The Xiamen Luxury Hotel

Luxury indeed. This hotel is what I’m dubbing “authentic”… ha ha! It’s definitely not as nice as the hotel that we stayed at in Xi’an.

• Our room smelled musty when I first arrived and the duvet cover on the bed felt damp to sit on or get under. It got a little better after we turned the air conditioning back on.
• There are markings and splatterings of who-knows-what on the walls of our hotel room.
• The bed is quite hard although I slept just fine on it.
• The room definitely feels dirty although doesn’t look it… too bad anyway.
• I’m kind of scared to brush my teeth with tap water…. so I’ve been using bottled water since tap water in China is known to not be potable (generally).
• The shower is a bit scary but the hotel provides plastic Adidas-style sandals that I’ve been using in the shower.
• Breakfast provided by the hotel is rice and some very “authentic” looking toppings that I don’t think I’m going to ever try; or some milk, a boiled egg, and a steamed roll, which I will eat.
• Wi-Fi is only available in the lobby, although I can only handle being in the lobby so long as it is not air-conditioned nor is it smoke-free.
• Something the hotel is doing right: universal plugs in the rooms! That means I can plug in my American appliances without an adapter. Nicely done, Xiamen Luxury Hotel.