King Court Hotel

Check-in was fine. The lobby staff spoke were courteous and spoke English OK. It was my first time in Guangzhou and mainland China. I was not yet used to the almost complete lack of English speakers, so I was relieved. Room was quite big (I had two double beds) and clean but stunk of old smoke. Don't know if there were non-smoking rooms since I was too tired to ask. No English channels on the TV. Very stiff mattress. Wired internet which appeared to be free. I guess I will find out when the credit card bill arrives. At 5am I was woken up by a high-pitch wail, and in my half-asleep fog it took me a good 15 minutes to figure out it was the safe deposit box going haywire. Thank goodness I had not put anything in it (I couldn't get the lock to work!) since the only thing the hotel staff could do was to lug the still-screaming box out of my room. Complimentary breakfast was buffet-style with potatoes and fried eggs, stir-fried vegetables with sausage, and stir-fried noodles, the common ingredient being grease. There was also watery gruel and toast. Tepid cola and warm, watered-down soy milk were the only drink choices I saw. No coffee or tea. When I checked out, neither of the staff spoke English and I was not able to communicate through hand gestures that 1) I needed a printer and 2) I needed a taxi. I stayed here because of the low price, proximity to Guangzhou East station and because an acquaintance had stayed here before. However, no taxi knew where it was, even when I showed them a map and directions in Chinese. Next time I will spend the extra money to stay at a brand-name business hotel, and better prepare myself for the utterly unique experience that is mainland China.