花开几朵

By Tan Weiyun  |   2009-9-23  |

AH, viewing the moon over the West Lake - what a way to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on October 3 this year.

With the National Day holiday golden week and the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner, Hangzhou is ready to showcase its beautiful scenery and cultural heritage.

There's still room at the inn - though many hotels will raise their rates for the holiday from October 1 to 8. Others will maintain their rates, and there are even good deals.

According to Ctrip.com, a major travel service provider specializing in discounts, high-end business hotels and economy lodging near the West Lake will raise their rates by around 30 percent during the holiday.

At the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou, the rate for a standard room will go up to 1,600 yuan (US$235) a night, an increase of 100-200 yuan over September.

The Huachen International Hotel will raise the single-room rate to 680 yuan, up by more than 100 yuan, while the Hanghzou Elan Inn Hotel lifts the price by 60 yuan to 120 yuan.

The rates of the Landison Plaza Hotel Hangzhou and Landison Longjing Resort Hangzhou also will rise by 10 to 20 percent.

The Hangzhou-headquartered Landison Hotel Group operates six hotels in Zhejiang Province, including three in Hangzhou. The Landison Plaza Hotel is in the city center's Wulin area, the Longjing Resort is near the West Lake, and the third is in the suburban Yuhang area.

"The three have formed a complete tourism route around the city," says Zhou Dawei, the group's public relations manager. "We will provide special rates for guests who book rooms in more than one of our hotels."

Some medium-size travel agencies, such as Elong.com, have booked blocs of hotel rooms for the holiday and will rent them to their registered members.

However, some newly opened hotels not near the West Lake will keep their rates unchanged, including the Crowne Plaza Hangzhou Grand Canal that opened this January and the Oakwood Residence Hangzhou that opened late last year.

"We're new in the city's accommodation industry. The most important thing for us is to keep fair and reasonable hotel rates," says Li Jing, sales director of the Crowne Plaza. Booking for the holiday is very good, especially from October 2 to 5, he says.

The Mid-Autumn Festival on October 3 is giving a boost to booking.

"Viewing the full moon is a great attraction for foreigners, who are the main hotel occupants during the golden week," says Cai Yaqun, deputy manager of the Hangzhou Ramada Hotel.

In order to attract as many tourists as possible, some hotels in scenic spots are launching promotions and traditional culture activities.

"We have prepared games for our guests such as riddle-solving, lantern shows, classical Chinese music concerts, full-moon appreciation and many other activities," says Wu Jianguo, deputy manager of the Hangzhou Hill & River Hotel.

The hotel has launched a new conference model called "Business Meeting in Swimsuits." Participants are required to wear swimsuits in conference functions held near the swimming pool.

"Our restaurant is connected with the swimming pool. That's how we came up with this idea," Wu says. "Business goes smoothly by the swimming pool instead of in the office. And it's getting popular among our corporate clients."

The Landison Longjing Resort Hangzhou has also taken the plunge.

"Hotels in the busy city center don't have the right setting for these kinds of parties, but scenic resort hotels are the ideal venue," says Zhao Jie, the hotel manager.

The charge for one person is 388 yuan, including use of the swimming pool, buffet and decoration.

In the first quarter of the year, Hangzhou received more than 11.23 million domestic tourist visits, a jump of 8.4 percent year-on-year, while the number of overseas tourists reached 444,000, up 0.1 percent.

Total tourism revenue reached almost 16 billion yuan, up 12 percent, according to the Hangzhou Statistics Bureau.

The May Day holiday was highly successful for the Hangzhou tourism market, which took in 1.5 billion yuan. About 2 million tourists visited Hangzhou in the three days, an increase of more than 25 percent from a year earlier.

During the upcoming holiday, new scenic spots will be opened.

They include the old Zhongshan Road dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1276), the newly renovated section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Xixi Wetlands.