Family Friendly Hotels – Beijing Kids

Ten Reasons Why You Should Stay in Beijing over Long Weekends

beijingkids

This blog is sponsored by the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport. Call 6450 4827 to book a Family Staycation.

Everyone hopes to return from their vacations refreshed, relaxed, and eager to share photos and experiences from the trip. But when jostling through crowds, avoiding scams and suffering through traffic and flight delays can make things turn out quite the opposite when you go out of town over long weekends. We’ve rounded up some of the worst of the worst – read on at your own peril because some of the these scenarios will make even the most adventurous of travellers long for a more convenient alternative closer to home.

1. Torturous Traffic Jams

Some holidays get ruined even before they begin. Such was the case for travellers during the May 1st long weekend in 2014 when 470,000 cars clogged up the roads round Beijing leading to a traffic jam that snaked on for 55 kilometers.

But this “minor delay”was child’s play compared to the traffic jam that wreaked havoc on Beijing’s surrounding highways in 2010 for eleven (yes eleven) days.

And because Beijingers always want to do it even bigger and better, the city went on to top that record with a 62-mile, 12-day marathon traffic jam in July of 2012 thanks to fleets of coal trucks delivering their carcinogenic, smog-producing cargo to the Capital.

2. Flight Delays from Here to Eternity

If there were a special level of hell devoted to making condemned souls suffer through Beijing’s bumper-to-bumper traffic, then there would most certainly be an entire dimension of suffering devoted to the Capital’s accursed flight delays.

According to Bloomberg our fair city was ranked dead last in the world for on-time departures based on data compiled by Flightstats – only 18 percent of flights reportedly took off on time in 2013. This depressing statistic was especially galling because despite having one of the newest state-of-the-art airports in the world, Beijing’s on-time rating trailed third-to-last Istanbul by 20 percentage points and was over 50 percentage point behind New York’s downright decrepit Laguardia Airport.

These delays have not surprisingly caused tempers to flare, with numerous media reports of fights, riots and other unruly behavior at airports across the country. One of the worst such incidents occurred at Nanchang Airport when a 30-passenger rampage that spilled out onto the runway at Nanchang airport after a seven-hour delay. And in another lowlight, a female passenger literally knocked an airport employee off of their feet after the cancellation of a flight from Wenzhou to Beijing – an outburst which the enraged passenger justified by saying: ”I waited there for such a long time. Nobody served me a bottle of water or a piece of cake or anything…They were poker-faced, with no response or explanation.”

3. Stomach-Churning Eats

Half of the joy of travel is trying out the local cuisine, but unfortunately indiscriminate dining on the road can have unforeseen consequences. The tempting-looking dishes and street eats you see in local dives and quaint stalls are very likely to be teeming bacteria, viruses or parasites – especially in more humid climates. The author of The Kiwi Has Landed travel blog posted a particularly horrific account of spending his overnight hard sleeper train trip from Beijing to Xi’an perched atop a squat toilet after eating a downing some rancid Peking duck.

Of course our city is far from the only place where you can get sick. The founder of the Legal Nomads travel blog also wrote about sampling a street vendor’s soup at the Kachin State Fair in northern Burma, only to be taken “out of commission for a solid 48 hours of total ugliness”– an incident made all the worse by the paper-thin walls of his guesthouse’s hotel, which prompted the “Filipino guy whose room was unfortunately located next to the toilet (to turn)…and say ‘you vomited 6 times, eh? That sucks.’”

4. Conniving Cabbies

Tourists are easy prey for unscrupulous taxi drivers around the world, and China, of course, is no exception. Long detours and sketchy meters are but just a couple of ways passengers can get cheated – and unfortunately this is common practice in cities across Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, where cabbies often refuse to use their meters and charge inconsistent rates. The same issue happens here in China, with cabbies often claiming to hapless tourists that their meter is faulty in order to swindle passengers out of more money.

5. Sly Tour Guides

Most longer-term residents of Beijing have heard of the “Teahouse Scam”in which unsuspecting tourists are approached by seemingly earnest-looking “English stu-dents”who offer to show them around the city after inviting them for a cup of tea and a chat. Only problem is that this cup of tea typically costs an extortionate amount and the victims are caught completely off guard with no easy access to help and are more often than not strong-armed into paying.

Unfortunately this kind of activity is not limited to the capital – similar scams abound across the country. One of the most common tricks is for a seemingly friendly tour guide to approach travelers and offer an “expert tour” – travelers who fall for it are then charged exorbitant fees at the end of the tour and while refusing to pay can sometimes get them to back off, things can quickly go from awkward to dangerous if you have the misfortune of en-countering less scrupulous tour guides (some of whom operate in gangs). The best advice is to always negotiate a price before setting off – or, perhaps, simply invest in a good guidebook and a load up on some decent travel apps.

6. Check Things Out Before You Check-in

Traveling with your family always brings about certain moments of suspense –one of the most consistently nerve-wracking parts is making your way from the airport or train station to your hotel, especially if you haven’t arranged to be picked up. One scam that happens a lot in southwestern China is the “bait-and-switch”in which dis-honest drivers or bus/train station employees will tell you that the hotel you booked has been closed or burned down, to which they will suggest an alternate place (that is, surprise, surprise, paying them kickbacks for the bogus referrals).

If you ever find yourself in such a situation, China Travel Savvy says that you should simply “…let them tell you the story and then say, ‘that’s strange. I just phoned the hotel an hour ago and they didn’t mention that it had burnt down yesterday.’If they persist, then tell them to stop and flag down a different taxi.”

7. Bumpy Bus Rides

Speaking of bus stations, many travelers are all-too familiar with the special kind of suffering that comes with taking long-distance bus rides in Asia, where flat tires, bad road conditions, body odor, unpredictable weather and mind-numbing boredom are just some of things you have to look forward to during the trip.

Unfortunately boredom is probably the best kind of experience you can hope for – you certainly wouldn’t want to have a driver like this guy, who got in a shouting match with another driver who tried to pass him, which then proceeded into a roadside brawl before the bus driver was hit with a brick and ultimately abandoned his vehicle (with all of the passengers inside) on a side road in the middle of the night.

8. Utter Filth

Squat toilets are common throughout Asia, which in theory, this is a good thing –after all, we were optimally designed to do our business on our haunches. But un-fortunately this God-given efficiency is not always matched with clean conditions –nearly every tourist has at least one horror story about the gruesome state of a bathroom they visited on their journeys in Asia. If you’re going to be on the road, be mentally prepared for the prospect of pooing in plain sight of your neighbors in a stall-less bathroom, or, perhaps, to be sharing a trough with livestock, flies and maggots, or, perhaps, even worse, to be expressly forbidden from being able to do your dirty work in certain facilities that forbid The Big “Number Two.”

Oh, and if you’re like most Westerners who have grown up on a steady regimen of sit-down thrones, you might want to brush up on your squatting skills lest you misfire. That and don’t forget to bring your own toilet paper, because in most places, you will quite literally be sh*t out of luck.

9. Life’s a Beach (and You May Want to Die)

Asia is home to some of the most popular and beautiful beaches in the world –but here in China, not so much. That is, unless your idea of fun in the sun is standing, lying, swimming and jostling shoulder-to-shoulder with tens of thousands of other beachgoers. Take this year’s May Day Holiday, for instance, when 130,000 people descended on Shenzhen’s Demaisha Beach Park. Or try hitting Hainan’s relatively pleasant seaside strips over any given holiday period –you’ll wish you hadn’t.

10. Sometimes the Best Getaways are Right at Your Doorstep

Yes, travel can be life changing – but not always for the better. If you consider the time, energy, money and, sometimes, risk involved – it can make more sense to spend your next long weekend right here in Beijing. But rather than languishing with your kids in boredom at home, book a Staycation package at The Hilton Beijing Capital Airport instead, and enjoy spreading out in luxury in their deluxe rooms, dine at the restaurants and weekend buffet, relax while your kids play in the supervised playrooms, participate in fun events and activities, stroll in the garden and watching the planes as they take off and land.

The Harrowed Dads’ Guide to Hotel Hunting and Vacation Planning

beijingkids — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 02:00:00 +0000

This blog is sponsored by the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport. Call 6450 4827 to book a Family Staycation.

Between booking flights, applying for leave from work and researching sights to see on a tight schedule, planning a family vacation can seem like more trouble than its worth. But perhaps the most headache-inducing task of all is finding the right kind of accommodation for you and your brood – poorly selected lodging can spell the difference between a dream vacation and a holiday from hell.

First and foremost there is the matter of cost. If money is a concern, you’re already fighting an uphill battle when it comes to planning your trip. But tempting as it may be to cut some corners by picking cheaper accommodations,

Hiddenchina.net founder and outdoor adventure guru Christoph Mueller says a little splurging can actually help make things go much smoother in the end. “Don’t be cheap. Get a nice room,” Mueller advises his fellow travelling dads. “When you’re tired after your trip, and you have a few kids that want to run around and play, it’s good to have a room that’s not too small.”

To save time and hassle when looking for a hotel, Mueller also recommends booking family holidays via CTrip’s English site (english.ctrip.com) for its wide selection and ease of use. He also appreciates Ctrip’s bilingual hotline and flexible cancellation policies.

Booking.com is another good platform for family holiday planning. Colin Friedman, CEO and founder of FCGroup, says he likes the fact that users of this US-based site can pay at checkout rather than shell out for booking fees in advance.

Poh Soon Guan, a Singaporean born, Beijing-based father of two, is also a fan of the site, and he adds that hotel.com is an equally valuable accommodations resource because it has a slick App that is very mobile friendly.

If you’re planning a family holiday to Europe, Patrick De Smet, owner of The Tree and founder of Monkey Business Tours, recommends www.lastminute.com. “It’s great to use when you [want to]travel through Europe by car. You can plan the next stop one to two days in advance,” says the Belgian national, adding how loves the fact that you can find last minute deals on the site. “In Andorra I had a four bedroom in a bit of an older four-star hotel for €60 a night. Parking was €18 a night. We slept cheaper per person than [cost of renting]the car!”

Airbnb is yet another popular option – there are indeed good deals to be found on the lodging sharing platform – but since the accommodations offered are all privately-owned and the landlord is usually offsite, you’re often on your own when it comes to food, dealing with shaky WiFi connections and day-to-day tidying up – things that you take for granted in a hotel. For families already dealing with looking after their tired and hungry kids, this kind of arrangement may not always be ideal.

Using apps and websites can certainly make things easier, but the hassles don’t just end there. For one, you have to be very careful to read the fine print when it comes to booking policies. “I prefer hotels with no cancelation fees if there is a change in plans, because when you travel with kids they can easily come down with the flu or a last minute illness,” says Poh, who adds that you should avoid hotels that demand guests book with a debit card in advance, especially here in China. “Fraud is quite common here … so releasing debit card information can make you prone to unnecessary risk … it’s far better to make a reservation with your credit card and then paying at check out.”

De Smet says an equally crucial consideration for family hotel booking is the amenities. “All my kids care about is whether or not the hotel has WiFi,” he says with a laugh, adding how finding a hotel within walking distance of a convenience store is also a must.

Friedman, meanwhile, says fathers should check with the hotel to see if it has features that are suitable for your kids’ age range (i.e. kid-friendly meals, entertainment options for rainy days, a kid’s swimming pool etc.). He also stresses that the hotel should have a few father-friendly features as well, especially “a good bar.”

It’s also important to consider your family’s sleeping arrangements ahead of time. Morgan O’Hara, Managing Partner at The Hutong, suggests parents call the hotel in advance and check if they charge for an extra cot for a child to sleep in – having ample bed space (and quality sleep) for parents and the kids can make all the difference in how your trip goes overall.

In addition to considering how they will sleep, the O’Haras also recommend staying at family-style resorts, which are common in Southeast Asia, because most of them have kid-friendly activities and plenty of other children for his daughter to play with. “It’s great to tour around when you’re in a new city, but your kid probably won’t want to be at a museum – they’d rather be at a pool splashing with other kids. So resorts can be a great way to help a family relax,” says O’Hara. Getting a good idea of where, what and how you and your family will eat is another must.

Crystal Wang, Marketing Manager at the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, adds that when selecting a family friendly hotel, it’s also important to find out if there are baby sitting services, a play area, kid-sized bathrobes and beds, and also recommends asking if there is a kids menu in the hotel’s restaurants.

On this point Maiker Valdivia would most certainly agree. The Head Chef at Puerta 20 always checks the dining options in and around the hotel in advance to make sure his family eats well throughout the trip. “Sometimes we’ll get dinner in the hotel or nearby, so before booking I take time to check which kind of restaurant is in the hotel and how easy it is to find information about their chef, which I think is very important.”

Lastly, all of the fathers we spoke with warned about the hurdles involved in getting from the airport to the hotel. To avoid hassle, De Smet prefers hotels that offer airport pickup, while Friedman says a good alternative is renting a car. But no matter how you choose to get around, Poh says parents should be prepared for traffic jams and long commutes to the hotel, which can be tough after a long flight. He suggests keeping a coloring book on hand for kids, “so that they can doodle and even write they see on the trip, to keep them occupied … snacks help too.”

“Getting around with children is difficult, they never like having a long time in a bus, taxi or subway,” adds Validivia. “For us, 20 minutes is the perfect amount of time for such commutes, so if we need go a little far from the hotel we try to take a break from the commute every 20 minutes.”

A particularly harrowing ride from the airport to their hotel in Hanoi compelled the O’Hara family to always hire a private car going forward. “We got in a regular taxi to save some money, but the driver was shady and took this really long weird route,” Morgan recalls. “He didn’t seem to know the city that well, and then he tried to charge us extra when we arrived.”

Exhausted and exasperated, the O’Haras ended up not paying after a lot arguing back and forth with the driver. “When you have a kid with you this [kind of situation]is something you want to avoid – it’s better to bite the bullet and have the hotel hire you a private car going forward.”

Family vacations to far-flung places can be wonderful, but when you consider the money and energy you have to spend on transportation, food and sightseeing (and the hassle of finding the right hotel on top of that), it sometimes makes more sense to simply stay put in Beijing while enjoying all of the creature comforts of a five-star hotel stay. “The challenges of traveling with a little one make a staycation more appealing,” says Morgan O’Hara.

The next time you need a break and want a relaxing family getaway, save yourself the hassle of planning an elaborate and exhausting trip and book a Staycation at the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, where you can enjoy the luxurious rooms, fantastic fitness center and pool, fine dining, kids’ play area and regular themed activities and events. Call 6450 4827 (weekdays) and 156 1197 9131 (weekends) for reservations and more information.

Photos courtesy of the families