Chengdu Qingcheng Youth Hostel Apartment (Chunxi Road IFS Branch)

Stayed 4 nights in 2 person dorm Expectation/Reality: you have to manage your expectations when you pay about 40RMB a night for a place. Compared to the photos, they are generally consistent, other than the bathrooms. The air conditioner worked for the first 2 nights and broke the last two nights. Security: very secure, it’s on the 4th floor with 24/7 person at the desk, the room has a lock and there are good quality lockers in the bunks. Hygiene: this is where the cracks are. Hygiene is very low in the public places. The bathrooms are like a frat house and the garbage around the shared spaces might get cleaned once a day. In the morning there was a dirty cup on the dining room table and when I got back in the evening it was still there. The toilets get clogged and over flow with no one fixing it for a long time, the showers need to be bleached. The private bunk area I was in was perfectly fine and clean. Hospitality: the folks at the desk are very young, maybe early 20’s. I asked for a bowl to eat my cereal in the morning and the kid offered me a used plastic bowl and said I had to clean it myself, so I took a glass cup. When I asked to extend my stay, the kid was playing video games while talking to me and told me to do it myself online. There was one guy who was helpful, but it generally seems like the attendants are just too young to be very professional. Social Atmosphere: quite good, there’s usually plenty of folks lounging around and there is a lot of public places, so lots of opportunity to meet and chat with people. Overall: if you’re on a budget and can tolerate camping level hygiene in the showers and toilets, then this place is adequate. It’s very close to the main subway lines and there’s lots of activities and food options very close by. The public areas are social and it has everything a traveler really needs, certainly no frills. If the bathrooms were cleaned more frequently and the public areas cleaned more frequently this place would be excellent.

Stayed 4 nights in 2 person dorm Expectation/Reality: you have to manage your expectations when you pay about 40RMB a night for a place. Compared to the photos, they are generally consistent, other than the bathrooms. The air conditioner worked for the first 2 nights and broke the last 2 nights. Security: very secure, it’s on the 4th floor with 24/7 person at the desk, the room has a lock and there are good quality lockers in the bunks. Hygiene: this is where the cracks are. Hygiene is very low in the public places. The bathrooms are like a frat house and the garbage around the shared spaces might get cleaned once a day. In the morning there was a dirty cup on the dining room table and when I got back in the evening it was still there. The toilets get clogged and over flow with no one fixing it for a long time, the showers need to be bleached. The private bunk area I was in was perfectly fine and clean. Hospitality: the folks at the desk are very young, maybe early 20’s. I asked for a bowl to eat my cereal in the morning and the kid offered me a used plastic bowl and said I had to clean it myself, so I took a glass cup. When I asked to extend my stay, the kid was playing video games while talking to me and told me to do it myself online. There was one guy who was helpful, but it generally seems like the attendants are just too young to be very professional. Social Atmosphere: quite good, there’s usually plenty of folks lounging around and there is a lot of public places, so lots of opportunity to meet and chat with people. Overall: if you’re on a budget and can tolerate camping level hygiene in the showers and toilets, then this place is adequate. It’s very close to the main subway lines and there’s lots of activities and food options very close by. The public areas are social and it has everything a traveler really needs, certainly no frills. If the bathrooms were cleaned more frequently and the public areas cleaned more frequently this place would be excellent.