluetooth' tour which was definitely worth it) and a couple of nice parks. As a Diamond I was treated well the whole time. The lounge food was just OK and they pour the drinks from a somewhat limited selection. The gym is quite good, though I didn't have the energy to partake. I would stay here again for my next visit, but hopefully wouldn't spend so much time just eating in the lounge or lying coughing in bed!

The Hilton Chengdu is definitely a step above. It feels much more like a Conrad to me (though I've only stayed in 4 of those). I was thinking this as I came back down from the cocktail hour (self-pour, champagne available too, lots of food choices) and found a 'Hilton duck' by the bath - just like Conrad! I'm guessing this is one that people will have to add to the collection . The level of English of all the staff is excellent and they are incredibly helpful. The gym and pool are on the 39th floor (change elevators at the exec lounge level). The gym is not quite as good as at Chongqing, but serviceable. I am feeling a bit more energetic so may try it out after seeing some of the city today. The food for breakfast and 'afternoon tea' was very good, though I didn't eat much at tea. There are also soft drinks, water, tea, etc. available all day. The internet is excellent (though I can't seem to connect to Wifi on my mobile phone) and I uploaded 2 days of photos in under 10 minutes. If I have to pick downsides, it is with the lights - they are terribly complicated! I have 6 switches beside my bed, and waking up I have to use my flashlight to guess which one I want . On the 'too much light' side, the air con control unit is incredibly bright all night long, even when I turned the system off. The light on the smoke detector flashes all night as well. I'll dig out my sleep mask tonight. I would stay here again in a second and would have no trouble recommending it to anybody. Even just sitting here convalescing it is much better than my flat in Suzhou .

And to answer a question upthread, the cocktail hour at Chengdu does end at 8 and they come around to ask if we would like anything else. I noticed a few people loading up with food and drink, but I was just finishing up to go to bed anyways.

Dr. PITUK

painintheuk

Well, Hefei isn't exactly a tourist resort (though I'll see the new Wanda theme park 万达主题乐园 tomorrow), but the Hilton is a solid choice.

I really like that it is walking distance (<1km) from the main train station. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful! They also have hired an experienced German staff member to specially deal with foreigners and he seems to have brought in quite a bit of business. It was nice to get to speak German again for the first time in a couple of years!

As a Diamond I did not get a suite upgrade. On my first (Thursday) night the lounge was completely full including a surprising number of non-Chinese, so perhaps they were all full. It has been much quieter since. The lounge food and drink are generally good (mix of average Western and Chinese, alcohol has South African red and white wine, 2 beers, 4 whiskey/whiskys, tequila and rum - no vodka or gin). It is walking distance (about 1.5km) to downtown and a beautiful 10km wooded loop around the city centre. The city is 2500+ years old and there used to be a wall to complement the moat! Definitely 2-3 days worth of visiting.

Despite not being a main tourist centre, there is a very long and distinguished history and a great food culture (as most areas in China!).

I did stop in the Crowne Plaza (MUCH lower level of English), but there are also several other American/European chains in the region.

Thanks

Dr. PITUK

madbrain

It looks like the Hilton Shanghai redemption start at 50,000 per room per night.

For an executive room that includes breakfast, 76400 points.
Same room can be booked on expedia for $203, tax-inclusive, non refundable rate with breakfast .

That's roughly a 0.27 cent/per redemption which seems really bad. Should I be saving my Hilton points for another destination, and just book a non-Hilton hotel ?

There are a couple other Hiltons in Shanghai but not as well rated, and rates are similar.

craigthemif

You're unlikely to find good redemption value from Premium Room Awards such as the exec room. They are usually based on the cash rate, but with a low value on an HHonors point.

As well, if you compare the flexible point award with a prepaid cash rate you're missing part of the value of an award (things happen, no matter how firm one's plans appear to be...)

And finally, if you have 5 million points then who cares... spend the points. If these are your last 50K then decide whether to keep them for a better use. A lot of people use a hurdle of 0.5 cents in value.

madbrain

I only have 80k points - my first points since joining over the summer. I was hoping to book at least a couple of nights with points, but looks like even that won't be possible.

As far as wanting executive room - the only reason is to get the breakfast in the executive lounge. Apparently, reward rooms for non-executive rooms never include breakfast, at least at that particular Hilton in Shanghai.

jxd

If you're gold, you automatically have breakfast included.

And I'd used cash for the hilton shanghai instead of points. Maybe you can try c+p?

madbrain

Thanks - did not know that, that is helpful. Only got Hilton Gold status last week from Amex Platinum.

El_Duderito

The Hilton Sanqingshan Resort is accepting reservations on the mobile app - not on the regular site. It's only a category 2 hotel but I figure the Presidential suite would be worth the price.

paul00

Great find - thanks for sharing!

painintheuk

Hi all,

Does anyone have the Chinese address for the Doubletree in Suzhou? I'm leaving tomorrow and can't seem to find it anywhere on the Hilton site or with a couple of Google searches. I haven't seen any reviews yet, so I'll add one here soon!

Thanks.

paul00

@painintheuk: the name of the property (DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Suzhou) in Chinese is 苏州希尔顿逸林酒店.

The address of the property (275 Suzhou Avenue East, Wuzhong District Industrial Park, Suzhou) in Chinese is 苏州吴中区工业园区苏州大道东275号.

Viks

I found 13 Hilton hotels in China for 5000 points per night:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ningbo - Chunxiao (has lounge)
DoubleTree by Hilton Ningbo Beilun (has lounge)
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Anhui - Suzhou (has lounge)
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Wuxi (has lounge)
Hilton Garden Inn Chengdu Huayang
Hilton Garden Inn Dandong
Hilton Garden Inn Foshan
Hilton Garden Inn Fuzhou Cangshan
Hilton Garden Inn Guiyang Yunyan
Hilton Garden Inn Ningbo
Hilton Garden Inn Shenzhen Bao'an
Hilton Garden Inn Xi'an High-Tech Zone
Hilton Garden Inn Zhongshan Guzhen

Would you recommend any of these for a tourist for 5 nights (I'm going status match to Diamond so will get 5th night free and lounge access)?

Most of these seem to be in industrial towns and ports out of the city center, but maybe I missed a gem or two!

painintheuk

谢谢你!

The driver ended up knowing where we were going (much better car service than the last one I used!), so I was OK. When I couldn't find the Chinese name, I decided to download an image of the hotel to my phone and laptop - it's pretty unique and everyone here will know it!

Sitting in the lounge now 'recovering' from my 14 hour flight . I'll post some thoughts in a couple of days.

Dr. PITUK

painintheuk

I haven't stayed in any of these, but if your budget goes to double the points (still amazing deals), then there are even more options. I'm not sure where you usually stay, but the Doubletrees in China can be quite nice and the lounges well stocked ('happy hour' is just about to end here in the Doubletree Suzhou (Jiangsu - not Anhui - don't mix them up ).

I wouldn't knock an industrial town out of hand. Xi'an is certainly worth a visit if you've never been, though I don't know the hotel. Ningbo and Wuxi have some beautiful surrounding countryside. I went to Hefei last year (and enjoyed the Hilton) and was expecting nothing - it really isn't usually a tourist destination. The history and the path around the lake are totally worth a visit, though.

Good luck!

Dr. PITUK