Why you should stay at the Garden Hotel

I’m writing this as a separate post because I was impressed with our stay and when we mentioned it, our guide wanted to know what to tell others about it. I’m a better writer than speaker, so here are all the reasons.

First, I’m a details-guy… little things can make a big impression on me, both positively and negatively. It drives Amanda crazy because I can get put off by the smallest thing, but I also go on and on about a detail that made my day that she cares nothing about. With hotels, many times we’ve stayed at a 5-star hotel and things all seem nice, but there are details that are missing or off – the shower doesn’t work well, the lights are misplaced, the air conditioner doesn’t hold a good temperature – there seems to always be something. Not so with the Garden.

• The rooms are 2 room suites, a bedroom and a living room. One person can get up and make coffee while the other one sleeps in
• There are 2 temp controls, one for the bedroom and one for the living room. They work perfectly and are 100% accurate to .5 degrees. Want it a little cooler in your bedroom? No problem. No other hotel I’ve stayed in has had such good temperature control in the rooms.
• In the living room there is a desk, a table, and lots of seating. This makes it very relaxing for a family, and also able to entertain other families (important when travelling with a group). The desk area has several universal plug ins so you can plug in several grounded plugs in at once (i.e. charging laptops). Plus, there is a small box with a pencil sharpener, eraser, glue stick, scissors, and pen. Everything you need!
• The lighting is well designed and works well. Each side of the bed has their own focused reading light, so one person can stay up reading while the other goes to bed
• There is a tv in each room. You can actually pipe the tv sound through a speaker in the bathroom and watch tv while taking a bath or shower! The wall between the bathroom and the bedroom is glass, but has an electronic curtain that can easily be lowered for privacy
• The wifi in the rooms is rock solid and they provide access (through a VPN) to all of your favorite social networking sites including Facebook and Instagram. Google is also available. This is not common in China.
• The shower has a normal sprayer option, which can be used as a handheld sprayer, too; but, it also has a large shower head mounted in the ceiling that you can use to take a “rain” shower. There is a bathtub that also has a shower sprayer and wide ledges. It would be ideal for parents having to give their young kids a bath. The hotel provides all the amenities you need, including a loofah pad, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body gel.
• The coffee maker brews an espresso type coffee from coffee pods; it is very good. There is also a teapot and great selections of gourmet teas.
• The pool area is top notch. It is clean and large, no cap is required, and there are lounges all around for resting in. The locker rooms have a sauna, steam room, cooling down pool, and showers. The fitness area is top shelf, too… it is almost the size of a club. It has plenty of cardio equipment, weights, a yoga room, and bottled water. It looks out over the pool so a person can do their run while watching the kids play in the pool
• The elevators are fast and there are lots of them. You never have to wait long
• There is a huge manmade waterfall surrounded by fish ponds with schools of fish that you can feed. Many of the kids do this after breakfast. By the way, the breakfast is fantastic with lots of options for both western and eastern foods
• The hotel is located in the HSD neighborhood and there are good maps available. There are many good restaurants and stores located within easy walking distance
• The service is excellent. We had several requests, such as a cot and extra sheets, and those were instantly delivered. We also had a couple issues we had to get addressed during our stay, and those were taken care of promptly, also. There are many English-speaking employees, so navigating these requests is no problem

We had originally wanted to stay at the White Swan, mostly for nostalgia. However, a tour of that was good enough. While staying at the Garden we saw multiple adoptive families and it was so enjoyable talking to them, hearing their stories, and meeting their new family members. For families considering a heritage tour, or coming to adopt, I would highly recommend you stay at the Garden Hotel as it will make your visit to Guangzhou comfortable and enjoyable.