Before getting started: unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken with a “Fruit” 8 Plus... If you are not interested in the trip tips or hotel review (photo-heavy warning), you can scroll straight to the end to see the multi-promo trigger results. This hotel was the positioning stay before my Lijiang trip, and it was also KUKU’s first-ever hotel review after all these years of blogging.

Why I booked it

For my Lijiang trip, my flight was scheduled for 8 a.m. To avoid the uncertainty of rushing to the airport first thing in the morning, I booked DoubleTree Xiamen-wuyuan Bay, about 10–20 minutes by car from Xiamen Gaoqi Airport. An award night was only 20,000 Hilton Honors Points. The location map is below; it really is a good option if you need to catch a flight the next day:

If you want to keep it low-key, there are two other good options. The first is the Holiday Inn Express Xiamen Airport Zone under IHG. It is newly opened, looks pretty cool from the outside, and all rooms have sea views. There is also a shuttle bus to the airport for 3 RMB per person. Award nights are only 10,000 points; for details, see my post “IHG 10,000-point hotels outside the United States.”

The second is the Hyatt Regency Xiamen Wuyuanwan, which can be booked for 5,000 points. For details, see my post “Where to find Hyatt 5,000-point hotels.” If you are not a Globalist, a Club room with Lounge access is only 7,000 Hyatt points. That said, Hyatt’s lounge does not have a game room, does not have massage chairs (more on that below), and Hyatt award stays do not come with the fifth night free. So if you want a simple longer stay, I would recommend this DT instead (Hilton Diamond treatment here is quite generous). (Note: breakfast at the Hyatt Wuyuanwan is not served in the lounge; it is served in the main restaurant on the first floor.)

This stay was mainly to verify several promotions I had mentioned earlier in my posts on Hilton 5,000-point hotels and Hilton 10,000-point hotels, and to test a multi-dip. This DoubleTree was the first stay in that experiment. As for the Holiday Inn Express near the airport, we can save that for another time.

After booking, I did not pay much attention to it. Over the following days, I kept receiving hotel upgrade offers (probably automated), roughly like this:

Anyone who knows me knows I like to keep things simple, so of course I ignored all those paid upgrade offers (mostly because I am broke...). The day before check-in, I got a call from the hotel: 0592-5799332. The agent had a very sweet voice and said she was calling from DoubleTree by Hilton Xiamen—at which point KUKU instantly remembered that there had been quite a few DPs saying this hotel liked to verify whether Diamond status was legitimate. I thought to myself: I have not stayed at Hiltons that often in the past year, is she trying to use that sweet voice to figure out whether my Diamond is fake? Ours is the real thing from the AMEX Aspire! If you do not have it, here is the quick application link: AMEX Aspire credit card application. Maybe a bit “watered down,” but still a genuine Diamond. It turned out I was overthinking it. She quickly explained that since I was a Diamond member, she wanted to confirm my arrival time and let me know they were preparing to upgrade me to a high-floor sea-view room. In all my years, this was the first time a hotel upgraded me because of elite status. I was almost moved to tears. Once I confirmed it was free, I accepted immediately. Based on her description, it sounded like the 630 CNY category room, which was honestly pretty exciting. So I started trying to convince LD to head over early the next day and check in ahead of time.

Hotel overview

  • DoubleTree by Hilton Xiamen Wuyuan Bay is located in Wuyuan Bay Operation Center, an emerging business district in Xiamen. The hotel has 270 warm and comfortable guestrooms and suites, 70% of which offer sea views overlooking the magnificent Xiamen-Jinmen Bay, along with city garden views, making it a smart choice for both business and leisure travelers.
  • The hotel enjoys a prime location next to the Wutong Passenger Terminal. It is about a 10-minute drive from Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport and the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center, and about 25 minutes by car from attractions such as the Island Ring Road boardwalk, Xiamen University, and Gulangyu Island.
  • There are 3 distinctive restaurants and bars: Circle All Day Dining, YUAN Chinese Restaurant, and the lobby lounge. From international buffets, Cantonese cuisine, and local specialties to signature cocktails and coffee, there is plenty to enjoy.

—Quoted from the official website
KUKU’s quick take:

  • Within Xiamen Island, this is the cheapest Hilton besides Hampton Inn (starting at 20,000 points). It is also the closest to the airport. Even “entry-level” Diamond members get lounge access, plus there is a game room. The staff in both the lounge and game room were very attractive and very enthusiastic. Suite upgrades are also fairly easy, and there are sea-view rooms too.
  • Wuyuan Bay is right next door, so you can often see sailboats, and you can also go sailing yourself. There is some chance of spotting the local Chinese white dolphin. You can buy sailing tickets online (Taobao, Mafengwo, etc.), or you can try buying from resellers on site (supposedly sometimes cheaper, since you can bargain). Of course, the hotel concierge can also help.
  • As an Amoy native, I personally feel that staying here is not ideal if your main goal is sightseeing around Xiamen Island. The hotel is quite far from the major attractions (Gulangyu, Xiamen University, Island Ring Road, Wanshi Botanical Garden, Zhongshan Road), but it works very well as a transition stay before leaving the island. That said, the island itself is not very large, and taxi rides are usually around 30 minutes, so the impact is not huge overall.

The hotel shares its building with the Hengan International Center of the Hengan Group. The top floor is the 22nd floor. On the right is the Xiamen Wuyuan Bay DT.

  • Address: No. 105 Mupu Road, Wuyuan Bay, Huli District, Xiamen, Fujian Province
  • Hotel rating:
  • Opened: August 2015
  • Trip advisor rating: 4.5/5

Check-in

Since the junior suite upgrade had already been confirmed in advance, I arrived as planned before dinner to check in. The front desk agent was decent enough, and there is a K.O.I right outside the hotel entrance.

I do not like KOI, so I skipped the inside.

Other than the front desk staff, there was not much remarkable about the lobby. The agent told me I had already been upgraded to a top-floor 22nd-floor executive corner junior suite. One side note: the newer POS machines now used by major hotels in mainland China can already accept foreign-issued credit cards via Contactless payment, including AE.

Room details

Welcome amenity

The welcome amenity was fairly simple

Inside the room

When I entered the room, there were curtains on both sides, which I really liked.

The curtains can be opened electronically. Here’s what it looks like when they’re open:

The bed was decent and fairly comfortable. The comforter didn’t have any odd smell, and LD especially liked it.

The side ocean views from the top floor were indeed pretty good. There were sailboats as usual, though scenery like this really deserves a good camera:

Side view:

Small sofa

The coffee/tea setup: to borrow a line from one of our writers, any hotel with coffee capsules is a good hotel. This DT has them too, so it passes. The cylinder on the far right contains a 3-in-1 charging cable.

The nightstand is very minimalist. The switch panels on the far left and far right control the four curtains.

The minibar is under the TV. For Diamond members, though, this minibar is basically just for show, since the lounge is right next door...

Bathroom Details

The bathtub. I don’t use it.

Sink

Toilet.

The toiletries are DT’s classic Crabtree & Evelyn line.

Gym and Pool

The workout area is divided into the Fitness Center, Free Weight area, YOGA room, and indoor Swimming Pool.

Fitness center, with plenty of equipment:

The free weight area is for strength training. When I went in, what looked like a trainer was coaching a female student one-on-one, so I only took a partial photo:

Yoga room, very clean, with lots of exercise balls:

The indoor pool is nice—swimming while looking out at Wuyuan Bay is a pleasant experience. Many hotels in the Asia-Pacific region rent out their pools for local swim lessons, and there were quite a few people here, so I took a photo from outside that kept people out of frame:

Restaurant and Executive Lounge

The hotel’s executive lounge is on the 22nd floor, which is very convenient for guests staying on that floor. The lounge is divided into two parts: the dining area and the activity room, each staffed by a very attractive young lady. Let’s start with the dining/lounge section. Lounge hours are 6:30 am-10:00 pm. There are also two special service periods:

  • Continental breakfast (with both Western and Chinese breakfast options): 6:30 am-10:00 am, weekends 6:30 am-10:00 am
  • Happy hour (hot dinner items + alcoholic beverages): 5:30 pm-7:30 pm

The lounge is quite spacious; I only photographed a small part of it

The food area is concentrated here, and the layout looks quite nice:

Happy Hour

Drinks area

There was also a good selection of beverages and tea.

Hot food area. I didn’t photograph the details, but the selection was complete. If I remember correctly, the lotus root pork rib dish was quite good.

Bread and dessert area, and it all tasted pretty good:

Cold dishes, fruits, and vegetables area:

Continental Breakfast

The selection was quite comprehensive, with various congees, fried rice, and fried noodles. I won’t show everything one by one here. The staff member on duty was extremely welcoming.

There was also a noodle station with a dedicated chef.

As for shared mobile power banks—one of mainland China’s most successful (and profitable) shared-economy models—of course they had those here too:

There were massage chairs as well. They were free to use, and the massage strength was quite good. If you get tired from being out in Xiamen or just from hanging around in your room, you can come here for a massage:

Activity Room

Next to the lounge is the activity room, which should also count as part of the executive lounge. It’s a bit smaller than the lounge itself and has a small Chinese-style eight-ball pool table, a golf simulator, and one staff member. The first time I went in, I thought she was a guest...

She is the on-site representative for the golf simulator and can teach you how to play golf one-on-one. I asked her to give me a demo, and the simulator was actually pretty fun. She told me that their company currently has setups in three hotels in Xiamen: Xiamen Haicang Marriott, Le Méridien Xiamen, and Xiamen Wuyuan Bay DT. At the other two hotels, the gaming areas are on non-executive floors and tend to get more users. At DT, it’s placed on the executive floor, so relatively fewer people use it.

After trying a few swings, I chatted with her a bit more and learned that this is a paid activity. My last shot went way off line. Still, it was just a trial, so as long as you had fun, that’s what mattered.

Points Rebate

The day after I completed the stay, I received a Points Activity update. At first glance, it looked like just the 1,000 points from the Diamond member My Way benefit.

But looking more closely, I also got two separate 2,500-point credits, for a total of 5,000 points.

These two 2,500-point credits came from promotions I had registered for, which I previously introduced in Hilton 5,000-point award stays and Hilton 10,000-point award stays. Both promos can also be triggered by award redemptions. (Note: Hilton sometimes combines promotional points into the hotel stay posting, and sometimes posts them separately, like this time.) With My Way plus these two promotions, this 20,000-point stay got 6,000 points back in total, effectively making it a 14,000-point stay at the DoubleTree in Wuyuan Bay, Xiamen, which I think is a pretty good deal. If you still have not registered, you can try signing up through the links below:

The first offer may be called LC Multi-STAY BONUS OFFER Offer, and there are two versions:

The second offer is called Media Join Hilton Honors and Earn 7,500 Bonus Points:

Later, I redeemed 15,000 points for a stay at the Hampton Inn in Lijiang (this Hampton had just opened and was an excellent value), and in the end I got 5,000 + 5,000 = 10,000 points back. That is effectively 5,000 points for a stay at a Hilton property in a popular scenic destination. That post is still being written, so stay tuned!

Review of this stay

  • Elite benefits: 4.5
  • Executive lounge: 5.0
  • Facilities: 4.5
  • Guest room: 4.0
  • Overall rating: 4.5