Zhong Xia

“OK but do reailise that this is a very Chinese hotel!!!”

It is now called the Zhongxia Garden Hotel is is predominatly Chinese and it seemed the only Westerners that did visit wer the Russians. The staff did try their hardest but if you did not have any translater with you, it could be a bit of a struggle - i was travelling with a Chinese collegue so was… more

It is now called the Zhongxia Garden Hotel is is predominatly Chinese and it seemed the only Westerners that did visit wer the Russians. The staff did try their hardest but if you did not have any translater with you, it could be a bit of a struggle - i was travelling with a Chinese collegue so was OK!! We did have to change rooms a couple of times and they did vary in size and quality so if you are not happy with what you are shown first, do say!! Breakfast is usual Chinese style with a lot of choice but seating is on large tables to you may find yourself sharing with someone else!! The layout of the hotel is quite confusing as well with different buildings spread out but overall it was OK but we were here for business. We did walk to the beach and it took around 30 - 40 mins - quite long by Chinese standards!!!

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“You can do better; you can do worse...”

We stayed here for three days at the "good level", knowing only that it was a "4 star" hotel on China's 5 star system. Note that the hotel actually has some lower tier older buildings which are much cheaper (about half the cost; ours was approximately 600 yuan per night) but are not as good. The … more

We stayed here for three days at the "good level", knowing only that it was a "4 star" hotel on China's 5 star system. Note that the hotel actually has some lower tier older buildings which are much cheaper (about half the cost; ours was approximately 600 yuan per night) but are not as good. The biggest disappointment to us was that the hotel advertises itself as a "beach hotel" (Fu Jia Zhang) but in reality, it is two bus stops or a short taxi ride away from the beach! Considering there's no pool here, and the beach is a commute away, we were surprised at the price of the resort. There's really not much else besides the beach in this area. The resort does have a bowling alley (you must pay, note that, but it was about $2.00 US per game so not too bad). They also have some other facilities but again, NO POOL. As an aside, the beach is extremely crowded on weekends; if you go I suggest a weekday. Water was cold in the first week of August. The hotel was full on the weekend with weddings. Overall condition of hotel is OK- I'd say about 3.5 star quality. Internet was free, though staff is predominantly Chinese speaking. We had a native Chinese speaker; not sure how we'd have fared here with English only. Breakfast was included and was good- mostly Chinese style but with a good Western food sample (bread, muffins, OJ, apple juice) Room service was good and , unlike Western hotels, still cheap ("Chinese prices" as opposed to American Hotel prices.) Forget about trying to cash traveler's checks here- they first said they couldn't, then they could, then they said they'd take us to a bank to do it. All in all- if I had to attend a local wedding or was here on local business, I'd stay here and feel OK about it. As a tourist in Dalian, I'd either stay in the city center (It's a small city; you could take a taxi to the beach there too) or at a hotel that is really on the beach.

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