Jiuge Holiday Hotel

This large property very close to east gate and bridge is surprisingly comfortable and welcoming, despite a rather unimpressive and imposing communist style design. The hotel is more geared to Chinese than foreigners, but the staff do their very best with their poor English to make you feel welcome. The lobby is bright and the restaurant is very modern, but the rest of the hotel is a bit gloomy looking. However, the rooms are large, well air conditioned, very clean and well kept, if a little lacking in creature comforts. The bathrooms have a shower only, but the hot water is plentiful and the water pressure excellent. In the room, there's a flat screen TV with about 300 channels and every single of them is Chinese! There are lots of snacks and drinks in the room for purchase and no free water. There's a kettle and cups, but no tea or coffee. Or rather there is tea, but you have to buy it. Beds are a little on the hard side, but still comfortable enough. Free wi-fi with excellent signal is available everywhere. It's a 10CNY taxi ride from the main station and buses from outside the property run all over the inner walled city to the sites. I got a great deal and it was worth it. The only snag is the breakfast, which was included in the rate. It's geared solely for Chinese tastes. Boiled eggs and some very sweet cake was the only thing that appealed from the buffet. There was no tea or coffee at all, which I thought was very odd. I also decided to have lunch before I left but at 1:45PM, they refused service saying the chef left at Noon. The restaurant was packed with Chinese families eating, so this was clearly a misunderstanding of they simply didn't want to serve me. I've no idea which. Either way, it's a good, cost effective spot to stay in Jingzhou.