Hotel Hampton by Hilton a Qinhuangdao

What a lovely gem of a hotel! I was reluctantly (very reluctantly) persuaded to leave Beijing for the weekend and head for the nesrest beach - Qinhuangdao. The Bullet Train was great fun - we splashed out on first-class tickets and had the first-class cabin all to ourselves. Qinhuangdao was a welcome change of pace from the self-important hussle of Beijing. The bad things first - the weather was terrible and the beach itself is more 1970s Blackpool than present-day Antibes. But the Hampton by Hilton was a delightful surprise. The staff are absolutely delightful. Although they don’t speak English, the use of a few translation apps soon explained to them what we needed and they always did their best to look after us. The rooms are great - we even got a free upgrade to a suite. The breakfast options are many and varied. We were the only Western guests that weekend and the other guests seemed to be Chinese middle-class families. If I had to guess I would say they tended to be from other parts of China as they didn’t seem to be the usual rude impatient Beijingers. It was lovely to see Al the little children having fun with their parents. So, our thanks to the ladies at Reception, the young concierge guys, the housekeepers and the busy breakfast staff. The owners of the this hotel is blessed with great staff. Thank you all so much for looking after us so well.