Great hotel, way above average for holiday inn EXPRESS. Very good service with staff speaking good english. Breakfast is free and large choice but 99% is chinese food. Cabs are so cheap in shenzhen it will be easy to find your way. Make sure to ask the hotel to send you a doc with the address written in chinese so you can show the cab driver. Rooms larger than average with a desk and sofa area. Flat screen TV. would return !

Needed a hotel for one night on my way from Hong Kong to mainland China. I travel a fair amount for business in the US and have come to expect a certain standard. I booked this hotel using points and stayed one night with my wife and daughter. My wife is more picky than myself and she was very happy with the hotel. Rooms were new and modern. Everything was nice and clean. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was good and fresh (but a lot of Chinese options - which I thought was great).

I was mislead by other web sites and thought I could take a taxi from Hong Kong airport directly to the hotel. This was not an option. We ended up on a bus with a scheduled bus change. This was not part of our trip after a 16 hour flight. However, I can't blame the hotel for this.

If you're picky food wise, there is a McDonalds a half block from the hotel.

PRELUDE:

My family has traveled several times to Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan for various holiday vactions over the past 4 years.

We have experienced staying in a 2 Star to 5 Star Hotels all throught those travels. All reservations/bookings where always done directly with the concerned hotel website to avoid third-party confusion. So far, we never experienced any problems in those reservations/ bookings.

THE REVIEW

It's our first time to visit Shenzen, Guandong, China (December 28, 2008 to January 02, 2009). I reserved/booked directly with the hotel's web site about 30 days prior to our arrival. It was very easy to reserve/book, and was never required to give credit card guarantee online. Had to make several changes on my reservation/booking online and it was very easy to do so. I will give this hotel perfect 10 points for thier onlnr reservation/booking facilities.

We arrived at the hotel at 2:30PM of December 28, 2008 for Check-In. Reception Counter Staff can commnicate in english very well. I requested to have Interconnecting Rooms and got my request. I was provided with a small free bag of their Senses Tea and was given information regarding hotel facilities, breakfast time etc. etc. The whole process took about 15mins. Overall, I will give Reception Counter Staff a perfect 10 points.

We were assigned at Interconnecting Rooms 1219 (Twin Bed - No Bathtub) and 1220 (Double Bed with Bathtub). Room Rate was RMB 350 per room per night with Free Buffet Breakfast and Free High Speed Cabled Internet.

Toiletries Include: Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Comb, Unlimitted Lux Shampoo/Body Soap mounted on bathroom wall, Unlimitted Hand Soap mounted on bathroom wall, Sanitary Bag, Tissue Box, 2 Rolls of Toilet Paper and Dispossable Slippers.

Room Facilities Include: Luggage Rack, Hair Dryer with a socket for electric shaving equipment, Personal Electronic Safe (Big enought to fit a laptop), Alarm Clock, Sofa, Working Desk and a Flat Screen TV with 65 cable tv channels. However, there were only 2 English Channels (CNN and HBO). All the rest are Non-English.

Our Room was spacious and very clean. Very modern and contemporary in design. (Reminds me of Hilton in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Room Windows can be opened until 100mm (Rare for building type hotels). Best of all the room smells very fresh.

Bathroom was very clean as well. Loved the BIG Shower Spray. Hot and Cold water pressure fantastic. I always had a good shower. I tried the hot shower in the morning and the late evening and water supply and pressure is always consistent.

The Free Buffet Breakfast served between 6:00am to 10:00am Includes: DRINKS: Coffee Machine with Expresso or Foamed Coffee. Cold Milk, Orange Juice, Hot Tea and Soy Milk. WESTERN FOOD: Bread, Jam, Butter, Fresh Vegtables Sticks and 1 type of Fresh Fruit. ASIAN FOOD: Chinese Congee, Fried Noodles, Fried Rice, Stir Fried Tofu with Vegetables, Boiled Egg, Fried Tomatoes, 2 Type of Sausage (Pork and Chicken) and Chinese Pao Bread. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you would like to avail of the Free Breakfast, be early!!! By 9:30am most of the Western Food and most of the Drinks are gone and are no longer replenished.

We are Asian, so the food type for us was adequate. But for Westeners, you may find the selection insuffient. In case, you don't like the free breakast selection. 100 meters away from the hotel is a 24 Hours Mc Donalds Store to run to. Big Mac with Softdrinks and French Fries cost RMB 22.00.

Transportation: Taxis ply frequently (day and night) in front of the hotel even if it's not a main road. So grabing a Taxi is easy. Flag rate is RMB 12.50. The Nearest Sub-Way Station is (Dong Ju Yuan) about a 20-30mins lazy walk. We only tried walking once and we never did it again. There is nothing much to see leading to the Sub-Way Station, so we always take a Taxi to and from the Sub-Way Station/ Hotel. We are on a leasure travel and not in an fitness program. What a heck! Only RMB 12.50 for our convenience. NOTE: Hotel provide free shuttle transport 1 time daily at 8:30am from hotel to Subway-Station.

As far as Shopping and Tourist Spots to visit. Nearest Shopping Center is on the Sub-Way Station (3 Shopping Malls). All other places you need to take a Taxi and Sub-Way.

The Hotel Vicinity is a mix of residential building houses and a small Shopping Center. 24 7-11 and other Convenience Stores are plenty. Several Chinese Restaurant can be found in the vicinty as well. However, No English Menu Available. I visited all of them while looking for a place to eat Lunch and Dinner. found only 2 restaurants with Menu with pictures. We were able to manage ordering by referring to the pictures on the Menu. Generaly, the vicinity is a NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING place. So prepare for this environment.

Overall, I highly recommend this Hotel. For RMB 350 or US$ 48. This a Very Good Value Hotel for money as compared to all the other hotels that we have exeprienced in our travels over the years. Even if you add additional transportation and breakfast expenses. It will still be cheap in the end. Similar Type of Rooms in Shenzen can cost you a minimum of RMB 1,000.00.

One of the best hotels I have stayed in. Clean, comfortable and spacious. Quite convenient to major shopping areas and close to public transport for travel to tourist attractions. Staff generally helpful. Offers good, substantial breakfast. I would certainly recommend it.

This is a good clean hotel. It is fairlly new and has an efficient design. The price is good ($80 all-in) and includes free breakfast and free internet.

I think it is more appropriate for a single person. Maybe it is because I am getting used to king size beds.

Do not expect a 5-star for this price. No mini-bar, no robe, no room service, extremely limited breakfast (they had cold fried eggs, no bacon, some cereals, orange juice and bread for toasts and lots of chinese food choices). Taxis don't know this place.

It is a bit noisy, I mean the rooms are not very soundproof. The bathroom door becomes the shower door when open at 90 degrees. Strange.

This is really a no-frills hotel. I asked the front desk if they had a map of Shenzhen. The LENT me one. Took my room number and asked me to return it. Just a typical tourist map. I have never seen this before.

I am checking out today and breakfast was worst . I went down at 9h30 (breakfast ends at 10h) and there was one slice of bread left, no eggs (still no bacon despite what the photos above the counter shows) no orange juice today as it was replaced with apple juice - and it was all gone any ways.

I now have to search for a Starbucks......

Great brand new hotel with very clean and comfortable bathroom and excellent staff. Good locations if you want to explore Hong Kong as only 15rmb taxi ride to the Hong Kong borders. Free breakfast has limited but good choice of western and asian items. Free internet. The FO staff helped me to buy flight tickets to my next destination and actually managed to get better price than from other travel agents i am normally using. Great price of 398rmb a night. Will definately stay there again.

Stayed here for 5 nights. The hotel is very new. The rooms are comfortable and clean. They have a sofa bed for a third person. Staffs are pleasant and ever ready to help,especially James. Free internet in the lobby and restaurant. For the first time,had nice pillows to sleep compare to other hotels in China which are rather flat and low. Breakfast is good. Make sure to get a map and address of the hotel, We requested for an enlarged print out of the map from the hotel reception.Some of the taxi drivers were not sure how to get the hotel. Taxi fare to Louhu complex/train station cost between RMB13-18 max. Will definetely return to stay when in Shenzhen

We just stayed at this hotel for 2 nights. Booked it through the ICH hotels. This is a brand new hotel, opened last month. Very nice facility, basic rooms with hot breakfast included. Being new it is clean. The hotel is a bit hard to find since it is new and the taxi drivers or locals are not familiar with it. It is closest to the Luoho border between Hong Kong and PRC. We took taxis everywhere but the subway is not too far. It is close to the Duong Men night bazaar and the Luoho shopping area. We were there on business so could not do much siteseeing. I will highly recommend this hotel.