Shaoguan Shanshui Business Hotel

Stayed at this hotel for two nights as part of a package tour organised for HK Chinese. As the total cost of the tour was only HKD600 (transport, meals, parks admissions as well as the hotel) I was a bit concerned about what kind of dump we would be staying in, but the Sanshui Business Hotel was a pleasant surprise! Yes, it does have some of the shortcomings one expects of a regional Chinese hotel - the beds are very hard, the carpet in our room looked as if someone had polished his shoes on it in a couple of places, you could tell that smokers had been in residence, and there was a bit of mould in the grouting in the shower recess, BUT - the bed linen and towels were spotlessly clean - the beds didn't smell of cigarette smoke - surfaces were free of dust and litter, and the carpet had at least been vacuumed. - the rooms were spacious (2 double beds, with plenty of room to move around and store luggage) - no signs of any vermin, past or present - the lights all worked, and the doors all locked and unlocked as they were supposed to - yay!! - amenities included slippers, shower caps, sewing kit, soap, shampoo, cotton buds, toothbrushes & toothpaste, shoeshine mitt, and kettle. Both black and green tea were provided. The worker who showed us to our room showed us how to work the TV, but we never watched it, so I don't know what channels were available, and I didn't bring my computer, so didn't check the internet connection in the room (ADSL cable). No bottled water was provided, but if you don't like the taste of the boiled tap water, there is a small department store a few shops to your right as you walk out of the hotel with quite a good supermarket upstairs where you can stock up on water and snacks. There was a little street noise in the room (the hotel is on a main road), but not enough to disturb our sleep. The breakfast provided was standard Chinese style and plentiful: congee, pickles, fried noodles, eggs, vegetable, mantou, youtiao and fried pastries (pumpkin or sweet potato?) - quality passable though not brilliant. Dim sum were also available, but we had more than enough to keep us going! Our party found the staff generally to be helpful and friendly. All those that we came in contact with were locals, and spoke Cantonese as well as Putonghua. I didn't think much of Shouguan as a destination, but if I had business here I would definitely consider staying at the Shanshui again.