Reviewed: 4 Chinese Plane Spotting Hotels

On a recent trip to China, Bob Kimmings picked out four hotels that he thought would offer good spotting opportunities.

In this report, he explains what the views were like and how you can enjoy these hotels too:

Being old and weary means that standing for hours in damp fields, or mixing it with dangerous traffic on a noisy footpath is beyond my strength and desire. On a recent trip to China I picked out four hotels that I thought would enable me to log my sightings without leaving the room. The airports I chose were all among the ten busiest in China.

Shanghai Pudong

Shanghai’s Pudong airport is now the China’s busiest. Last year 76 million passengers passed through. The traffic is dominated by China Eastern and their subsidiary Shanghai Airlines, Spring Airlines and Juneyao Airlines, all three based in Shanghai, but there are many more airlines to be seen and a good sprinkling of freighters.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn, a new hotel rather better sited than the Dazhong Hotel that was once a favourite. The hotel is placed between terminals one and two and is reached through the passageways between the two. The inside is well appointed, the airport view rooms are almost luxurious. From the large windows (they do not open) the outlook is towards the satellite terminal, a cross taxiway, and, in the distance, all four runways. You need tracking apps to identify aircraft, and photography is hit and miss. The staff were friendly and obliging and the breakfast amazing.

Shanghai Hongqiao

View from The Argyle

My hotel across the city at Hongqiao Airport is now reachable from Pudong using the airport line which is signed as ‘Suburban Railway’. This will take you to terminal 2 at Hongqiao where you need to change to subway line 10 to get to terminal one. The Argyle is a short walk from there.

Alas, the hotel is a tad run down compared wth my pre-covid visits. I had emailed a request for an airport view room and was given 813 on the eighth floor. There are now not so many airport view rooms as there is a lot of building in the area, and soon there may be none at all, depending on how high the neighbours are going. My room was as run down as the hotel, but was clean and comfortable.

The foyer area speaks of better days. The Argyle is very Chinese. Xiamen Airlines billets its crews there. The staff have little English but are handy with a translate app.

Breakfast is a buffet, as is dinner in the evening. The short walk to the terminal offers you a little variety of food, and there is a Lawson store (like 7eleven) there to pick up snacks, and a Starbucks if you are a coffee hound.

The view of the airport means you can see all the comings and goings, but again you need electronics for confirmation. I would suggest that if you want to use eyeball or cameras that the Air China hotel on terminal two is the better bet, if you can afford an executive room.

My reason for picking the Argyle is that it is handy for terminal one, from which Spring Airlines, a low cost carrier, flies. Spring has a couple of hundred planes and a wide domestic network. I have used them several times before and found them efficient and on time. The trick is to buy a Spring Plus ticket which gives you one of the extra legroom seats at the front and a checked bag for a lot less than what flying a mainline plane of the big three would cost you.

Chengdu Tianfu

Comac 909s at Chengdu

So I sprung over to Chengdu Tianfu where my destination was the Joyhub Cheer Hotel. Like the airport, the hotel is very new. From above it is shaped like a donut, half the cake belonging to the Joyhub Cheer, the other half to the Joyhub Air Hotel.

Having emailed asking for an airport view I found myself on the top floor (an upgrade) in a deluxe sort of room with its own balcony and looking out over two arms of gates, a cross taxiway, and a runway (another was visible with a stretch and a twist of the neck). Now here would be a photographer’s delight but I had only brought my phone.

Joyhub Cheer Hotel

The room was modern and clean; the staff polite and helpful. The hotel was vast and seemed to have few guests. Breakfast was magnificent and catered to all tastes. The hotel is about fifty metres from the terminal in which there are many eateries. I did get lost within the hotel searching for the evening restaurant, but never found it.

Traffic at Tianfu consisted of mostly Chinese airlines. The truly imposing (and vast) terminal was split into Domestic and International but there were few foreign airliners. Air China and Sichuan Airlines were the two dominant players, but there was plenty of variety. Also on display was a large number of Air China Comac 909s and the occasional 919.

Shenzhen

After another sojourn back at the Argyle I Sprung down to Shenzhen where my bed was in the Hyatt Regency Hotel about which I had read that of the three Hyatt hotels at the airport this was the best for spotting.

When you emerge from arrivals you take the lift or escalator up one floor, turn right and keep walking; you will find it.

My room was on the ninth floor looking at the threshold of the seaside runway. There were great views when they were landing towards the north. If you needed something on the other runway there was a window beside the lifts from which you could see it and the freight depots.

The hotel was well kept, clean and quiet. The staff were smiley and helpful. Again a handsome breakfast and plenty of restaurants and shops just outside arrivals, including McDonalds and another burger place.

Shenzhen Airlines was naturally a big player here, though China Southern was probably the most seen. Lots of cargo planes but not many international airlines.

Hotel Prices

Here are the prices of the four hotels, for a two night visit, airport view, in
November. Prices are in Australian dollars:

• Holiday Inn Pudong Airport $ 435
• Argyle Hotel Hongqiao Airport $ 191
• Joyhub Cheer Chengdu Tianfu $ 143
• Hyatt Regency Shenzhen $ 323

Travelling in China

A word about China. Not many people speak English, so you need a translate app. Flightradar24 works, though misses some as the coverage is not great. I loaded VariFlight Pro which is not so erratic, but harder to use. Payment in restaurants and shops is mostly done electronically using We Chat or Alipay.

Some places take travel money cards, and some good old cash. You should take all three.

Some Chinese habits are not the same as ours. As long as you remember that it is their country not yours you will be alright, especially if you smile.

Our thanks to Bob for providing this report.

Would you like to share details of your recent spotting trips and experiences? Get in touch!