Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel
The shuttle from the Ocean Kingdom drops you at a sweeping porte-cochère shaped like the prow of a ship, and the first thing your children notice is not the lobby but the dolphin gliding past the glass of the indoor pool. You have arrived at the 长隆横琴湾酒店 Chánglóng Héngqínwān Jiǔdiàn, a seaside castle on the eastern edge of Zhuhai where the South China Sea laps the terrace and Macau’s skyline shimmers across the water a few minutes away.
Opened in 2014 as the flagship of the Chimelong Hengqin resort, the hotel is the largest ocean-themed resort in the country, its blue-and-white exterior modelled on a Mediterranean coastal fortress and its interiors threaded with marine motifs. The resort sits at the heart of the Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort, a short free shuttle from the Ocean Kingdom and the Hengqin International Circus City, and it holds the country’s first hotel dolphin pool and a dolphin education school. It is less a hotel than a self-contained kingdom for families, with Thailand-flavoured resort touches layered over a proud 岭南 Lǐngnán warmth.
The Rooms
All 1,888 rooms and suites carry the ocean theme and every one opens onto a private balcony, the better to watch the fishing boats or the Macau lights. The Castle Garden Room is the workhorse family choice, while the Flamingo Bay View and Castle Sea View rooms trade the garden for the water. The most coveted are the Lingding Yang Supreme Sea View Suites with their own plunge pools and terraces, and the family suites come with child-sized robes, step stools and themed bunks that turn bedtime into an adventure.
What Makes It Special
The Hengqin Bay Water World is free for guests: an indoor heated slide, an outdoor adventure aqua zone, a hundred-metre lazy river and a wave pool, all framed by the beach garden and a soft white “snow” sand. Eight restaurants range from the Dolphin Buffet, where a giant aquarium wall turns dinner into a dive, to the Haijingxuan Cantonese restaurant famous for Hengqin oysters. Step outside at dusk and the whole bay turns pink, the circus city glowing on the horizon.
Practicalities
Price. Around ¥1,200 to ¥2,500 per night for a standard room, with sea-view and suite categories from ¥2,800; holiday peaks climb higher.
Address. Fuxiang Bay, Hengqin New Area, Zhuhai, Guangdong (珠海市香洲区横琴新区富祥湾, at the junction of Huandao East Road and Chimelong Avenue).
Rooms. 1,888 ocean-themed rooms and suites, all with private balconies; Castle Garden, Flamingo Bay View, Castle Sea View and Lingding Yang Supreme Sea View Suite categories, plus family and villa options.
Getting there. Free hotel shuttle to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and Hengqin International Circus City; Hengqin Port is about a 5-minute drive (cross to Macau). Zhuhai Chimelong Railway Station is nearby, connecting to Zhuhai city and Jinwan Airport.
flowcloud would say that the best resorts are the ones where the sea keeps the children busy and the parents finally remember how to rest.
Where to stay: Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel (长隆横琴湾酒店 Chánglóng Héngqínwān Jiǔdiàn), Fuxiang Bay, Hengqin New Area, Zhuhai (珠海市香洲区横琴新区富祥湾); rooms from around ¥1,200 per night, the Castle Sea View room the one to book; ride the free shuttle from Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, reach Hengqin Port in 5 minutes for Macau, or arrive via Zhuhai Chimelong Railway Station.