Zibo Hotel

My Wife and I, booked a weekend at the Zibo Hotel, this in good faith, as we enjoy visiting the restaurant often. We were advised by some locals that the Zibo Hotel is an aged hotel. Nevertheless, we wanted to experience it for ourselves. Check in went well, and the front desk staff were professional and courteous. The initial impact of the Hotel, when entering is that of an "old" Hotel, yet, classic and timeless. "Old", is however not an issue in my opinion. Poor maintenance and standards however, are... Upon entering the room, there was an evident pungent odour, initially, I thought it to be that of cigarette smoke. I later came to the conclusion, that it's most probably due to the rising damp, which was all over the room, as well as in certain corridors. The "suite" which we stayed in, had a huge bathtub and a sizeable shower as well. When running a bath, it was evident that the water temperature was perfect, with instant hot water, and good water pressure. Regretfully, the water was brown, most probably due to the pipes being aged. The bed was as hard as a rock, and in my opinion not on international standard. The lace curtains are terribly worn, and are not a good sight at all. Wallpaper on all the walls are either peeling off, or has evident water damage on it. The ceilings, especially in the bathroom, have severe water damage. I have never given a bad / poor rating to a Hotel, and derive no pleasure in doing such. However, I have to be honest, I will not recommend this hotel to anyone, foreign or domestic visitors. If you can look past the water damage, the aged appearance and tolerate the odour, then you are free to try the Zibo Hotel for yourself. I however, can, and will not accept such. As in my opinion, a Hotel should make you feel relaxed and should have a sense of beauty to it. Especially as this is the town's local Hotel, I honestly expected better. I am really dissapointed, not so much about the fact that the Hotel has aged as badly as it did, but because it was not rectified. I could not stay there for my entire booking, and requested a refund for the 2nd day booked, as we checked out after our 1st day spent. My honest recommendation to prospective guests would be to rather consider another of the neighbouring hotels. The reception did apologize, when I stated that I plan to check out earlier, primarily, due to the uncomfortable rock hard bed. Regretfully, they did not make any effort to retain our business, no alternative was offered or presented to us. Nevertheless, we walked across the road, and checked into another Hotel, our favorite as a matter of fact. It is also noteworthy, that this hotel is also a bit on the "older" side, but unlike the Zibo Hotel, it's exceptionally well kept, fragrant and always a pleasure to visit. At least until such time as the Zibo Hotel has revamped the entire hotel.

My stay at the hotel was very good, Im completely satisfied with my stay. The hotel receptionist and check in people wer very helpful, The breakfast buffet in the dining hall was also very good.I travel a lot around China nd stay a lot of hotels,, this was a good one.