New Garden Ningbo

Upon arrival at the Ningbo Airport, we took a free shuttle bus (exit the Arrivals Hall and look to your right) for 2 mins to the Airport subway station. Then, its an easy 10 stops, 20 mins subway ride to the ChengHuang Temple subway station where this Hotel is located. Take exit D and turn left till a road junction. Then cross the road on your right, and the Hotel is about 200m from the subway station. Check in was prompt and we were given a Twin room on the 9th floor, very quiet and enough space for my mum and I (certainly not spacious). Everything about the room is great - single arm chair, TV with great reception, safe, minibar, mirror and writing desk. Nights were quiet but I did not sleep well cos of the hard beds, hence, the 4 star rating. Free Wifi worked really well, though. Breakfasts the next 3 days were good, even a tad better than the Holiday Inn in Shaoxing! Freshly squeezed Orange juice were available here, really impressed! Other foods were all tasty, fresh and varied! Staff were all friendly and competing in giving out information. Swimming pool is Olympic sized, however, you would have to cross the Hotel lobby in order to get to the Pool (a little awkward). And the worst is, the Pool is not wholly owned by the Hotel as locals are allowed to visit it either on daily or monthly/yearly charges. Thus, even when the pool is open at 7am, you might have to share it with 10 or so people (mostly locals) - not a very good feeling I would say. However, water was very clean and the temperature was right/warm for mid March. The location of this Hotel is certainly good when the subway station is so close by - we took trains everywhere and believe me, they are cheap and efficient! Saved tons on taxis (these are cheap, too!). Turn to your right and its Tianyi Square with Tesco super mart and loads of modern day shopping. Turn to your left and its the gorgeous YueYuan Garden and the famed Tiangyi Ge/Tian Yi Library. The Hotel's lobby and exteriors, however, looked rather dated, with very off putting old flower arrangement acting as a centre piece in the lobby (should get it change soon!). Rooms, on the other hand, looked newer and renovated though. After 3 nights of sleepless nights here, we took the train to Shaoxing for 2 nights and returned with another 2 nights in Ningbo at the nearby Fumao Hotel (with even better location, cheaper prices, softer beds but slightly further from the subway station). Overall, if you can take harder beds, this is indeed a good choice while in Ningbo.