Nice grounds, good location, a little small.

The Henann Crystal Resort is located in the heart of station 2 and is a pleasant little resort.

Getting from Caticlan airport is easy and efficient. Henann has a private boat that takes you a short 10-minute ride across the water to Boracay and then it’s another 10-minute ride in a van to the resort.

Despite being busy, check-in was fairly painless and we were shown to our premier room. We were celebrating an anniversary and Henann had very nicely decorated the room with balloons and had provided a cake.

Except for the lovely decorations, the first thing I noticed about the room is how small it was. The second was how little privacy you have due to the weird wooden slats that are in the place of blinds. Each of the premier rooms overlooks the thin pool, so you can see into each room on each side, so be reminded to close the slats unless you are into a bit of voyeurism.

We also had an issue with the aircon and the shower in the bathroom, but both were fixed fairly quickly.

As mentioned, the main swimming pool is essentially a long thin pool split into two that runs the length of the resort. This pool doesn’t get too much sun and is mostly frequented by families. Fret not though as there is a fantastic pool located above the restaurant which gets the sun all day and also overlooks the beach. Unfortunately for us, this pool was closed for nearly two days whilst they prepared for a Haloween Party, which was disappointing.

I’d mark the food at the restaurant as ok. The buffet is quite basic and fairly small. There isn’t anything outright wrong with the food, it’s just forgettable and not particularly varied, so we found ourselves eating out quite often.

Checking out and the transfer back to the airport was pain-free. All in all, we found the resort to be pleasant and clean with a nice infinity pool on the roof. It is also reasonably priced.

Good location, great views, tired rooms.

The Hyatt on the Bund is in a great location and the views overlooking the river are spectacular. Unfortunately, the rooms are a little tired and there is a lot of construction in the area.

Getting to the Hyatt from either of Shanghai’s airports is fairly simple. From PVG, I took a hotel car on a Monday afternoon, which took about 45 minutes all in all. Arriving at the hotel, you are greeted with a beautifully open concourse and check-in was completed swiftly.

I was upgraded to a premium room that overlooked the river and the Bund. The view both in the day and at night was absolutely spectacular and rivaled some of the best cityscapes I have seen on my travels. The rooms themselves, though, are starting to show their age. Lots of dings in the wood with the shower and bathroom area looking dated. The shower was incredibly powerful though and will be sure to wake you up in the morning.

The hotel houses a bar at the very top which gets quite busy, so you may want to head up there early to get a seat. I didn’t spend a massive amount of time in the bar as I opted to take a short walk around the area and found some local bars that were accommodating to westerners.

The hotel gym was closed but they had a temporary gym set up in one of the business rooms. The hotel restaurant, particularly the tearoom, was very pleasant, and there were no issues ordering despite my novice Mandarin.

Overall, I would say this is a very decent business hotel that is reasonably priced and I would happily stay here again.

Great hotel, but really starting to look dated.

This is the second time I have stayed in this hotel within a year. Both years have been for a conference which the hotel handled spectacularly. The food was great and the entire conference went without a hitch.

I was also very pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade on my room when I checked in.

The last time I wrote my long review, I was unable to comment on the pool or fitness area. The pool is very nice, a large pool which catches the sun almost all day. There are perhaps not as many loungers as one would like, but it shouldn’t be an issue on a regular day.

The fitness area is, unfortunately, very dated. Some of the equipment doesn’t work, there is no traditional wet area with a sauna and such connected directly to the fitness center. Like the rooms, this looks worse than it is and is fully functional.

The staff was brilliant as always, and they were more than happy to accommodate my late checkout until 3 pm, which was very generous.

If you are thinking of staying here whilst in Chiang Mai, then I don’t think you would have too many complaints. The hotel and the rooms simply need modernizing with a makeover.

Nice location, large rooms, nice views.

I think the Coral Sea resort is probably about the nicest hotel on Arlie Beach. The rooms are large, the staff is helpful, but the resort is showing its age and looking a little tired. They close the poolside restaurant very early. They also don’t have anyone on reception from about 11 pm, so if you need anything, you are out of luck until someone comes on the next morning.

The staff are all friendly and helpful, the pool is pleasant, and if you get a Coral Sea Spa Suite, then the jacuzzi is very nice to sit in during the day and watch out over the bay. The location of the hotel allows you to walk down into Arlie in about 10 minutes and you can walk to the marina bay in about 5.

One thing I would say is that if you are booking boat tours via the hotel then be very wary of the weather and open sailboats. Any sort of overcast sky is going to make the experience utterly miserable. So if you are going out, go on a jet boat.

Great location, rooms have an amazing view.

The Shangri-La Sydney is in a great location away from the busy streets, but close enough to walk to the harbour and the Opera House. The rooms are spacious and the service is everything you would expect from a Shangri-La hotel.

It takes about 35 minutes for an Uber to get from the airport to the hotel with a bit of traffic. Check-in was quick and our bags were brought up to the room straight away.

We stayed in a Premier Sydney Harbour Room for an anniversary stay. I can say with almost certainty that the views from this room over the harbour and the Opera house are some of the best views from any city hotel in the world. The room was nice and spacious with a large bathroom and a very powerful shower. We were given a complimentary bottle of Champaign for our anniversary stay.

The location of the hotel is perfect. It takes about 25 minutes to walk to the botanical gardens and about 10 minutes shorter to walk to the harbour. The street on which the hotel is located has a couple of local pubs with an amazing Japanese teppanyaki place on the corner.

The hotel bar on the top floor, of course, had awesome views but the bar itself was a little disappointing. It is small for a start, and it takes ages to get a drink as there are literally two guys making cocktails. Good to pop up, but annoying to stay. There are enough late-night bars in the main financial district to not have to stay in the hotel anyway.

There is no other bar in the hotel, which is surprising as there is usually a lobby bar in Shangri-La hotels. There is a café in the lobby for lunchtime snacks, but I felt the menu was a little basic and bland.

Check out was easy and we were able to get a taxi to the airport.