Himalaya Serviced Residences Chongqing

Our stay at the Himalaya was half of the reason that my friend and I loved visiting Chongqing! The hotel is clean, beautiful and relatively well-located. The neighborhood is across the river from the heart of downtown, which affords excellent views but does mean a bit of an inconvenience on the subway--it is a 10-minute uphill walk and at least 15 minutes on the train to get anywhere. Still, we did not mind this travel time during our stay, as returning to the Himalaya was like returning to a lush, quiet garden. The swimming pool is excellent, the view from the sundeck is beautiful, and my friend and I swam (mostly) by ourselves for hours every afternoon. The gym is brand-new, very clean, and surprisingly well-equipped. None of the facilities ever felt crowded. Rooms were modern and well-designed, clean, and even came with a washer/dryer combo, which came in handy when our travel plans changed and Chongqing was "home" for an extra night. Service at the Himalaya was similarly worthy of praise. They always had one or two staff on site who were able to speak English, and we never had any problems communicating our needs to the front desk. We arranged deliveries, extra towels and late checkout without hassle. The pool required swim caps, but these were provided by the hotel at no extra cost. The attendants at the breakfast buffet were cheery and helpful every morning, always guiding me to the coffee machine as soon as they saw me (which was unexpected, but helpful, appreciated, and sweet of them). The one area for improvement that my friend and I discussed after checkout was breakfast. The Himalaya offers a wide range of options for breakfast, but the vast majority of options are Chinese cuisine that may not feel like "breakfast food" to foreign guests. Western dining options were essentially limited to bread (with a toaster, butter, and jam) or fried eggs. Even fruit was quite limited. There was bacon and breakfast sausage, but rice, noodles, congee, and Chinese-style salads dominated the buffet table. We ate breakfast at the hotel for two mornings, then relied upon Elema deliveries for tastier options. We assume that Western breakfast choices are fewer at the Himalaya because 1. The hotel is not located in the heart of downtown, where more international business travelers are likely to stay; and/or 2. Chongqing is not a wildly popular destination for foreign visitors (the vast majority of guests at the Himalaya were Chinese families or business travelers). Still, even domestic travelers can enjoy the 'novelty' of Western dining options when they vacation. Providing a pancake/waffle-making station, vegetables for an omelet at the egg fryer, and definitely a wider range of fruit would make the breakfast buffet seem far more diverse in its offerings. Overall, the Himalaya made our vacation. Chongqing's weather in the summer felt stifling hot, so we spent most afternoons by the pool bookended by outings in the morning and evening. It is rare to find an outdoor pool in the city, but this was the reason for our booking in the first place. Lounging on the sundeck with a view of the skyline felt like an urban version of Sanya! The neighborhood was quiet, but provided convenience stores, fruit stalls, and even two great restaurants (recommended by Dianping) near the Tushan metro station, AKA within walking distance. Service was friendly and the facilities were beautiful. We would highly recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Chongqing, especially tourists looking for a slower, more relaxing vacation in the summertime.

Hotels have good rooms, bed but its bit far from city center, breakfast is below par.. Didn't use breakfast... I ate out...... Night city view from the hotel premises and garden is spectacular.... Staffs are very friendly especially the front desk.... Polite and generous.... Helpful staffs...

Spacious apar**ents, nice furniture, wonderful bathroom, comfy bathrobes. Incredible view from the balcony. Pretty good breakfast. Wonderful grounds / rooftop garden. Weird that staff will rush past you to get into the elevator first. Not sure why the cleaning lady insisted on pushing four of us into an elevator with a huge cart of dirty linens - I guess she was in a rush.

There's no need for a long essay. The location is great. it's between two bridges leading to other sides of the city. No matter where you've been for the night, you can get back from either side fast enough for this town. There's construction going on, that's for sure. But it’s a big problem for you only if you’re a fan of nice balcony photos( especially with a skewed horizon). The photos below were taken either from the territory or a minute away from the apar**ents. No apar**ent pictures, but everything was clean. No broken stuff and dirty walls. The stuff was super kind and their English level was on top.

Definitely going back! Great property, just wished the swimming pool was open. Better than expected breakfast.

the view of this hotel is wonderful and the service is good with big room

No gym and the pool was poorly maintained and dirty

We really enjoyed staying at Himalaya Serviced Residence. The Hotel is in a great location, as restaurants and bars are in walking distance. The view from the hotel is amazing. We can totally recommend this Hotel for a city trip in Chongqing.

Great location x Wonderful views. Front desk has good service. Rooms are clean and tidy. A must if you visit CQ!