Mingjiang International Hotel - Ankang

Most hotels in this area are very quaint and small. The beds were ok, not too comfortable. We paid little for this hotel. It's in a area that's a bit far off so we hired a taxi/ driver to get around. The restaurant was good and a short walk from the hotel. Even though we went in September, it was very cold. We should have bought more warmer clothes. Everywhere there were shops to buy coats.

Splendiferous foyer, and large room with all the usual amenities, but the carpet [only the carpet] was dirty and the shower prone to flooding. Chinese buffet breakfast, with tea. From the 15th floor, wide views over the river and the main part of town on the opposite bank. People doing their early morning exercises on the riverbank can be both seen and heard. Cross the nearby bridge for a pleasant wooded walk along the opposite riverbank, past the flood memorial and people doing their laundry.

This is definetely not an international hotel, despite their name. But it is definitely one of the dirtiest hotels out there. No, i am not talking about the kind of dirt that we all know is there underneath the appearance of cleanliness; This was very noticeable: from the heavily stained carpets to the stained furniture to the off-white towels. The pillow cases had some embroidery which were very rough and washed with who knows what and managed to iritate my skin on my arms to the point that I had to use cortisone cream to get rid of it. 1. The Hotel doesn't take foreign credit cards or foreign currencies, so make sure you bring cash. 2. Hotel personnel does not speak English almost at all, so communication of any kind is rather difficult unless you speak some Chinese which my husband luckily did. 3. Friendliness-wise the personnel is a mixed bag: some of the people were really nice and tried their best in spite of the language barrier, some couldnt care less. 4. Hotel elevators the worse I have ever seen: Extremely slow at almost every hour of the day. Also, once the door opened one would have to basically jump into the elevator as the doors would close with no warning, before one could even make a step to get into the elevator. 5. We had a suite and interestingly enough there was toilet paper and soap in just one of the bathrooms. 6. There was a shower and a bathtub, but the hot water pressure in the bathtub was less than desirable and you'd have to let the water run for several good minutes before actually getting hot water (same for the shower). Also, the drain stopper did not work which made filling up the bathtub impossible. 7. Breakfast buffet was pretty average, including the chinese food. one of the restaurants had pretty good food though, but considering we got there in wedding season, we couldn't take full advantage of it since it was booked for the weddings. 8. TV programs difficult to navigate as both the remote and the menu are in Chinese.....we ended up watching Tammy after 1/2 hour of going through the menu almost blindly......do not watch the movie :-) Location wise, it was located pretty decent. I hope I am not forgetting anything.....