Accomodation in China

Accommodation in China is generally convenient. For whatever you come to China, on vacation or in business, it is not difficult to find a hotel to stay.

Hotels range in terms of variety from star-rated hotels, inexpensive hostels, local guesthouses to roadside inns. Besides standard comfortable star-rated hotels, hostels or inns in typical Chinese or local features are not in shortage, either. For example, Bamboo Garden Hotel in Beijing is renovated and built based on houses in the Qing dynasty where in the past some nobles lived; Yuanwailou Hotel in Suzhou is in exquisite garden style while Gulou Folk Inn in Sanjiang which is near Guilin is Dong minority's wholy-timber-made Diaojiaolou which is supported by wooden stakes over ground, stands in rows at the foot of the hills.

Not all the hotels can accommodate foreign visitors, but star-rated hotels of three, four and five stars certainly do. Apart from the domestically-run hotels, chain hotels of international brand, especially in highly developed or tourist cities, are a lot. You may find Sheraton, Shangri-la, Hilton, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Four Season and so on.

Price, however, is not a good guide to quality. Eastern China , for instance, is far more expensive than western China. Large cities are more expensive than small cities. Tourist cities are more expensive than non-tourist cities. Despite the above, holidays are more expensive than normal days.

China National Tourism Administration issued a standard to rate hotels in China from one to five stars. The difference of the respective star hotels is:

One-Star hotels must have air-conditioning, coffee shop, dining room, and at least 20 guest rooms, cleaned daily. Of course, 75% must have private baths. They must have central heating, a lobby with information and reception desk, postal service, and 12-hour a day cold and hot running water.

Two-Star hotels must have at least 20 guest rooms, 95% with private baths, 50% with telephones, and 16 hours of cold and hot running water, Western and Chinese breakfast must be offered.

Three-Star hotels must have at least beautifully-decorated guest rooms with dressing table, desk, drawers and closet; carpet or wood floor; telephones in every room with international direct dial(IDD); mini-bar and refrigerator; color television sets, in-house movies, music; writing materials; sun-proof curtains; and bed turn-down service.

They must have single rooms and suites, western and Chinese dinning rooms(with English-speaking attendants, and the last order no earlier than 8:30pm), 16-hour coffee shop, banquet hall or function room, buffet breakfast and bar service(until midnight), and 18-hour room service.

They must also have elevator service, public telephone and washroom, equipment and service for disabled people, disco or karaoke, foreign exchange, safe deposit boxes, store, camera film developing, fax and telex service, luggage storage, 24-hour laundry and dry-cleaning, wake-up calls, shoe polishing, and taxis. They should be able to mend articles of everyday use for guests. They should accept major credit cards. They must have an emergency electricity supply for public areas, medical services, 16-hour a day doorman, and message service, guest reception, and managers on call. An assistant manager should be in the lobby 18 hours and railroad timetables available. China Daily and China Tourism News should be on sale(or free).

Four Star hotels should have luxurious and spacious sound-proof rooms, low-noise toilets, and hair dryers. They should have guests and service elevators, background music, health club, swimming pool, sauna, business center, greenhouse, 24-hour doorman, reservations accepted through fax/telex, 24-hour room service, and onward reservations in China for guests. A guest reception and assistant manager should be available in the lobby 24 hours a day. Laundry should be returned by next day.

The restaurants in four-star hotels should provide two kinds of Chinese food with the last order no earlier than 9pm. Bar service should be available to one am. There should be a 24-hur coffee shop and a breakfast and dinner buffet. A clinic should be on-site. A business center with photocopying, typing and translation services should be available, as should a ticketing agency with city tours and babysitting services.

Five-Star hotels are usually palatial with huge lobbies, their standards not quite matching the best of Paris or New Year, but very close. Service should be better than the four-star hotels described above. See Top hotels section below.

Top Hotels: There are many hotels of five-star international standard, just as good as hotels in Washington or Ottawa except for the standard of English. Some hotels have their own fleets of Mercedes limousines of Toyota vans that make regular runs to the airport or city center. At least two hotels have Rolls Royce. Many have executive floors with concierges, free continental breakfasts, and fast check-in. Many have magnificent ball rooms and lobbies and cater to foreign business people on expense accounts. They have the best western food and probably the best Chinese food in town, and the most luxurious breakfast buffets. Some leave chocolates on your pillow, or a rubber ducky on your bathtub, nice litter touches that bring a smile.

In China now it is not a difficult thing to reserve a hotel by phone, fax or on the Internet. Many travel agencies, tourism or transportation companies offer reservation service. Furthermore, there appear many on-line reservation centers who offer very fast and nice service. www.86hotels.com provides with more than 500 hotels that spread every corner of China. It is not a problem for 86hotels.com if you want to reserve a hotel that is not available on its web page. Of course, you can reserve hotels by calling directly to the hotel, but generally hotels under three star are poor in terms of receipt of the phone reservations.

Pay attention to at least two things when you stay in a hotel. Hotels in China are reasonably secure places, but please don't leave money or valuables lying about in your room. Take them with you or leave them in the security in the room or at the receptionist if it is available. Common check-in and check-out times are respectively after 2pm and before noon. Extra cost will be charged if you check in before 6am.