Howard Johnson Kangda Plaza Qingdao — Hotel in Qingdao

I have visited China twice. Both times I was in China for extended periods of time and traveled all over China. Each trip the best part was coming back to Howard Johnson's in Qingdao.||Yes I know that brand in USA has taken a hit. Here, in China? Excellent. ||First off I must say I have stayed at 5 star hotels. So I understand rating scale.||While HJ Qingdao is only rated at 3 stars I have to give it at least 4.5. ||The rooms are excellent, always clean and perfect sized.||The beds are pillow-top and firm underneath. Down pillows and hypoallergenic ones also. ||The staff fawns over me when I am here. Like an "uncle" which is a person of respect in China. Always hovering...I am older so I don't mind the help at all.||The buffet here is excellent. Usually there are at least 2 dozen choices and "western" food is always on the line. It is National Day, yesterday there were, I was told, 600 people at the buffet, and yet the sliced rib-roast was perfectly redish and tender. The au jus was flavorful not tasting of beef bullion like in some many USA restaurants.||Tonight, same amount of people, the sliced pork roast was also perfect, juicy hint of pink, wonderful brown gravy. ||Few other points: 1) Google. This is the only hotel so far I've been in that gets Google. Don't care? Try getting your email without Google. 2) the air conditioning actually works. I thought it might be a China law that air conditioning, even in 5 star hotels, don't actually work. Virtually all of the others have not worked. HoJo? No problem. 3) there is a fan-high setting for drowning out noise but, I must say, I have never heard a peep of noise in Chinese hotels; the people are very noise aware. ||So: that's the best I can say. If given the choice of being anywhere, on business, in China, I...

I have visited China twice. Both times I was in China for extended periods of time and traveled all over China. Each trip the best part was coming back to Howard Johnson's in Qingdao.||Yes I know that brand in USA has taken a hit. Here, in China? Excellent. ||First off I must say I have stayed at 5 star hotels. So I understand rating scale.||While HJ Qingdao is only rated at 3 stars I have to give it at least 4.5. ||The rooms are excellent, always clean and perfect sized.||The beds are pillow-top and firm underneath. Down pillows and hypoallergenic ones also. ||The staff fawns over me when I am here. Like an "uncle" which is a person of respect in China. Always hovering...I am older so I don't mind the help at all.||The buffet here is excellent. Usually there are at least 2 dozen choices and "western" food is always on the line. It is National Day, yesterday there were, I was told, 600 people at the buffet, and yet the sliced rib-roast was perfectly redish and tender. The au jus was flavorful not tasting of beef bullion like in some many USA restaurants.||Tonight, same amount of people, the sliced pork roast was also perfect, juicy hint of pink, wonderful brown gravy. ||Few other points: 1) Google. This is the only hotel so far I've been in that gets Google. Don't care? Try getting your email without Google. 2) the air conditioning actually works. I thought it might be a China law that air conditioning, even in 5 star hotels, don't actually work. Virtually all of the others have not worked. HoJo? No problem. 3) there is a fan-high setting for drowning out noise but, I must say, I have never heard a peep of noise in Chinese hotels; the people are very noise aware. ||So: that's the best I can say. If given the choice of being anywhere, on business, in China, I...

We stayed at this hotel for a week in October as it was the nearest hotel to my sons apartment in Huangdao which is a district of Qingdao. Note that Huangdao is a long way from the centre of Qingdao at least an hour by car and up to an hour and a half on many journeys we took to Qingdao during my three week stay with my family.The traffic going into Qingdao is terrible.||||Back to the hotel,rooms are large,clean and well appointed.The restaurant on the ground floor where breakfast and a lunchtime and evening buffet are served can be very busy. We stayed during the Autumn holiday and it was chaotic,one of the managers really looked after us,finding,clearing and laying a table for us every morning.The buffet is extensive with Chinese and Western options and an omelette station. I didn't care for many of the Chinese options at breakfast or dinner but the restaurant really caters for Chinese guests and a few western business guests. During the Autumn holiday we seemed to be the only westerners staying in the hotel.The buffet at the nearby Hilton was better and the one at the Grand Hyatt in Qingdao was very good but of course a lot more expensive.||||We used the swimming pool nearly every day and my grandchildren where also able to use it.||||Service is good but staff need to improve their English if they are hoping to attract more western business guests to this new Economic and Technological district of Qingdao. We thought the hotel offered good...