Junyi Dynasty Hotel

I stayed here for 3 weeks because of duties at Wuhan University, which is close by and therefore the location was convenient for me. Overall the hotel is a bit basic. There is no hotel bar, the lounge is large but very empty, far too less chairs there if you have to wait until somebody picks you up. The personnel are friendly but their English is basic. My room was rather small, airconditioning did not work very well and as electricity is key card operated AC is out when you are away, returning in the evening in an oven. There was a good desk to work in the room and WiFi worked well. For breakfast there was a wide choice of food and the quality was good. I had 3 weeks, so I tried everything. The hotel is at a lively street with lots of restaurants and a big shopping mall nearby. I felt always safe in the evening.

And in between of the malls! You may find the shops along the hotel. The hotel room is okay because it is an old hotel. For the level 5- restaurant, it has the smell and make all your clothes smelly too. Staffs can't speak English. So prepare yourself with right translator apps! Wifi very slow.

This is decent hotel in the center of the city, next to several universities and several mega shopping malls. The hotel lobby is not that grand and while there is a concierge/valet area, the relevant personnel does not appear to be round. There is always someone at the front desk though, even overnight (the door is not locked). Check-in was fast if you have a Chinese-speaking friend with you, as I did. Spacious room; clean carpet; a single-seat easy reading chair with foot rest; large desk; large closet, 2 pairs of felt disposable slippers. AC works well, which is great in the oven that is Wuhan, especially over the summer months. TV is a no-nonsense Hisense. The king bed is nice and comfortable with firm-enough pillow. A problem is the ill-designed light set up: there is very few well-placed lights in the room; the so-called night light on the window is way too bright; there is no reading light in bed and the two bed-stand lamp are too dim; even the reading lamp next to the easy chair is dim. The power in the room, as in many Asian hotel, require a key card to activate. As they only give single guest one key so everything shut off if you cannot leave the power on and step out. The room will get hot during the day for this reason. The room has basic bar alcove with glasses, cups, spoon, saucers, tea, 2-in-1 coffee mix, water boiler, 2 free water bottles. My executive floor room (#1203) apparently has free drinks (2 beers, 2 apple juice boxes, 2 Pepsi, and 2 plum drinks) for guests but the sign states that one has to leave the empty cans/boxes in the room or will be charged. As I try to avoid carbohydrates in my diets, I did not try and cannot tell you if this is true. If it is then it is a very nice feature that would raise my rating. Wuhan is an oven by day so having a cold drink can be quite refreshing. I usually put water in the fridge but this one is of the dinky low-power, badly-insulated types so the drinks never really got very cold. Bathroom is nice and spacious with shower in the tub. Nice, 3-panel counter-style sink with raised sink-panel area to make it easy to access for tall people but with the edge of the sink flushes in with the counter surface. Average tray of personal hygiene items, an old scale. However the key feature is a nice toilet with a heated “bidet-style” seat with nice rinsing streams for your front and back lower portions. This also has a nice butt-warmer feature, which is probably not necessary in an AC-equipped hotel but it makes one feel luxurious nevertheless. Breakfast on the 5th floor is one of the best that I have seen in China with a broad range of Asian and Western style food. Very good beef noodle; excellent freshly made juices with fiber from the fruit, none of the concentrated canned stuffs (the mango juice is excellent); nice selections of coffee that compares to the best in the US; nice selections of bread, cheese, and fruit as well. The marinated cabbage, broccoli, and string beans are also excellent. A minor problem with this hotel is that there is no guide book or information booklet to explain to the guests what is available around the area. Hotel’s wifi signal is strong and Wuhan is a very civilized city with its own iWuhan free wifi. So one can use Apple map to look everything up as one goes outside. The malls are typical Chinese style: tall buildings with many levels, parking below street, and many shops under the same AC confinement. Interestingly, the food courts are set up both in the basement and near the top floor, presumably for the convenience of the shoppers who do not have to climb more than a few flights of escalators to get to food. Other than the vertical design and the language, one can’t really see much difference from what malls are in the US. The street life around the hotel is amazing at night with the locals pouring into the street to hangout, eat, or just to shop. It makes one feel alive. There are so many small food vendors and food courts around the area that one have to be really picky to not find a delicious, inexpensive meal. Street vending seems to be part of the life hear as one can find little pavement-based shops selling small electronic stuffs such as cable, adapter, and power packs/chargers. It is interesting that power packs are so prevalent in modern Chinese society and many of the natives seems to carry with them a power pack. The battery technology appears to not made to last as acquaintances told me that they have to change cell phones every two years due to bad battery life.