送交者: nlr 于 October 01, 2003 21:46:31:
回答: 回国碰壁三言两语--住旅馆 由 呆头呆脑 于 October 01, 2003 19:16:12:
Q：I'm going to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, and other cities for 19 days in late August/early September. This will be my first time. I have looked up hotel rates on the various sites but have wondered if I would be better off not pre-booking. Is there much risk if any of not being able to find hotels with available rooms without a reservation? Also, how much should 3-4 star hotels run in both Hong Kong and mainland China? I'm hesitant in pre-booking because my schedule will be flexible based on what I can get accomplished in each city.
A：In terms of the rates you will pay, it is far better not to book, and at the time you describe, when few Chinese travel, you'll have no problem simply getting a room on arrival. Most Chinese hotels will only offer you full price over the phone or Web, and will not anyway keep the room if they are busy and someone else with cash in hand shows up ahead of you. Booking faxes are often just filed and forgotten. For the mainland Web sites which claim to specialize in Chinese hotels and to offer what look like decent discounts are often only getting the rate you'll be able to get for yourself, but without their added service charge. Avoid these.
Hong Kong functions much as the West does in terms of its rates. Specific hotels at the nearest thing Hong Kong does to modest prices are often mentioned here, and a search for 'Hong Kong' should quickly bring them up. Mainland China generally has rack rates posted in lobbies and on Web sites which are very rarely paid. Most Chinese do as you should--just turn up and bargain. Discounts of 10% are almost automatic, of 30% utterly commonplace, 50% not unusual, and even more is possible, especially with three-star hotels and four-star hotels which are not Sino-foreign joint-venture operations, but purely Chinese-run.
The market is not at all price-efficient, so first asking rates do vary considerably even within a town. The longer-established the hotel the more likely a higher rate will be asked, but the more likely it is to be tired and worn and with lackluster staff. By all means make a choice from your guide book, but on your way to it keep your eyes peeled for new hotels. Since they spend almost nothing on advertising, new hotels are often almost deserted, spotless, eager for guests, and willing to discount deeply for facilities that will be both more expensive and more beaten up at long-established hotels.
Most of your mainland destinations are at the pricier end of the scale, but you should have no difficulty in finding Chinese three-star hotels for Y300 or less, and four-stars for Y450 or so. In much of China finding a decent (clean, functioning) room at these levels can be done for Y150-Y180.
In Ningbo consider the four-star Golden Port Hotel (Jingang Dajiudian) which is near the mid-town river confluence of San Jiang Kou. The hotel asks Y580 to Y960 for its standard rooms, but can usually be bargained down to about half price. The slightly battered three-star Ningbo Fandian has above average service for a Chinese hotel at this level (and even free in-room broadband), and is handy for the station. Single rooms are Y270, and doubles/twins Y375-Y660, but you can easily get 30% to 45% off these rates. If you stay in the San Jiang Kou area, try the Y-Town Club (Waitan Huiguan) for dinner--a conversion of a two-storey French colonial building into a very pleasant waterside restaurant. Ex-pat prices for ex-pat dishes, some Chinese, but affordable set meals. There's also a pricey Japanese restaurant in the same building.
In Guangzhou I recommend the uninspiringly named Customs Conference and Reception Centre (Haiguan Huiyi Jiedai Zhongxin) on the relatively peaceful Shamian Island. This won't get any stars, as it's a conversion of an old colonial building and doesn't have the necessary bowling alley or swimming pool to get four or five stars under the Chinese system. But it was only opened in 1999, and its rooms are bright, above average size, and generally pleasant, with proper shower cubicles as well as tubs in the bathrooms. Standard rooms are Y490 but expect to cut 20% to 50% from that, including Guangzhou's usual 10% service and 5% city tax.