Wanderlust Diary

We usually have a yearly family out of town trips and since we are a family of 9 people ( I got lots of siblings), the kids are not getting any younger so no more free stay in a hotel with my parents. Since I usually plan the trips, I scout for better deals (bigger space/beds) at the budgeted price. Last May, we went to Beijing and Shanghai, I opted for Agoda’s deal of Service Apartments.

In Beijing, we stayed at Luxury Serviced Residence. It is located within Chaoyang District, nearer to Beijing’s famous tourist attractions such as Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, etc.

We chose the 3 bedroom apartment that will fit 6-7 people however there was a change of room for us since they cannot give us the 3 bedroom that time (some water leakage at the bathroom), they gave us the 2 bedroom suite and a studio type apartment. It wasn’t so bad, my sister and I stayed at the studio type while my parents and 3 other siblings stayed at the other room. Though we prefer to stay in one apartment for the food, it was not bad.

It had a kitchen, pretty decent bathrooms, cozy living room area, table for laptop (free internet), huge clean beds. Overall the place was great to go back to after a long day of tourist attraction walking.

Good thing the place had a 7-Eleven just outside the lobby. We stocked up for water and tidbits to keep us prepared for obnoxious whining of the children for food. The area itself is not surrounded by a lot of shops (mostly closed at night). It’s not the usual tourist area so it a bit creepy a night if you had to walk around.

You better get a calling card to explain to the taxi driver how to drive to this place, it’s not along the main road, our driver was lost at first.

~

In Shanghai, I found a good service apartment, which coincidentally was also the service apartment my friends stayed at before we went Huangshan years back. My friend forgot the place’s name when I asked him, but while I was browsing hotels at Agoda, this place popped out. It is called New Harbour Service Apartment. When I recall, it is quite near to XinDianTi than the hotel I stayed last time. Save us some taxi fee! Plus it has a lot of restaurants around for late night dining!

This one is better than Beijing’s service apartment because of location (much nearer to civilization), plus the place is much bigger. And we got to stay at the 3 bedroom suite! All of us in one room this time! Their bedrooms are much bigger.  Costs us USD 295.65 for 2 nights!

Address:
Beijing:
Luxury Service Apartment
17 Jian Hua Nan Road, Jian Guo Men Wai Street,Chao Yang District , Beijing, China

Shanghai:
New Harbour Service Apartment
88 Yongshou Road , Shanghai, China