Huachen Yueqi Inn

This hotel is more like a flat, it's in a block of flats meaning cars can't pick you up from the door, you have to walk outside of the community. The view is gorgeous and the hotel will pick you up from the railway station and guide you to your room. It's on the opposite side of the lake to the attractions, which we didn't mind as it was nice and quiet and gives you a different view of the lake. The room is decorated with a lot of tacky toys, literally Teddy bears on the bed like a child's room, if they were gone it would be nicer.

We arrived at the "hotel" during CNY 2023. The manager picked us up as a free service after we asked. The room is an apartment and the hot water was turned off. We requested to have the hot water turned back on but waited a while. The balcony is not big and you can hardly stand there to see the view. The view is on the other hand, is quite nice. The next day we requested the room to be cleaned while we were out. After sending him a message to confirm the room was cleaned during the day, he lied that it was. We came back late at night to find that it was not cleaned. We asked the manager why he lied and the manager said that it couldn't be because we were not there to open the door for the cleaning lady. We complained about it as there was hardly any toilet paper or towels. The hand soap is laundry detergent ! The next day we couldn't enter the room with our key card after we arrived, we asked to come look at it and the inn keeper arrived with extra key card to open it for us. I noticed that right away (remember! The owner said that they couldn't enter when we were not there that's why it wasn't cleaned) we got apologies and came back to find towels and chocolates in the room. The manager said that we could rent scooter bikes for 80yuan for a day but when we requested for the bike, they took us next door to very rude shop owners who said that it's 120yuan. They were offering the bikes to citizens for 80yuan and 120yuan for foreigners. We called the manager and got the bikes for the agreed price. The bikes were not road worthy and not in any condition to be rented out.

The host was nice, and the place has an incredible view of the lake. It was tricky to find the entrance, so it's best if you can speak Chinese and call the host to help you find the way in, otherwise you might spend quite a while looking for it. It would be nice to change the curtain in the shower, it is too short and doesn't stop the water. The view is definitely a highlight of the apartment (see photo).

I especially loved sitting on the balcony here. The place is more like a serviced apartment than a hotel, and that was perfect for what I needed.