XIY/ZLXY - Xi'an - Airport Hotel - May 2026

Our hotel was the airport Hotel adjacent to T1 – T3. It has nine floors and we were allocated the 8^th.  Most of the rooms have a view of the northern runway or the southern pair and were king bedded.  Ideally you want a room with as low number as possible as its close to the window at the end of the corridor from where you can see both approaches.  As far as we could see none of the rooms were a twin room.  This did not matter as we had two rooms.  808 (even numbers face the Southern runways) and 809 (odd numbers face the Northern runway).  FR24 ground coverage was not good in May 2026 and a bit glitchy in the air above 2000-3000ft.

Higher even numbers face out towards the remote parking area near Terminal 3 and approach to Runways 06L/06R, these are probably the best rooms as you can easily walk to the end of the corridor to see the 05L approach.  There are three Capital A319's and three EMB145s in a compound - these can also be seen from the window at the end of the corridor.  

There is a shuttle bus from T5 (although we took a Didi) and the hotel is linked directly to terminal 3 (and in turn T2) via a walkway.

Although we didn't use them there are western and Chinese food options in the Hotel. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/SKAMehxoXrgRGmXt6
  

Photos from room on southside of hotel.

Photos from room on northside of hotel.

Views from end of corridor window.

ZSPD/PVG - Shanghai Pu Dong - Holiday Inn - May 2026

The hotel is a 10min walk from the airport and the train station to SHA.  There is a 7-11 enroute if you need to stock up with snacks.

If you arrive before check-in time then you can spot discreetly from outside the main entrance of the hotel using FR24 .  

An airport view room can be booked and is required, we were allocated 6067.  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.  We moved the sofa to face outwards and give more comfort.

In May FR24 coverage was patchy with aircraft dropping off/appearing on at around 1500ft.  If you have an SBS/ADSB set-Up then it will help you a bit and there is a power plug just below the windows to help with power.  The windows also opens if you need to put an antenna outside.  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. 

The fridge wasn't the best but by the evening the drinks were suitably chilled. There is a limited room service menu, which we did use, as there was so many needed frames coming in we weren't able to leave the room for any duration.

During the stay all arrivals we coming from the South towards us, so the approaches were easily seen.  All departures were also visible, either taxying out or on the departure roll.  There are big gaps between the terminal and satellite so it's fairly easy to see everything.

Floor 3 is reception/bar/restaurant which doubles as the breakfast buffet. This is served from 0600 to 1000. This was included in our 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.

Note if using Didi (Chinese Uber) while it is okay to get dropped of directly at the hotel, you cannot be picked up here and have to walk into the terminal and the eHailing point.

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

ZPPP/KMG - Kunming - Best Yue Hang hotel - May 2026

This is an old fashioned hotel with views onto the terminal from the 03/21 side. When we were there runways 21 and 22 were in use the entire time and both runways can be seen although you had to be quick to catch the departures from runway 22 as they passed through a gap. The landers could be seen from some distance over the terminal prior to touchdown, there are very limited views of aircraft on the ground.  We had room 8836 a twin room and probably the optimum room but any even numbered room between 8864 and 8834 would work. Much beyond this and you might lose the view of one runway or the other. The hotel does not appear to have a restaurant, but it does have a gift shop where snacks can be bought.

The Hotel internet required to to register your phone at the front desk although that didn’t bother us as we were using an e-sim for the data.  Fair warning, the beds were “firm” in the extreme.  

There is a shuttle bus to the Hotel.  However as we were unsure of the timetable we didn't use to get to the hotel and instead took a Didi (Chinese Uber) at around £1.50.  We did use the shuttle however to return to the terminal.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/qdwdni7YXtKX1UEd6

ZGGG/CAN - Guangzhou - Novotel - May 2026

You need to book an Executive Runway View Room, which guarantees a room on the 7th or 8th floor (which are the two highest). 

Some reports before have quoted ideal rooms as 8th floor room numbers 5813, 5815, 5817 & 5819 but we were informed that these were one king bed only and as we had Executive Twin rooms booked we needed to be one floor lower.  We were given room 5715 on this occasion, which had a great view.  Odd rooms numbered 5801 through 5821 (8th floor) and 5701 through 5721 (7th floor) will give you the view you need. 

CAN is an epic airport and since our last visit a new terminal (T3) had been opened along with a new Runway (03/21).  

Departures to the North - If departing to the North, then from these rooms you can see the departures heading North off runways 01L, 01R, 02L and 02R  You can also see departures off the new Runway 03, although you need to be on alert for these and if the cloud base is low they can disappear quickly.  No view of arrivals from the south from these rooms but if you go the end of the corridor (high room numbers are closer), you’ll see a nice window looking out towards the runways on the West side of the airport. Here you can catch them landing and rolling out.  So a mix of the room and corridor window allows good coverage in this configuration.  Even when dark, it was possible to see enough of the departures for them to be logged. 

Arrivals from the North - its basically a reverse of the above, great for arrivals but rubbish for departures.  While this was not the configuration on this visit a previous visit shows this configuration also works okay.  I don't know if the new runway (arriavls on 21) will be visible in this configuration however.

If clear (which it was not on this visit) you can also see the downwinds heading South and the over the tops going into Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Zhuhai.  

The 8th floor would be better for the corridor window but I don’t think the 6th floor or lower would be any good for that as the size of the airport infrastructure gets in the way.  On our May 2026 visit with is woprth noting that FR24 coverage was patchy, and they drop off or appear only at about 1000ft, so a system is required to ensure you are logging what you actually see and ensuring you see what you actually need.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ci1WUQ3QYEmh1mYL6

View from end of corridor window overlooking western runways.

View from 5803.