Xiongchu International

“A decent Chinese higher end hotel”

I have stayed in this hotel around seven times in as many years on trips to Wuhan. The location is suitable due to access to the Universities and the frequency of taxis when required. I have always found the staff helpful, albeit English can be an issue (however some staff speak excellent English).… more

I have stayed in this hotel around seven times in as many years on trips to Wuhan. The location is suitable due to access to the Universities and the frequency of taxis when required. I have always found the staff helpful, albeit English can be an issue (however some staff speak excellent English). The hotel is a "business hotel" and offers services on its four and fifth floor to guests and members of the community who can afford it. Mercifully those with such tastes access a lift away from Reception and off the main concourse of the hotel and the main bedrooms are on higher floors of the hotel. The dining area on the ground floor is spacious and there is free Budweiser (Anhauser Busch have a brewery in Wuhan) on draft if you want a quiet, free, beer or two. I enjoy the buffet which caters for all tastes. If you want an omelette or something Western the chef will cook it in front of you, otherwise some of the Chinese food (which is chilli rich in this part of China) can be more challenging for the less experienced Chinese traveller. I have always found the rooms comfortable and well equipped although some are starting to show signs of wear and tear. The front of the hotel looks over an undeveloped area part of which has been given over to allotment type growing (very common in Wuhan and throughout China), although crossing a six lane carriage way is at best daunting. Wuhan is a bustling, busy, sadly rather polluted city but I always enjoy my visits and people are friendly and hospitable. The Provincial Museum is fascinating as is the Yellow Crane Tower. The entrepreneurial garage culture with everything from flowers to car valeting is a a vision of the modern China - I'm looking forward to my next visit and stay at this hotel.

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“Good standard hotel for the western guest to China”

I stayed here for 4 nights on business. It is about an hour by taxi from the airport, but close to our business partners, which is why we use it. This was my second stay here. The rooms are a reasonable size, and are clean and quite well equipped, and the beds are nice and soft by Chinese standard… more

I stayed here for 4 nights on business. It is about an hour by taxi from the airport, but close to our business partners, which is why we use it. This was my second stay here. The rooms are a reasonable size, and are clean and quite well equipped, and the beds are nice and soft by Chinese standards. The bathroom is excellent, with a good shower. Food: Breakfast is ok, with something for western tastes (cereals, toast, fruit, coffee), as well as a good variety of local options. For lunch and dinner there is a buffet (we never ate from this) and a reasonable choice from the menu (I didn't try the frog hotpot, sticking to the tamer pizza). Be aware that quite a lot of food in this part of China is very spicy (chilli). I would stay here again, this is a good reliable hotel.

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“Good 5 Star Hotel”

Nice Hotel with all amneties, centrally located, couteruous staff. Nice and spacious rooms with high speed internet facility. The front is not very attractive as it is in the middle of busy market but is also close to the industrial area in Wuhan.

“A good hotel by Chinese standards”

It is rated five-star, but you must be aware that five-star hotels in China don't really have the same meaning and standards as in the west. After staying there for 2 nights during a hectic business trip, my view of the hotel is quite mixed. I was given a standard non-smoking room with a king-siz… more

It is rated five-star, but you must be aware that five-star hotels in China don't really have the same meaning and standards as in the west. After staying there for 2 nights during a hectic business trip, my view of the hotel is quite mixed. I was given a standard non-smoking room with a king-size bed. It has a desk, an office chair and a reclining chair. 1) The lobby is nice and spacious, and have the air of a five-star hotel. 2) The room is a bit small, but with sufficient space to walk around. 3) The closet is small: If you are traveling with a companion and for a longer period of time, you'll find the closet quite inadequate. 4) The desk is also quite small: large enough for a laptop computer, but not large enough if you want to put a computer and a dinner tray on the same desk. 5) The bath room is very small for a 5-star hotel. It does not have a tub, only shower. The real problem is the sink. The sink itself is okay, but there is virtually no counter space whatsoever. I don't know where they expect the guests to put their toiletries. 6) Cleanliness: In most places I travel, I take hotel cleanliness for granted, particularly 4- or 5-star hotels. But in China, this is still a concern. Well, the streets are all very dirty and dusty, so you should not expect the hotel rooms to be kept very clean. In particular, the carpet is not very clean, even though I am sure the staff did their best to keep it clean. They do provide slippers, though, which is nice. The windows are very dirty -- but it is like this everywhere in China. With the heavy air pollution and construction going on everywhere, unless you clean your windows everyday, they soon get to be very dirty. 7) The towels are okay, but have seen a bit more use than what would be expected of a 5-star hotel. 8) Both wired and wireless Internet access are offered in the hotel room. 9) I communicated with the staff in Chinese, so I can't comment on their English abilities. However, I suspect it is not very good, like in most places in China. (Big hotels in Shanghai and Beijing may be okay, but elsewhere English is still a problem.) 10) Breakfast is my biggest disappointment. My room includes the buffet breakfast, so I used it. But, don't expect to get the usual scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausages, etc. Most dishes on offer there are Chinese, but they are pretty bad even for a Chinese. (They did have bacon and sausages, but they don't taste right. I guess they don't have the right kind of sausage, and/or they don't know how to prepare them.) 11) I was chauffeured around, so I can't comment on the convenience of the location. But from my hotel window, I only see a small street and a vast, mostly empty "dump", probably a future site for some skyscrapers. (My hotel window might not be facing the "right" side, though.)

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