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Welcome to www.spottinghotels.org the bible for information on hotels where you can spot from.  We launched the site in late 2025 and hope to make this the go to site for hotels with a view!  We have 250 reports and that keeps climbing thanks to those who contribute.  

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ZUTF/TFU - Chengdu Tianfu International Airport - Joyhub Air Hotel - October 2026

We used the Joyhub Cheer Hotel It's located a short walk from the transportation hub in the terminal.  The hotel can bee seen on the map as the circular building split in half in between the terminals. The Cheer is the east block, The Air is the west block. The Air will have some rooms that work however they will not have any views over runway 11 (the cross runway). 

You need even numbered Rooms 6902 – 6910 (no 4 its unlucky) and these are all 9^th floor Deluxe King Rooms with a single king sized bed, the Hotel does not do rollaways so if you are traveling with someone you need to be prepared to snuggle up or book two rooms.  The rooms have a balcony and give a great view down the central cul-de-sac which is suitable for photographs. The 8^th and maybe the 7^th floors would also work but below this the flyover will interfere with the view. 

On our visit Runway 1 was being used for Arrivals and departures, Runways 1 and 2 were being used for arrivals and departures and Runway 11 was being used for departures only. All aircraft could be seen from the hotel in this configuration with Runway 11 being viewable on the climb out. If runway 19 and 20 were in use you would probably be able to see all landers as they turned off the runway and all departures as they climbed out. 

Although we didn’t see the view room room 6950-6960 may have a view over the runway 11 and the maintenance area but runway 02/20 will be totally out of view albeit things on approach or climb out may well come into view.  I don’t believe any other rooms will work in the hotel.  If its clear you can get some Chengdu (CTU) inbounds over the hotel.

The Hotel has good room service options as well as a two restaurants and Western, Chinese and Japanese breakfast options. 

As of May 2026 the Hotel Wi-Fi allowed FR24, which also had good on the ground coverage.

Credit Volker Wackernagel / Bulldog and Cat / Nick

https://maps.app.goo.gl/iLrCHPb7SmXDj2yJ6 

Note: Locations in China are often inaccurate.

 

View from room 6928.

ZBAD/PKX - Beijing Daxing - Daxing Radisson - October 2026

 

 

Just started some travels in Asia. First two nights enjoying the view from room 915 at the Daxing Radisson. New hotel has 10 floors and the front aspect faces back towards the terminal. Decent views of movements on runways either side .. some readable but mostly with the help of FR24 which takes a bit of time to get used to glitchy coverage. SBS would likely assist but left my 1090 stick at home .. not helpful as multiple movements from the mil base missed … 738/319/734/CR7 and An12 types incl AWACS variant seen 1x CRJ pinged on FR B-4069. 738 B-290A seen doing circuits, also pinged on FR but not read.  Plenty to see and when arriving from South .. a steady stream OTT into PEK also.  About £80 per night in a premium room after registering for loyalty scheme. 

Other rooms that work are 917, 915, 818, 810 and 718 on floors 9, 8 & 7.

Room 818 and 810 have two beds

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ERYddAgnSsFwkRCS8 

Note: locations in China are often inaccurate.

KEWR/EWR - Newark Liberty International - Hampton Inn and Suites, Elizabeth - October 2026

The Hampton Inn and Suites Elizabeth is located to the South East of Newark, not too far from the southern end of the parallel runways.

The hotel has a half hourly free shuttle bus, but in the interests of time I opted to get an Uber from the terminal which was around £15.

I checked in online in advance and chose top floor room 733, which was the only one available on top floor. The room was a double queen with fridge and microwave, facing north.

The room plan is above, with the arrow pointing towards the airport. Most of the north facing rooms on the 6th or 7th floor would be fine, any lower could be an issue (odd numbers 701 - 735)

The hotel was fit for purpose with snacks and drinks available from the downstairs lobby and a small bar. There is an Ihop next to the hotel which was open 24 hours and does a great breakfast.

View from the room

The view from the room is below, there is a reasonable view of most of the apron. During my visit they were landing from the north and departing over the hotel, everything could be seen easily.  The same would be true if they were landing in the other direction.

As well as Newark, I could easily see inbound traffic into La Guardia over to the right as they descended over the Statue of Liberty / Hudson River. Cloud permitting, I was also able to pick out a few outbounds from La Guardia as they turned left over the north of Manhattan.

Conclusion

This is probably the best spotting hotel in Newark. The obvious other contender is the Marriot right next to the terminal which is much more expensive, but that doesn't afford as good a view of the terminal as this hotel. 

I stayed at the hotel following a post on a spotting group by Mark Paulin who stayed in room 701 the previous week, great recommendation.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZaT67ZTK4gM37yX7

KMIA/MIA - Miami - EB Hotel - October 2026

At EB Hotel at MIA airport facing rooms have the view below, the higher the floor the better.

October 2026 note: Stayed in room 321, a little too low, but that was all they had on this date.  Could still see all departures heading east, so not the end of the world.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/dzGwACWKnT4ybp3V7

KMCO/MCO - Orlando - Avid hotel - October 2026

The hotel is situated just outside the airport on the north side, just west of the runways. The hotel has an airport shuttle which runs every 30mins.  Its a nice but basic hotel, and I managed to get a room at a reasonable price.

The best rooms are 501-504 as they are on front facing towards the airport.  Arrivals were from the south, departures to the north and with electronics and little effort nothing will be missed.  I had room 502 which is a 2 queen bedded room and was perfect for the visit.

The rooms on eastern side of the hotel give good views on both runways too, although due to the angle seeing the approach would be harder to see than in rooms 501-504.  With that in mind rooms with odd numbers 505 till 519 are also fine, just not quite as good as 501-504. 

There is a 7Eleven next to the hotel for food and drinks. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/hE8daGURhndnLJxb6

Credit Karin Middendorp

ZSHC/HGH - Hangzhou - Manju Hotel - October 2026

This is the perfect hotel but there is no perfect room.  We were given rooms 8817 and 8830.  8830 which looks towards the terminal and 8817 which looks the opposite direction.  Both rooms complemented each other well.  However here are some more notes.

Rooms 8802 through 8817

The best room is probably 8817 however.  It's on the eighth floor.  The windows in this room has a view of the approach to runways 06 and 07 as well as the holding point for Runway 07.  Next to the room is a public area with a view to a gap in the buildings (next to the Loong Air HQ) that allows you to see aircraft taxing to the holding point of Runway 06.  So if 06 and 07 are in use nothing will be missed if you are closely monitoring the tracking sites.

 
If however they are using runways 25 and 24 arrivals turn off before coming into view so will not be seen from this room until they depart.  Alternative rooms with this same view are 8816-8802 but each room gets progressively further away from the public window, so it's further to walk.

Rooms 8823 through 8837

An alternative view can be had from any room between 8823 to 8837 with the lower numbers being the best due to their proximity to the aforementioned window.  The views from these rooms are over the terminal and the approach to runway 25 and runway 24 are visible.  Departures from runway 25 can also be seen.  Departures from runway 24 are visible as long as they lift off quickly and are not too heavy!  However the full climb out is visible from the public window.

General Notes

The rooms a very cheap and bookable via Trip.com, therefore I would suggest if there is more than one of you travelling together you should get separate rooms.  Then ask for one on the front and one on the back to ensure you have both views available.  That's what we ended up doing.  If there is just one person - then ask for the room depending on the runway direction and choose the direction looking towards whichever approach is in use.

The hotel is on the 7th and 8th floor of a service building, so I think all rooms will have some sort of view regardless of what you book.

There is no restaurant but there is a 7-11 convenience store next door where snacks can be bought.  To get to/from the terminal I would recommend getting a Didi (China's answer to Uber).  There is a public transport options, however a Didi cost less than £2 and was very convenient.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bQ17CcDSyN6NPbPL7

The following photos are from Room 8830.

The following photo is from Room 8817.

View from the window next to 8817, showing the gap.

ZSSS/SHA - Shanghai Hongqiao - Air China BoYue Hotel - October 2026

The hotel is located at Terminal Two. We paid on arrival to upgrade to executive rooms to ensure the highest possible position. Rooms allocated were 1002 & 1005, both of which gave a panoramic view across Hongqiao Airport and both were twin bedded rooms. These rooms also came with executive lounge access on the 11^th floor (again with similar views).

Rooms 1002-1003 & 1005-1012 should all be okay to watch the proceedings.  Note that there is no room 1004. Deluxe Twin Rooms and 738, 907, 911 & 915 were also good enough, despite being on lower levels.

 

Photos are possible from the rooms or from the executive lounge. Note that the windows did distort in places so you need to be careful to ensure good quality photos are taken.

 

Price was CNY 1,150 per twin room (approximately £120.00), which included the executive room upgrade negotiated on arrival.

 

We used the very modern Shanghai Airport Link Line rail transfer from Pudong to Hongqiao. This took about 40 minutes, was very cheap but unfortunately was primarily underground so offered limited city views. Price per person 26 Yuan one way (approx. £2.80).

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2mppA1CdcyXdB9A3A

Credit Nick Godfrey

LEPA/PMI - Palma Mallorca - AluaSoul Hotel - October 2026

I've stayed here a coupe of times.  Of note only runway 06L/24R can be monitored and no views of the airport itself but nothing using this runway can be missed.  4th or 5th floor room on the ocean/city side of the hotel (518-525) is excellent.  Breakfasts one of the best I have ever come across.  5-10 min walk and you are in the main town area of Can Pastilla with more restaurants and shops than you need.  Hotel is a 10 min taxi ride from the airport,  the bus stop is about a 5-10 min walk from the main road.  25 min walk to the bridge to overlook the Biz ramp.  Alua Soul is part of the Hyatt Group.

Credit: Phil Globe

https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQEkA5KrJqe4raXX8