Tangram Hotel Harbin

I traveled to Harbin, China with my husband and three year old daughter to enjoy the famous Ice and Snow festival. Although we were mentally prepared for the cold weather, it was very important that we stayed in a comfortable place. Tangemei Hotel (Tangram Hotel) was exactly what we were looking for. It is slightly far away from the airport and main attractions, but the warm and friendly staff and the comfortable hotel rooms made up for it. The breakfast was very good, with a good choice of Chinese food, cakes, salads and fruits. The restaurant serves good food and even though the menu is in Chinese, the brilliant staff ensures that there is someone who knows English to translate it for you. The restaurant staff as well as the staff at the hotel were brilliant. Our check in was quick and so was our check out. They were always willing to help with a smile on their faces. The room we stayed in was spacious and had all amenities. In addition to the regular amenities that a good hotel provides, it had a humidifier (this really helped since the air in Harbin is very very dry during winters) and HD movies in various languages loaded on to the TV. A tip to choose a room would be to choose a room that has a window since the thermostat can get warm in the night and as it is centrally controlled one cannot adjust it. In a window facing room, one can keep the window slightly open in order to balance the warm thermostat with the cool air from outside. It takes about an hour from the airport to the hotel and it costed us about 130 rmb. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Ice and Snow festival and cost us about 66 rmb to reach there and about 35 rmb from the festival back to the hotel. It took about 45 minutes to reach Sophia Cathedral and the cost was about 21 rmb. I must warn that traffic can be a problem in Harbin and therefore in order to get to the airport on time one must set aside at least one and a half hours for the drive from the hotel to the airport to be on the safer side. There is a Paulener-Brauhaus micro-brewery and restaurant just next to the hotel, making it very convenient to enjoy a nice dinner after a cold day out at the Ice and Snow festival. This I would say is an added advantage, as in freezing temperatures one doesn't want to venture out too far in the evenings looking for a good place to eat and relax. Overall, we had a brilliant stay at the Tangram hotel and I would certainly recommend it to others.