China Romance
General Discussion and Useful Links => Newbies Corner => Topic started by: Freddie on July 15, 2009, 08:34:12 pm
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I was on a website a while ago for GreenTreeInn Hotels. When I entered the dates for my stay a message came up saying the maximum stay is 10 nights(I'd entered 12). Is there some sort of regulation on this in China? Perhaps the hotel chain has a policy. Another funny thing - I mentioned it to my woman and asked if she could contact them locally to inquire about it. She said she would. Two weeks later when I reminded her the reply was "don't worry about hotels. Go to website X for a list of good places to stay". Hmmm. Skullduggery or just a change of translators? At least one of those replies was not from her.
Freddie.
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No there is no minimum stay 100% certain on that.
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Most hotels do this. I go to school for 10 weeks at a time (apprenticeship) and the online booking only allows 10 days but I called the hotel and they booked me for the whole 10 weeks. You may not be able to book online for 12 nights so just phone them or book for 10 nights and ask to extend your stay once you check in.
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Now here's a question that I will need to ask Keren,
"She booked the hotel for us for 11 nights, now we are getting married, I will be moving into her house (hehe I'm assuming hehe)..That means we will not need to use the hotel for all those nights, will we get a refund?".
Sorry guy's my TSS kicking in...LOL (TSS, Tight Scotsman Syndrome):angel:
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Gents, thanks for your feedback. It seemed like a funny regulation. I'd considered the 'extension once I'm there' approach. If it was doable. Now I'm sure that's what I'll do. Thanks again.
Freddie.
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Already paid for it in advance mate........Don't know if got discount Keren never said...
Oh I got my invitation letter from her and spoke with her this morning, well yahoo'ed each other;-)) It 'felt' good...:icon_biggrin:
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May just use it for our honeymoon period, and we can go everywhere.....:blush:
Decided to do it early mate because I had the money at the time, then all I had to worry about was the spending lolly, remember at that time it was just going to be a visit...God the spending has shy rocketed...lol
I know Jessica will get you two a really nice place mate, you can have no worries on that score....
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Visiting China for the First Time??
One point, i think all of you that have never been to China before, should be very aware of. ''Do Not Under Any Circumstances'' drink the water straight from the tap. It has gone through only minimal treatment processing. That goes for hotels as well as Private dwellings.
Some hotels ( mainly the big named hotels) will have their own water treatment processing plant, and the water will generally be safe to drink, but ASK the receptionist First. Maybe only special outlets and water fountains will have safe water, these will be situated in the lobby and the corridors on each floor of the hotel. If not sure or can't get any straight answers, ...stick to the bottled water available everywhere....
Same warning goes for ICE, especially in bars and restaurants, ASK if the water used to make the ice has been first boiled (you can bet your shirt, it's not bottled water! ...hahaha!!). Nobody I'm sure wants a dose of the Shanghai trots during there trip, .....Right???
David.....
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David50 - excellent advice when and whereever people travel. I made it through 15 nights of a 16 night stay in Acapulco years ago. Thought I was golden. Wrong. Night 16 - sheer hell.
Freddie.
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I was on a website a while ago for GreenTreeInn Hotels. When I entered the dates for my stay a message came up saying the maximum stay is 10 nights(I'd entered 12). Is there some sort of regulation on this in China? Perhaps the hotel chain has a policy. Another funny thing - I mentioned it to my woman and asked if she could contact them locally to inquire about it. She said she would. Two weeks later when I reminded her the reply was "don't worry about hotels. Go to website X for a list of good places to stay". Hmmm. Skullduggery or just a change of translators? At least one of those replies was not from her.
Freddie.
The only thing I can think of is if you were not on the hotels site and on the site of one of the discounters they may have just not had that many days available since they but in blocks and not a nite at a time.
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Hi Jimmy. Thanks. No it ws the chain's website. Previous posts to this thread have confirmed other guys are familiar with this happening.
Bass fishing in California? The best? Don't let the good ole boys hear you say that.
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If you have to pay for a hotel up front they will re-credit your account back the remaining balance. This is what happened for me at least. Thats if you use a credit card. I stayed in a lot of hotels in China, also another hotel note is that if you have a double bed room for some reason you will have to pay a 100 RMB deposit generally for the extra bed for 2 people staying in the room. You will recieve it back in the morning.
Have your girl barter down your room for you ^_^ a couple of hotels required at minimum 3 day booking even though we were only staying one night, you will recieve your money back no worries. (I double checked my bank account often to make sure.)
As for water David5o is correct, but all of the hotels I stayed at had a tea pot where you could boil your own water. A lot of the hotels had a mini fridge so I would boil some, make tea and fill a couple of water bottles and put in the fridge.
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Jadams,
If your boiling water from an electric kettle, the kettle will only take a minute or two to bring it to the boil. Normal tap water will need to boil for a minimum of 3 minutes for it to be anywhere near safe. unfortunately, an electric kettle just can't do that, the thermostat incorporated in them, cuts the power after just a few seconds of boiling. Maybe the hotel you were staying at, supplied the coffee/tea making facility with safe or bottled water. As i said above, Always best to ''Ask'' and not ''Assume''. The last thing you need on your trip is a ''Gut Bug'' believe me, .......Or, just ask Freddie!! ...hahahaha!!
David.......
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Bali is the same, I made it through 3 trips there, on the 4th I copped Bali belly & had the trots for a week, it was that bad I had to have my arse operated on when I got back, I tells ya now, getting a needle in my freckle is the most painful experience I've ever had.
You'd think in a developing country like China they would have sorted the major cities water systems out by now. I guess the locals are immune like in Bali to some extent, we were safe with the ice provided it was broken & not cubed as they bought it in at most places every day in huge blocks, do they do the same there?
First thing I'll be doing is buying half a dozen bottles.
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Tiztom , I make it a rule that when we arrive at a location [ hotel ] I get my better half to go and buy a few 1.75 or larger bottles of her drinking water and we use that for drinks and teeth , the pure water is cheap and she knows what she is buying out of about 10 on the shelf she will only pick 1 or 2 , but as yet she has not brought back pure vodka , cheap insurance and they charge like wounded bulls for what is in the room fridge , regards Robert.
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If you want to play it safe it is sometimes good to have a packet of anti diarrhea medication in your bags. You might not need to bring it with you if you travel with friends and family, because you can just send them out to the chemist to pick up some over the counter - but if you travel alone, like I do sometimes, its good to have it at hand. I can remember spending a few hours of misery in Mumbai and then suddenly remembering I had it with me. It fixed the problem like magic. It's wonderful stuff *laughs*
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Local yogurt will kill all of this. It has the antibodies needed to keep you healthy.
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If the local yogurt don't kill you first that is ...... Personally, best to stay away from fresh dairy stuff too!!
David.....
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If the local yogurt don't kill you first that is ...... Personally, best to stay away from fresh dairy stuff too!!
David.....
Well???????? You got 2 choices as I see it. Squirts or die; not sure which is worse. I have been to several nations and used the yogurt idea. While people were puking the guts I was still going on. It was worked for me but I have never been to China either.
I was in Iran and they told me I should drink the wine to kill the parasites, so I put the wine in my yogurt and.....
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Shaun,
Probably because you have a stronger Constitution than many, something like myself.
Look, .... some of these water bourne bugs are bloody virulent, and you could eat as much yogurt as you like, and it wouldn't suppress it or cure it. If anything, it would probably make it worse..... Over the several years i was living and working in China, i can remember at least 3 occasions where i did cop nasty doses of gut bugs. I can tell you, they ain't nice........
I'm rarely affected by gut bugs normally, but when i have been, it's been badly. I defy anyone, to go to any big city in India (for arguments sake) for more than 15/20 days without getting a good dose of Deli belly or the Bombay trots (or both). And that's taking all the precautions you can. no fresh fruit, no fresh veg, only drinking bottled water, no fresh dairy product , refusing ice in drinks, drinking only bottled beer, etc,etc
Seeing how these trips to China are going to be really important, to most that are going from this site. It's probably going to be far better for them to Air on the safe side and not take unnecessary risks.
According to Lucy, even though the local population have some resistance to these bugs, it's still one of the biggest annual loss of working man hours, to the country.... So, i guess it's up to those going to China to heed advise or ignore it.
David.....
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Hi, stayed in a hotel in Boading for 2 weeks booked by my GF they had my credit card imprint and deposit, but twice they asked for me to pay bill up todate.
5 days in Beijing hotel no problems.
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Shaun,
Probably because you have a stronger Constitution than many, something like myself.
Look, .... some of these water bourne bugs are bloody virulent, and you could eat as much yogurt as you like, and it wouldn't suppress it or cure it. If anything, it would probably make it worse..... Over the several years i was living and working in China, i can remember at least 3 occasions where i did cop nasty doses of gut bugs. I can tell you, they ain't nice........
I'm rarely affected by gut bugs normally, but when i have been, it's been badly. I defy anyone, to go to any big city in India (for arguments sake) for more than 15/20 days without getting a good dose of Deli belly or the Bombay trots (or both). And that's taking all the precautions you can. no fresh fruit, no fresh veg, only drinking bottled water, no fresh dairy product , refusing ice in drinks, drinking only bottled beer, etc,etc
Seeing how these trips to China are going to be really important, to most that are going from this site. It's probably going to be far better for them to Air on the safe side and not take unnecessary risks.
According to Lucy, even though the local population have some resistance to these bugs, it's still one of the biggest annual loss of working man hours, to the country.... So, i guess it's up to those going to China to heed advise or ignore it.
David.....
Thanks for the info. Like I said I've never been to China. Guess I'll play it safe.
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Shaun, every time we go back to China I packa med that has " Loperamide HCI " its an anti-diarrheal, works every time, oh only take a box that has not been opened and put it in the check on baggage.
and they should credit your account no problems, as far as the hotel room goes.
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Freddie, I'm going for 4 weeks but I'm only going to book my first 4 days in a hotel, that way if it's a dive I can easily find somewhere else, or negotiate for a better price to stay on, probably the safest & cheapest way to do it.
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A good advice is also to only eat things that have a blue "S" on it. You can see it on all kind of food. This stand for Safe food ( as safe as you can get it in China)
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Before arriving in Zhuhai I had booked a week at a hotel with Chinahotels.org . When I arrived at the hotel I paid for the full week. But in the end only stayed there for 3 days. The hotel refunded for the extra days when I booked out. Then later chinahotels.org sent me email asking if there was a problem with hotel as I had checked out earlier.
Willy the ex Londoner
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Shaun, every time we go back to China I packa med that has " Loperamide HCI " its an anti-diarrheal, works every time, oh only take a box that has not been opened and put it in the check on baggage.
and they should credit your account no problems, as far as the hotel room goes.
Thanks MM, I will put that on my list.
A good advice is also to only eat things that have a blue "S" on it. You can see it on all kind of food. This stand for Safe food ( as safe as you can get it in China)
Peter, thanks my list is growing. My girl owns a restaurant. What will I do if there are no blue S's there? I am sure she will.
I have a stomach made of iron, it seems, but I do have an allergy to MSG which makes me very uncomfortable. Most all of the Asian restaurants have MSG in their food. I will usually have to have something prepared special when I go to one. Does anyone know if they use it in China?