Xining Hotels with Swimming Pools

We are travelling through Gansu & Sichuan and I booked the Mercure as a couple of nights for my husbands birthday. The first room we got was OK, a little shabby and not the cleanest but a nice bed and sofa and the aircon seemed good. My husband took a shower for all of 30 seconds and the bathroom, corridor and toilet completely flooded. So we moved rooms. The next room didn't flood but the aircon was pretty feeble and the toilet cubicle smelled. We didn't complain, having already moved once. This room was an over all improvement. The breakfast was pretty miserable, no coffee and mostly Chinese dishes. I had expected more from a western brand but nevermind, we ordered coffee and food to the room. Plus points - The staff are very nice and friendly, they accommodated us on the new room and gave us some treats as an apology. The bus to Kumbum Monastery is directly across from the hotel and you can arrive there in 45 mins, public bus number 909, 4¥. Starts at 6:30am. The breakfast is OK. There is a free laundry room, we did lots of laundry and it dried over night. We stayed in a non smoking room and it really was non smoking which is rare for China. It smelt fresh and the bedding and towels did not smell of smoke. There were however people smoking everywhere else in the hotel which seems quite common expecially in this province. Overall, I would stay here again but I think the price is a little high for the offering in comparison to some Chinese brands in the city.

Many hotels have teamed up with Ctrip to deceive customers. I have encountered this many times. There are probably several tricks. First, Ctrip shows that the hotel has facilities and services but cannot provide them. For example, Sanwang does not have WiFi and laundry; second, Ctrip does not show many results when I search for hotels; third, hotel prices change every minute. , jointly raise prices, and fourthly, the service staff did not tell the truth and told lies with their eyes open.