DXB/OMDB - Dubai - Hilton Garden Inn - July 2025

The Hilton Garden Inn (HGI) is located at the western end of Dubai airport, in Deira City om Abu Bakker Al Siddique Road.  I stayed first in January 2020 and again at the end of July 2025.
I thought using Uber would be a great idea as I had luggage and it was mid-summer.  However evening peak traffic in Dubai is awful so the journey took well over an hour.  If I didn't have luggage I'd probably have taken the Metro to Abu Bakker Al Siddique station from where it's a 5-10 minute walk to the HGI.
The great thing with Hilton hotels is you can check in on the app and choose your room.  I chose 603: there are 7 floors at this hotel and rooms end in x01 to x05 look towards the airport.  Ona  clear day nothing is missed although it takes a while to get your bearings across the huge DXB airport.
The rooms are no good for photos but the roof top swimming pool has great views.  I'm not sure how anyone would react to an SLR being used - photos below were taken with a palm sized digital compact camera. It is of course a public pool.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QtanbHFNqR5XMUic9

Photos from the hotel roof/pool area from a previous trip

VIDP/DEL - Delhi - Andaz Hotel - July 2025

The Hyatt Andaz is a fairly new hotel located in the complex of hotels and offices in the Aerocity complex at the easy end of Delhi Indira Gandhi airport.  There are other hotels in this area that have been variously reported, some with issues acquiring a suitable room for spotting.  No such issues at the Andaz.

There doesn't appear to be any shuttle buses - Uber is easy and cheap enough in India or those of us who like this sort of thing there is a metro station at Aerocity.  It is a bit of a trek to the Andaz and for the sake of a cheap Uber fare, I would use Uber next time.

This is quite a high end hotel and you'll be served a cool drink at check in which is vert refreshing.  I was allocated room 665 - rooms from 655 to about 670 would work for a good view across all three of Delhi's runways. Higher than that the rooms turn to face north which would yield only the centre and northern runways: whilst I was there the centre runway was not used/

With an airfield of this size and plenty of obstacles it does take a little while to get your bearings.  Electronic spotting aids such as FR24 or SBS are essential due to both the distances and how warped the glass is: it is almost impossible to read anything off through it. It follows that it is not suitable for photography.  The Indian AF IL-76 ramp is immediately opposite.

Being a full service hotel there are a variety of dining options, and a short walk away in Aerocity there is a range of cafes and restaurants with some global brand names if desired.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2R7WTrWnAghb3YdG9

LEBL/BCN - Barcelona - Four Points by Sheraton - July 2025

Spent a night at BCN.  Stayed in the Four Points by Sheraton. Corner rooms x01 have great views of the movements: x03s would also work. The higher floors also have views of the runways and middle taxiways. You do need electronics to get numbers.  Very reasonable costs with a restaurant on site. We used the metro and train to get there (8 euros) but it was hot and humid so I would consider a taxi next time.  

https://maps.app.goo.gl/EoFm1GsS6qZRLSRaA

Credit: Rob Jemmett

ZSPD/PVG - Shanghai Pu Dong - Holiday Inn - September 2025

I took the ten minute walk to the holiday inn airport hotel . My arrival  at 0830 , and the check in time being 2 pm , meant a couple of hours to kill before being able to get a room . I spotted discreetly from outside the main entrance of the hotel using FR24 .  Coverage is patchy, and once in the room , a few flights came in that weren’t showing on fr24 . It made it harder to work out any time away from the window.  I booked an airport view room , and was allocated 6067 . They said this was a “ club room” upgrade . The hotel is new , so had all mod cons. Electric curtains , USB and USC plug switches , and the usual high quality furnishings. This room had twin beds , and a sofa / table / chair adjacent to the window. There is also a plug  right under the window for electrics which was most useful The window opened to allow my sbs wire to be outside to get better coverage . Once closed up , the room is well insulated from airport noise.  The Internet worked well in the hotel. Of course, being in China, WhatsApp and some other applications are restricted. I was able to communicate with home  using teams, but the calling option is also prohibited. On the way to the hotel, there is a 7-11 . I stocked up on drinks and beer for the duration. The fridge wasn't the best but by the evening the drinks were suitably chilled. There is a limited room service menu, which I did use, as there was so many needed frames coming in I wasn't able to leave the room for any duration. 

Floor 3 is reception/bar/restaurant which doubles as the breakfast buffet. This is served from 0600 to 1000. This was included in my room rate. rooms are on floors 5, 6 and 7.  Rooms ending in 001 to 073 odd numbers view towards the taxiway between the two terminals, the remote gates and with views of all runways.  I was on the fifth floor and the view was absolutely fine. Chinese superstition means there are are no rooms with the number 4 in them, nor a 4th floor. The hotel is huge and has well over a hundred rooms per floor so room numbers are 4 digits (e.g. 5001 onwards for the fifth floor).

The Crowne Plaza looks like it is the same building design but probably with fewer, larger rooms.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/owphVisKs9DFaXnd6

View from 5th floor

View from 5th floor

View from room 6057 taken in October 2025 Credit: RVR

ZSHC/HGH - Hangzhou - Landison Airport Hotel - June 2025

The Hyatt and Hyatt Place, while a lot nicer and newer, provide either no decent views (Hyatt) or partial views (Hyatt Place) as they are sitting next to each other (therefore blocking each other) and also face the typical Chinese massive Terminals and their extensions. as a result I chose to stay in the Landison Hotel.  It feels ridiculous but I took a Didi (taxi) there from Terminal 3 and it was a 3 minute ride largely within the airport’s underground car park! The hotel has a shuttle bus but I couldn’t get any number for them to work to request it.  

My advance room request was ignored but upon asking at check in it was honoured – 871/3/5/7 are better and 771/3/5/7 are OK: I had 771.  These rooms overlook the 25L threshold, so anything using 25L, or 07R for departures can be seen.  Everything landing on 07R had vacated before it could be seen and was hidden behind the terminal building.  There are windows at the end of the corridor, by rooms ending in 77 and 78 which allowpart of 25R to be seen.  On the 7^th floor this has been covered in an opaque film: I welcome anyone visiting to continue my work in peeling it back!  

At Hangzhou both runways are used for arrivals and departures, so during the course of my stay many many trips were made to the window at the end of the corridor and thankfully the numerous cleaners around (they have a store room there too) were totally nonplussed by it.

This is more a Chinese style hotel, so you might want to choose the food outlets in the terminal (and English was non-existent). 

There is a lot of overnight parking visible from these rooms.  The hotel is not suitable for photos.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/GHkxUDjHCqw6gmyn9 map locations are often incorrect in China.