Wanda Holiday Express

It was cheap for the price I paid during the Ice Festival. You need a taxi to get around as its quite some distance from the main attractions. Its freezing cold so be prepared. Taxis abound near teh hotel, as is food places

The other reviews are accurate. This is a fair budget hotel and good for travelers who are willing to stay a little further from the sights. Pros: reasonably clean room, fair price (198RMB/night through elong.net), decent and clean bathroom with good hot shower). Cons: indifferent desk staff, non-smoking room was really a smoking room, noise through door, four phone calls throughout the night for massage services, location is a bit far from the sights. The room itself was fine; flat screen TV (no international channels), large desk with counter the length of the room, small closet that can hold only three bulky winter coats, small table, arm chair, desk chair, footstool, firm king size bed, two nightstands. No refrigerator. The bathroom was clean with a nice hot shower and modern glass brick enclosure. Soap, shampoo and towels provided. The room had a lingering smell of smoke, even though we booked a non-smoking room, but this is common in China. We could easily hear noise through the door, but most guests were quiet. The heater worked very well and could not be adjusted. The room was so warm that we left the window open. We could hear plenty of traffic noise when the window was open, but it was reasonably quiet in the wee hours. The hotel is on a main road that meets the expressway to the airport, so getting taxis is not a problem. There is a Carrefour (for groceries) and KFC two blocks away, and several banks, including a CCB. The biggest problem was the phone calls. We received several calls through the night offering massages. We recommend unplugging the phone. The front desk staff were indifferent. They usually did not give full answers to questions, and when they did, the advice was sometimes conflicting. They gave us a free map of the city, but it was all in Chinese. Our impression is that English skills are weak, but they weren't that helpful in Mandarin either. We were asked to pay for the rooms in full at check-in, and to leave a 200RMB deposit, which was fully refunded when we checked-out. Taxi to/from airport was about 100RMB plus 20RMB toll and took about 45 minutes max. It is about a 30-45 minute walk to the sights near the river through a drab non-scenic area, but cabs are plentiful. Tell the taxi the hotel is near the Carrefour on Xingyang Road. We were able to take a taxi to the Siberian Tiger zoo and the cab waited to take us back without charging waiting time! Taxis are freely avaiable at the major sights, so getting around should not be a problem.

Considering the price of just CNY970 for 5 nights, a double room which i got through www.ctrip.com, you can't expect much from this hotel. It has basic cleanliness, utilities like telephone, television (all Chinese channels only), table lamp, writing table, relatively comfortable bed with white sheets and pillows; free internet connection in room (no computer, I use my own labtop and it works!), clean toilet with shower amenities, basic shampoo, shower gels, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste (I brought my own though), clean towels, etc. Truly, as mentioned by previous traveler, the wardrobe is so small that it is just enough for two winter jackets. No safe box. But the long table that extends from the desk all the way to near the wardrobe; and the narrow rows of shelves besides the wardrobe are good enough to put all other stuffs. There is a one one-seater sofa with a small round table besides. Heater is sufficient and the room remains warm throughout the cold winter nights that can go as cold as -30 degree Celsius. The only flaw is that every nights I get calls from unknown girls obviously looking for 'business' or 'company'. It shows that the hotel operators do not control incoming calls to hotel rooms, and they just pass the call upon request from outsiders. This is one area this hotel can improve. Another area is that there is no security for the lifts so anyone can go up without security check. Other than these two major turn off points, the basic facilities and service are quite acceptable. As for the noise level, I agree with the other traveler that the walls are not very sound proof and I could hear people talking loudly along the corridors and footsteps. However, I am not really disturbed by it as it happened only once throughout my stay. I also strongly advice when taking taxi, do tell the driver that this hotel is located near the hospital or further up after Carefore if coming from Zhongyang Street; Because there is another hotel with the same name 'Wanda' located at the other end of Xinyang Street, right outside Zhongyang Street.