Hi there, We are looking at a tour that includes the following hotels.
Has anyone stayed in them and if so any tips or good things to know

Beijing - Grandview Garden Hotel
Jinan - Li Tian Hotel
Suzhou - Castle Hotel
Shanghai - Argyle Ryden Int'l Hotel

I have looked on Trip Advisor but there is not too much info. Any advice is sincerely appreciated!

Thanks

I haven't stayed at the Grandview Garden but I have visited it and inspected the rooms a couple of times.

It is a little out of the way down in the southwest of the city just inside the second ring road. The hotel runs a shuttle bus to the city centre, but the hotel is almost entirely populated by tour groups rather than independent travellers. It stands at the northeast corner of Grandview Garden itself, a modern park created to celebrate the classic novel 'A Dream of Red Mansions' or 'The Story of Stone', which was filmed for television there. There's a small but rather good private museum of seals and other carved items just east of the hotel next to the (closed) north gate of the park.

The rooms are ho-hum, but adequate. The hotel is entirely Chinese-run and the service standards modest. If you escape from the tour group food (usually a good idea) then just north of the hotel across the road is a new branch of the 'lao Beijing'-style restaurant, Dao Jia Chang.

For the most part tour operators use the hotels that give them the best kick-backs, rather than those that best suit the visitor. So expect in general that your hotels will be lesser-known ones in less convenient positions, with unfamiliar names. It might be added in passing that what Trip Advisor knows accurately about China could be written on a very small piece of paper indeed. The surprise is to find a review of any kind there, and if you look in guide books you'll find a few list the Grandview, although not usually with much enthusiasm.

Peter N-H

What tour is this? I agree with Peter's comments. Please remember you pay for what you get, you'll be bused everywhere as these hotels are out of the way and on the modest side.

Yes - we have been on tours before and realize this is not where we would stay if we were alone -this is with the company Rim-Pac Int'l. China was not even on our radar but they have such a great price that it is hard to pass up. Thank you so much Peter for that tip on the restaurant this is exactly what we are looking for as we usually break free from the group! Anyone else have any great tips? THANKS

'' Please remember you pay for what you get,''

Not sure what Shanghainese meant to say by this. But my VERY clear experience of China, is that you ''Do not get what you pay for''!!!!

Any seasoned Far East traveller will be very disappointed with the standard of hotels in China. Tour group hotels, in particular, are likely to be, at best, second rate. However, multi city visit to China is not easy for many of us, so the tour group .......for this country,and for some people, is a necessary evil.

Escape from the tour group,as Peter has mentioned, as and when you can. Their only real value is in moving you around the country.( which can be quite tricky, if you are a first-timer to China)

My wife and I did a tour group to China in June 2007. Our best times were when we were able to leave the group and do our own thing.

In spite of my negative comments, we really enjoyed China......very much a 'wow' destination.

Anyone can arrange a multi-city trip in China for themselves without much difficulty, and rather more cheaply than on a tour.

No one who usually avoids tours should consider changing their habits when visiting China--the tourism business in China is only exceeded in corruption and venality by the Chinese mining and real estate industries, and even then it's a photo finish.

The OP should look out for the many ways in which there will be attempts to pick his pocket while on a 'cheap' tour: pressure to tip large sums (there's no tipping in China except that forced on those in tour groups); shopping stops with prices marked up 10, 15, or 20 times; restaurant and hotel selections (and sight selections--what on earth is the point of visiting Ji'nan?) all based on who pays the biggest kick-back, not on what's best for the customer.

Really the remark above says it all: 'Our best times were when we were able to leave the group and do our own thing.'

Tours in China unless they are top price bespoke ones (and not necessarily even then) offer little more than the convenience of not having to think about anything from the time of boarding the plane. But in China they have to be approached with considerable caution.

Peter N-H

Hi, I know you guys are all for independant travel but for the first time we travel somewhere where we do not have any grasp of the language we like to go with a group. That said we are not looking for service in the hotels we are looking for clean rooms to place our exhausted bodies after sightseeing. I am more looking for tips like Peter first gave about near restaurants or shopping that is not to miss in these places or nature - anything so when we do have a moment we can utilize it. We have traveled quite a bit so I totally understand what you are saying but I am genuinely asking for help!

Now as far as Jinan - we will be going on a Daming Lake Cruise, seeing some gushing springs, visitng Confusius Temple/Forest and Mansion and going to the free market
any must buys there?
Then we are off on the overnite train to Suzhou!