During the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period, hotel and homestay bookings across Chongming District have continued to climb, with rooms during certain peak dates becoming increasingly scarce. Various operators are busy with preparations, creating differentiated experiences centered on autumn's local characteristics to fully welcome the upcoming surge in visitors.
At the Jinmao Retreat Hotel, located in the core ecological area of Dongtan, staff are busy arranging and preparing guest rooms as preparations advance at full speed. A manager at the hotel revealed that as of now, bookings for the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the following day have essentially reached full occupancy, while National Day holiday reservations continue to rise steadily, with the overall booking situation remaining optimistic. The hotel's garden-style architecture is tucked away amid lush greenery, and its diverse room types鈥攊ncluding parent-child slide rooms, pet-friendly rooms with courtyards, and camping-themed suites鈥攃over the needs of entire families traveling together. During the dual holiday period, a fun children's playground, a singing bowl healing space, and a light luxury tent camping site will open simultaneously, precisely catering to different travel scenarios such as family trips, pet-friendly stays, leisure, and wellness.
"The hotel focuses on a service model of light scenes, heavy experience, and rich content. During the dual holiday period, we will arrange bonfire performances in the evening, along with garden BBQ projects, all aimed at ensuring every guest enjoys a satisfying vacation experience," the hotel manager introduced.
The Huabo Yingbin Hotel, a Baroque-style manor hotel located in central Chongming, currently has an overall booking rate exceeding 60% for the holiday period, with room booking rates on peak travel dates such as October 2 and October 3 surpassing 80%. According to the hotel manager, during this year's dual holiday period, in addition to impressive room bookings, wedding banquet reservations are also considerable, as many families choose to hold ceremonies during this long holiday, leveraging the manor's unique architectural landscape to create exclusive celebrations. "Currently, all reception preparations at the hotel have been completed. Service staff allocation and dining menu adjustments are all finished. We will smoothly handle the concentrated holiday traffic while ensuring a quality stay experience."
Beyond branded hotels, booking rates at Chongming's boutique homestays have also surged recently, with whole-property buyout products becoming a popular top choice for group trips with friends and family and large family reunions. Many distinctive homestays have launched exclusive dual-holiday experiences based on their own positioning. Houyuan, a five-star homestay in Chenjia Town converted from an old residence, not only offers diverse spaces such as a tea study and self-service kitchen but also provides specialty experience services including wellness cuisine, aromatherapy, and calligraphy and painting instruction, precisely catering to different vacation needs such as family reunions and leisure wellness. Currently, the homestay's Mid-Autumn holiday rooms are fully booked, and overall National Day holiday bookings have exceeded half. Among these, a wellness care service designed specifically for middle-aged and elderly guests is particularly popular among seniors.
"This service offers customized seasonal wellness meals for elderly guests, arranges gentle activities such as light calligraphy and painting and aromatherapy, and provides a dedicated butler for full-time care. Additionally, since it is only a one-hour drive from downtown Shanghai, children can drive to the island at any time to visit and accompany their parents, balancing the elders' rest needs and family companionship without long-distance travel," said Zhang Jinsong, manager of Houyuan.
Songman Homestay in Jianshe Town currently has a room booking rate of 80% to 90% for the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic market response. To match the homestay's positioning as a relaxed vacation destination, during this year's dual holiday period, the homestay has specially designed a series of low-paced limited experiences: handmade mooncake making on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and daily handicraft activities during the holiday such as plant dyeing and kiln-fired pizza making. No tight schedules are arranged throughout, allowing guests to completely escape the fast pace of the city and enjoy stress-free slow vacation time in a rural environment.
Currently, many local homestays in Chongming are no longer limited to basic accommodation services. They are creating local experiences centered on autumn characteristics such as fruit picking, moon viewing, and bird watching, allowing visitors to deeply feel Chongming's autumn charm. Relevant operators have also stated that they will further optimize service details to ensure visitors enjoy a comfortable and rich dual-holiday travel experience in Chongming.