Holiday Inn Express Chongqing Guanyinqiao

Really modern, clean, spacious and comfortable hotel. We are a family of 4 with two grown children. The hotel initially got our booking wrong (it could also be the fault of hotels.com) as they put us into a family room which is two rooms joined by a common internal door. The second room was fitted out with one single bed and a kids play area. Fortunately, the hotel sorted this out for us quite efficiently and gave us a twin room and a conjoined king bed room. All you need to be comfortable are included such as tooth brushes, slippers, bottled water, Tresemme shampoo, conditioner and body wash, tea and coffee and face masks. They even gave us a plate of fruit for each room on arrival! Breakfast is complimentary and that was not specifically advised on hotels.com!! The breakfast option is not bad considering it’s complimentary. The hotel is located a 5-10 mins walk from the Jiazhoulu metro station (exit 2). It is also quite a few stations away (20 mins) away from the main attractions which are all the peninsula from Liziba to Chaotianmen. There is a mini night street food market downstairs and plenty of delicious fruits are sold here (especially the strawberries, RMB16 will get you a small bag of the big strawberries, smaller ones are half the price). A high end mall at the Jiazhoulu station also has a large food hall at the basement. I would recommend this place if you aren’t too concerned the attractions are on the other side of the river. The staff are very helpful and friendly.

My friends and I enjoyed a budget-friendly stay at the Holiday Inn Express Chongqing Jinxiucheng during our 3-night Labor Day escape. While its location isn't directly on top of a metro station, a 15-minute walk to Jiazhou Road (Line 3) or a quick 5-minute, 10RMB taxi ride makes it easily accessible. The friendly and helpful front desk staff made the arrival process smooth, and the included breakfast (served between 6:30-10:30am) was a pleasant surprise. With a spread of breads, fruits, Chinese porridge, steamed buns, salads, and hot dishes, it surpassed my expectations for a Holiday Inn Express breakfast. The only hiccup came with the building's air conditioning system. Unfortunately, my room's AC malfunctioned for the first two nights, requiring maintenance intervention. Thankfully, the staff handled the issue promptly.

It was a terrible experience. - There were renovation/construction hammering noises which started early every morning at 7.30am when we were there. When I made a complaint to the front desk, they mentioned that the construction work should start at 9am instead- which I still find to be completely inappropriate for a hotel. No information was provided by the hotel nor booking.com (the booking platform) of the fact that there was going to be renovation works. If it was an honest mistake of miscommunication with the contractors, that is forgivable but given that it occurred every morning, I believe that staff of the hotel did not truly care about the comfort of guests. - There is a clear misrepresentation by the hotel during our stay there. The pictures showed that clearly there was a gym and swimming pool. However during our stay, the gym and pool was not "officially opened" and hence we were unable to use it. We felt quite cheated and when we conveyed our thoughts to the front desk, they did not even attempt to do provide an explanation nor suggest a compensation. - The hotel reeked of cigarette smoke everywhere. Despite common areas and some rooms being designated as non-smoking, some guests were seen smoking even at the reception area and lifts. There was absolutely no effort made at all by hotel staff to tell guests to abide by the rules. - While I understand that we are in China, we opted to stay at an international-branded hotel, thinking that staff would be able to speak some simple English. None of them that we met (even all of front desk staff) spoke a single word of English. Hence, I would advice those who do not speak Mandarin to avoid this hotel. If this is the standard to expect of the IHG brand of hotels, I will definitely avoid in the future, even in other parts of the world.