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Behind its audacious (some might say tasteless) exterior are more than 900 large rooms with beautifully embroidered bedspreads and great views. Dripping with marble and gilt, this temple to excess contains several casinos and top-notch fine dining.

Located in the heart of Kowloon’s shopping Golden Mile, the Holiday Inn has a wide range of eating and drinking options, many at reasonable prices. Rooms are comfortable, but won’t win any prizes. Facilities include pool, gym and babysitting service.

Possibly outdone by the equally huge Garden Hotel, China Hotel is still up in the top three hotels in Guangzhou and hogs the prime spot next to the city’s Trade Fair ground. There’s a large, well-equipped gym, health centre, outdoor pool and a vast range of decent restaurants and cafés.

The 20-year-old Royal Garden is ageing beautifully, partly due to a recent facelift. Elegant rooms with cable TV sit round the bright atrium lobby. The rooftop gym, pool and tennis court impress, as does the world-class Italian restaurant.

The cavernous lobby gives some sense of the size of this imposing 1,000-plus room hotel, boasting its own up-market shopping mall and good eating and drinking options.

Room sizes are generous, most with views. Surf the net via your TV with wireless keyboard. Revamped deluxe rooms are very funky, especially the glass-walled bathrooms with glass sinks.

The smart, modern and friendly Excelsior offers pretty much every in-room and hotel facility imaginable, as you’d expect from the Mandarin Oriental’s sister.

Rooms are comfortable but hardly special. However, the hotel’s central waterfront position, and full range of facilities including gym, pool, spa and 24-hour movie channels, put it in the luxury category.

Close to the main shopping areas and railway station, the Shangri-la makes a great escape from Shenzhen’s seething retail madness. The rooftop pool (with gym, sauna and steam room nearby) makes a good place to relax.

The Hung Hom location is the main problem with this otherwise terrific hotel. Rooms have large beds and plush bathrooms, some with fine harbour views. There’s a splendid glass-sided rooftop pool.