In the Mini-Garden of the Chongqing Guesthouse VIP
by nepalgoods
The Chongqing Guesthouse has a 3-star and a 4-star-part. I stayed in the 4-star-wing, which was very nice. Spacious room with a big and clean bathroom. The room had a TV, water-boiler, minibar. My impression was that of an old fashioned Chinese hotel with dark furniture and very nice staff.
Swimming pool, sauna, beauty salon, fitness center, and a shopping arcade.
I don't remember much about this place. I paid 10 FEC in 1987 a little less than US$3.But from talking to a couple of friends that have gone to China in the past few years I think prices have increased for you budget travelers! For you high-end guys it's still high-end! haha Here is the story of how I finally ended up here....(With the help of my newly found journal) When I was arriving into Chongqing by train I had checked my Lonely Planet guide for cheap hotels and the Renmin seemed like a good cheap one so that's where I decided to stay. I got on bus #1 from the train station hoping to make it to a traffic circle to change to bus #13...That worked out ok...haha When I got on bus #13 I asked the conductress if the bus went to the Renmin Hotel...haha Of course it does...haha Well the conductress dropped me off outside an expensive hotel which I don't remember the name of. I walked around until I found what street I was on and looked at my map and I started walking..as I passed a Public Security Office I decided to go in and see if they could be of some assistance...Well the guy seemed to know where I wanted to go and motioned for me to follow him...we walked for a couple of blocks to a Hotel!! haha another expensive hotel..."Sorry , I didn't want to stay here"..... I kept saying Renmin Hotel in different tones trying to hit the right tone as Chinese is a very tonal language...I guess I never hit the correct tone!! I showed them my map and the hotel and that didn't help either. Finally after walking around for awhile I stumbled upon the Chongqing Guesthouse...It had a sign in English and allowed foreigners to stay!!! I got a dorm room for 10 FEC (US$2.70)
It's fairly centrally located to most of the sights....