GGuest UserThe Aranya YIN Hotel is located in the heart of the European Town area at the foot of the Jiulong Lake project. It's an all-suite hotel with a limited number of rooms, approximately ten, reportedly designed by a Korean designer.
First, the rooms are spacious, with varying sizes and layouts for the same price of 50, 60, or 70 (this difference can be seen on the Aranya app).
Second, the rooms are clean, with no obvious unhygienic spots.
Third, the room comes with an Audio-Technica record player and one or two vinyl records (although they're Taylor Swift, which I'm not a big fan of). Thankfully, there's also a Marshall speaker with Bluetooth connectivity. There's also a complimentary tea set and tea leaves, and a Nescafe capsule coffee machine with four capsules.
Fourth, its location in the heart of town, coupled with two French balconies, ensures a great view (see Figure 4). However, this experience also revealed some shortcomings:
First, the signs were unclear. Cars are prohibited on the town's core streets, but there were no clear signs around the perimeter of the town. I had no idea where to park or the hotel entrance, and there was no staff to guide me. I could only grope around, gazing at the hotel's spire. Finally, after asking three town staff members driving electric carts, I was able to park in front of the Princess Hotel. Then, I dragged my suitcases through the Princess Hotel lobby before I found the YIN Hotel.
Second, the room design and layout were strange. First, there was no TV. This also relates to my subsequent complaints about the service, which I'll discuss later. Actually, I hadn't considered a TV important at other hotels because I had various evening tours. But at Jiulong Lake, there were no cultural activities in the evening (which is a key characteristic of the Aranya brand). After diving in the sea and having two beers, I returned to my room at around 8:00 AM and realized there was no TV. It was a bit boring. Secondly, the shower had no sink or water barrier, so a lot of water flowed into the dry area of the bathroom. And this is a Korean designer? (See Figure 8).
Third, the service experience was quite poor. These included:
① When checking in, I was on the first floor. My wife was in a hurry to get to the room, so I took the room card and went up first (thank you to the front desk for making this easy). Unexpectedly, the cleaning staff member who had been in the same elevator with my wife entered the room before us and headed straight for the bathroom. For some reason, they looked around and muttered, ”No one,” before leaving without even turning back. They didn't even explain to my wife, leaving me completely bewildered and nervous. As I went upstairs, my wife was nervously yelling, ”Who's there?”
② The lack of a TV in the room and the hotel's handling of the situation were even more surprising. We've also been to the Anaya Anlan Hotel in Beidaihe. Because the rooms are large and have a vertical living room design, a wall-mounted TV would be too far from the bed, so they built a low TV wall in the middle of the living room to accommodate the TV. Since I couldn't find a TV in my room at the YIN Hotel, I specifically checked the Ctrip website, which also mentioned basic amenities like a TV. After finding nothing, I called the front desk, which led to the most ridiculous experience of the time:
The front desk succinctly stated that most rooms at this hotel didn't have TVs, with only a few family rooms having them. OK, while that didn't align with the hotel's promotional message (which emphasized audiovisuals and included a dedicated theater), I could accept that. If it didn't have one, then it didn't. But I asked the front desk, ”This hotel has been around for a while, haven't any customers complained about it being a basic feature like a TV?” The answer was no. Well, I can only assume this request is sufficiently personalized and age-appropriate. Still not giving up, I mentioned the Ctrip website listing and asked if I could use the theater. And then something magical happened: at 8:42 PM, I checked the Ctrip hotel page and saw ”LCD TV” (see Figure 5). At 8:53 PM, I followed the Ctrip page to get the hotel's phone number (see Figure 6). At 9:20 PM, I checked the hotel's Ctrip page again, and the ”LCD TV” listing had vanished (see Figure 7). Did the hotel ignore the customer's odd comments? Or did they care enough to revise the website overnight?
I suspect the hotel, firstly, saw my poor experience and secondly, felt guilty about the equipment page issue. They sent staff to appease me twice, providing a bottle of fruit wine and snacks in the evening (we skipped the wine because we'd already had it in the sea, and had a packet of snacks). In the morning, they brought a packed breakfast (which consisted of bread and fruit). It's not uncommon for a 2,000 yuan suite to not include breakfast; many hotels charge different prices with or without breakfast, but the key point is that I couldn't book a room with breakfast in the first place). They also gave me an extra set of hotel toiletries when I left. We felt the staff's genuine desire for a good experience, but the Korean designer's lack of practicality and the hotel operator's overnight revisions to the website are truly lamentable.
In summary, the YIN is a good place to stay, but there's still much room for improvement in both its hardware and software.
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