I am very disappointed by the stay my wife and I just had there. I read most of the previous reviews before we booked, but didn't take into consideration that most were from Chinese people. This is NOT a good hotel for foreigners! We travel abroad frequently and admittedly try to find bargains in regards to hotels, but this wasn't even close to minimal standards. It is an older building and dilapidated.
Yes the beds were firm, but there was nothing nice about them. Very uncomfortable! We did not sleep at all, but that was also due to all the people coming in at 3am and making very loud noises (and banging something???). The front desk staff do not speak any English, which is not a big deal, but they made no effort to communicate at all, and in fact came across as though they didn't care less. We're very easy going and usually go with the flow, but they were basically rude.
Yes, there is cable, but it barely worked, freezing up all the time, and no, there aren't any English speaking channels (2) you'd ever really want to watch. The internet is hard-wired as advertised, but it is on the far wall by the TV, so you better bring a long cable (like we did) if you want to sit in bed and work like we do.
While there are a few shops and restaurants, this is not an attractive neighborhood that you want to hang around in. There are indeed taxis out front almost all the time. I asked about borrowing an iron or hair dryer, but no go. Our toilet backed up, but maintenance was there in just a few minutes.
If we ever visit Chengdu again, we will definitely pay a little morte money to stay at a better hotel. We would not stay there agin, and recommend not doing so.