Posts Tagged ‘Holidays - China’

Papa Ed and I flew to Fujian Province in China for a number of days recently.  From my previous experiences in other cities of China, I am most afraid of the “polluted air” there:( { personal encounter: I recalled coming home with terrible sore throat and acne outbreak during my last visit to Shanghai. According to my doctor, it could be due to the pollutants}. This time, fortunately, no pollutants problem and we were welcomed by fog instead.

In Fuzhou, according to natives, one of the best hotel is Shangri-La Hotel being “the only international Fuzhou luxury hotel”.  I was tempted to try out the hotel.  But, no, we didn’t stay in as our hotel accomodation was sponsored and we had to keep it at reasonabe cost.

However, we did have a night’s stay at a local 5-star but old hotel (which is of cheaper rate than Shangri-la Hotel). I did not like the hotel room due to its dark colours, lack of room heater in the winter weather, and the buffet untensils were dirty. So, we moved out after a night’s stay. We did have previous staying experience in other 5-star hotels in Fuzhou but did not like it either due to the old facilities.

[personal encounter: We do have to adjust our expectations of 5-star hotels in different countries because the standards are indeed different.  And it has been useful talking to the private car drivers because they share useful tips on hotels and also the "incident stories" in these hotels ]

So, upon recommendation, we shifted to a 3 or 4-star Sunshine Holiday Hotel in Fuzhou. Not necessary that a downgrade is bad because we like the hotel:)  Though the hotel building does not look that attractive, I like the cleanliness, facilities, free daily fruit baskets, free bottles of water, spacious room, proximity to city center, good service level by the business centre, driver and also room service…….. and the complimentary buffet breakfast was better than the previous hotel than we stayed in:) In fact, Papa Ed was commenting that the only “thing” missing as compared to a better-rated hotel is only the lack of a safe box and no shops within the hotel. Who cares as there are already shopping amenities within walking distance?

[personal encounter: a lower star-rated hotel might not mean that it necessary pales as compared to a 5 or 6-star hotel, perhaps, depending on the country].

So, we were offered a huge king-size bed (which somehow feels  bigger).

I was attracted to this little notice which offers us different health pillows (gingko pillow, honeysuckle pillow, tea pillow, carbon pillow…..) to offer a sound sleep. Should have tried to see how effective they are *wink*.

Wow! For a 3 or 4-star rated hotel, it even offers a long list of services (free-of-charge):)

The tea-set is definitely useful as we need hot cups of Chinese Tea to warm ourselves in the cold weather.

Many books too in case we are bored. For me, the books are too tough because I am never too good with my Chinese:(

The hot water in the bathroom is actually hot spring water! Interestingly, there is map showing the recommended route for a morning jog. Very healthy!

Then these drinks are of such attractive prices (about same rate as what we would have to pay in a retail shop in Singapore, like S$0.60 for a can of coca cola.)

Hmmm…..very thoughtful of them to offer slippers everyday and recycling bags (the supermarkets and some shops don’t provide plastic carriers).

So, you can imagine that we had a good stay in this hotel. The driver that we engaged even offered to book the hotel accomodation for me the next time I visit at an attractive rate. So, the next time when I am there, the Sunshine Holiday Hotel in Fuzhou will be my natural choice:) And….the hotel seems to be fully booked during our stay there. So, I guess the other visitors must have enjoyed their stay as much as we do.