Beijing Airport Hilton

Our Air China XIY-PEK flight landed a bit early at Terminal Three, but it was a loong walk to an exit and a shuttle bus, and a loong wait until the bus was packed like a sardine tin, and a loong bus ride to the main exit, where we hustled downstairs and boarded the Hilton bus just in time for the five-minute ride to the rather magnificent hotel.

Still, it easily took us a half hour from the time we walked off the plane. Our luck held. We were escorted to the Executive Lounge to check in with time to have a glass of wine at the end of Happy Hour while enjoying the sensation of being upgraded to another magnificent high-ceilinged suite.

This business hotel seems largely deserted on the Chinese Labor Day weekend, which might have something to do with it. The breakfast buffet was right up there with any we've encountered in all our travels, and there were only two or three other occupied tables between 7:30 and 8:00 this morning.