10 Top Hotels to Consider for Trips to Asia
It can be confusing for travelers to select an appropriate hotel when visiting one of the large cities of Asia or traveling to a popular destination there. Fortunately, leading luxury hotel companies such as Taj, Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, InterContinental, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton have fine properties in major cities. It is also easy to find hotel brands owned by American companies like Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, and Hyatt near most destinations. While the choices are numerous and the quality is excellent, The Traveling American recommends careful study of the location, safety, and reputation of any hotel you add to your Asian itinerary. It is important to make sure that the hotel you select is close to your intended destinations and provides good access to public transportation. The size and the traffic in places like Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta can upend the best made plans of any tourist.
Fortunately, we have been able to stay at some excellent places on our visits to Asia in recent years. We encourage readers to consider the following top hotel properties along with other options if traveling to these ten destinations in the region. The hotels presented here include luxury properties along with premium and boutique hotels.
Bali, Indonesia – Laguna Bali Hotel
Type – Luxury Beach Resort and Spa
Location – Nusa Dua Beach
Bali retains the reputation of being an exotic vacation spot with everything to offer from tranquil beaches, wellness centers and exotic temples to surfing spots and nightclubs. But ten million visitors each year have taxed the natural resources of the island and the patience of its people. Nusa Dua on the eastern shore of Bali is close enough to the action to allow visitors to see the island’s major attractions while still providing beautiful beaches for guests to relax in luxury. The Laguna Bali Hotel is an open-air complex with 276 rooms and suites featuring a modern Balinese decorative style. The rooms surround a series of swimming lagoons, tropical gardens, and a quiet shaded beach. With several different restaurant choices and Balinese spa offerings, it is a perfect place to relax after exploring the intriguing water temples and artistic features of the island. An evening dinner by the moonlit lagoon provides a memorable experience.
Bangkok, Thailand- The Peninsula Hotel
Type- Luxury Hotel
Location - West Bank of Chao Phraya River
Bangkok attracts millions of visitors each year seeking to explore its temples and palaces, vibrant culture, and waterfront attractions. Most of the popular stops are on the east side of the Chao Phraya River, but the high-rise Peninsula Hotel on the west bank has the amenities and service to satisfy the most discerning customers. From the infinity pool, spa and restaurants that look out on the river to the large rooms which look out across the entire city, the Peninsula provides the benefits of a resort hotel along with access to area sites by water taxi.
For a detailed profile of the Peninsula click here.
Beijing, China- Hilton Beijing Wangfujing
Type - Premium Business Hotel
Location – Eastern Beijing and Tiananmen Square Area
The area around Tiananmen Square contains monuments of China’s imperial age and Communist history. There are sites to see there such as the Forbidden City complex and the National Museum. Just a few blocks to the east lies the commercial district which features modern office buildings, the popular pedestrian shopping area of Wangfujing Street, local markets, and foreign embassies. It is no surprise that this section is also the location for many hotels. The 255 room Hilton Beijing Wangfujing is located just behind Wangfujing Street with ready access to the shopping, site seeing, and diplomatic activities of the area. The hotel has 160 rooms and is reasonably priced for a major city. Its premium features for guests include suites and extensive facilities for meetings and dining, but also amenities such as an indoor rooftop pool, 24-hour fitness center, a spa, and a nightclub lounge.
Chennai, India - Leela Palace
Type – Luxury Hotel
Location - Adyar River Estuary off Greenways Road
Chennai is the fourth largest city in India with six million people. It served as a trading port during the colonial era and remains a major commercial center for south India due to an extensive manufacturing base and popular film industry. Chennai’s coastline on the Bay of Bengal extends for eight miles and locals flock to the wide beach known as the Marina to socialize or enjoy food and entertainment. However, the construction in 2010 of a 11-story luxury hotel on 4.8 acres of land above an estuary by the Leela Palace helped redevelop the south end of the city. All 326 rooms and suites and the common facilities of the Leela Palace are ornate and unusually large. You can stroll around the outdoor gardens, swim, or sun yourself on the pool deck, have a drink in the lounge, or dine in restaurants serving Indian and Asian cuisines. Events such as Indian weddings and industry meetings take place there alongside weekend stays by family vacationers and foreign tourists. Guests looking to explore the distinctive culture and history of the city or nearby sites like Kanchipuram, Mamallapuram, or Puducherry could not find a more elegant location to relax.
Danang, Vietnam – Hyatt Regency
Type - Luxury Beach Resort
Location – Non Nuoc Beach south of Danang city
Within the past decade, the city of Danang has emerged as a major center for commercial activity and tourism in Central Vietnam. In addition to its large seaport and well-known beaches like Non Nuoc and China Beach, the city is located close to the World Heritage sites at Hoi An, Hue, and My Son, and the natural wonder of the Marble Mountains. There are several dozen large hotel and condominium complexes along the beachfront area including the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa. This luxury property contains 380 hotel rooms, villas and suites that offer a wide variety of amenities to guests. One popular feature is the Regency Club rooms which come with access to a private lounge and pool area, complimentary breakfast and evening cocktails and all-day refreshments. The resort itself offers five pool complexes, a fitness center, water sports, spa and wellness services, and regular site seeing journeys. There are five different dining venues around the complex including Vietnamese dishes, grilled seafood, and western comfort food options.
Delhi, India - Trident Gurgaon-
Type - Luxury Hotel
Location – Ten miles south of Delhi in the corporate center of Gurgaon
Delhi is estimated to be the third largest metropolitan area in the world. It spreads out for miles and there is no shortage of places to see and experiences to enjoy there. The Red Fort and the shops of Chandni Chowk boulevard in Old Delhi are popular destinations in the north while attractive colonial and governmental structures are located in New Delhi. The south part of Delhi features ruins of the palaces of past rulers along with their gardens and monuments. Gurgaon is a suburban business center about ten miles south of New Delhi with corporate offices, shopping malls and an Indian theme park called the Kingdom of Dreams. It is close to the international airport and a convenient location to use as a base of operations for seeing the entire city. We stayed at the 136 room Trident Hotel in Gurgaon which is a luxury hotel brand owned by the Oberoi Hotel Group. The hotel has a sleek modern design, but it also uses multiple reflecting pools, gardens, courtyards, and torches to create a sense of calm for guests. Isolated from the hustle and noise of Delhi, the Trident has well furnished rooms and offers a range of wellness and luxury recreation facilities including a large pool, spa, and fitness center. Several fine dining restaurants and a late-night bar provide a wide selection of local and international cuisine.
Hong Kong, China- Kowloon Shangri-La
Type - Luxury Hotel
Location – Kowloon Waterfront on Victoria Harbour
Hong Kong has been the gateway to China and one of Asia’s major business centers for generations and it remains so today during a period of transition and change. The Kowloon section of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region looks out on Victoria Harbour and the modern skyline of Hong Kong Island. For more than a century, the Star Ferry has been transporting passengers back and forth while freighters, cruise ships and traditional junks sail by. The Kowloon Shangri-La has prominent views of these activities and is also located in the Tsim Sha Tsui East shopping and entertainment district where stores and stalls sell jade, women’s wear, gold, and food. This flagship Shangri-La property has 679 large guestrooms and suites along with, seven restaurants and lounges offering everything from Cantonese specialties to a sumptuous breakfast buffet to deli items. Guests can also use a comprehensive business center and enjoy personal services such as childcare, transportation, and laundry. Even though the fog hung low over Hong Kong Island during our stay at the Shangri-La, the elegance of the hotel and the vibrancy of the city’s attractions made for a pleasant stay.
Siem Reap, Cambodia – Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa
Type - Premium Hotel
Location – City Center
The Angkor Wat complex is often rated among the top tourist attractions in the world. As a result, the nearby small city of Siem Reap has grown to include more than four hundred hotels including luxury resorts and budget lodging. The Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa offers premium lodging and a spectacular courtyard. The pool, spa services, gardens, and other rest areas there are reinvigorating after a long day of site seeing. The principal restaurant is excellent. It serves Asian fusion food with French influences both inside for formal dining and on a shaded veranda. The rooms in the hotel are air conditioned with hard woods and a colonial feel. Located right in the center of the town adjacent to the Royal Independence Gardens and only three miles from Angkor Wat, you can also walk or take a tuk tuk to the shops and restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel.
For more information on the Victoria Angkor, click here.
Singapore – Marina Bay Sands Hotel
Type - Luxury Resort
Location – Marina Bay waterfront in center of the city
Singapore implemented a development plan two decades ago to transform itself into a safe and friendly destination for visitors from around the world. The country committed billions of dollars of government funding and private capital to build entertainment and leisure attractions near the city center using distinctive, modern architecture. The six-mile stretch from the Marina Bay Reservoir to Sentosa Island now features five-star resorts, gaming facilities, museums, sports facilities, amusement parks, artistic creations, gardens, performing arts venues, luxury malls, historical monuments, water transportation, and dining establishments. The Marina Bay Sands building has become a symbol of modern Singapore and attracts forty-five million visitors annually. Its three towers rise fifty-five stories above the harbor and are connected on top by a 1120-foot-long park shaped like a ship. This architectural wonder which cost an estimated $8 billion to construct includes a 2,561-room hotel, casino, convention center, a luxury shopping mall, celebrity chef restaurants, and theaters. The “Skypark” provides a panoramic view of the entire city whether you are swimming in the park’s infinity pool, dining in one of rooftop restaurants, or standing on the observation deck. You need to be a guest of the hotel to access the pool, but thousands of people pay the $23 admission to take the elevators to the observation deck each day. The hotel rooms are modern and comfortable. While the size of the complex and impersonal service can be overwhelming for people, the experience of staying there, swimming in the pool, and seeing the skyline of the city is highly recommended for people exploring Singapore or transiting through its gateway airport.
Udaipur, India - Leela Palace
Type - Luxury Hotel
Location – Waterfront of Lake Pichola
The Maharana of Mewer and his predecessors once ruled over the beautiful lakeside city of Udaipur and the surrounding parts of Rajasthan. Their legacy included building three large palaces around Lake Pichola including the white Lake Palace that appears to float on the water and a City Palace that is five times as large as the White House. Although those palaces are still used today as heritage hotels, other hoteliers have built modern hotels around the lake in the style of the Mughals. The Leela Palace in Udaipur has been consistently rated as one of the top hotels in Asia and staying there is an ideal way to begin a tour of India. The property has beautiful views of the city, and the hotel offers an inexpensive private sunset cruise of the lake to guests. The restaurants feature Indian and continental cuisine which are presented with elegance by waiters in full Rajput attire. Known for its high level of service, cleanliness and elaborate welcoming ceremony and free entertainment, the hotel achieves its goals of providing “blissful escapes” and “quintessential experiences” to guests.
For more information on the Leela Palace, read more here.