China Hotels and Hostels

After our month long journey around china, we came to the conclusion that we preferred hostels over hotels. Our hostels have been clean and fun while our hotels have been muggy and a bit on the drab side. Oh, u can bargain hotel prices down tho. We did have one exception ...the Snow Lion Resort in Yangshou was by far our favorite hotel. Staff was great also. The following are our ratings:



Beijing - stayed with Charles so of course a 10. Quite the homey experience. Thanks again charles.



Xi'an - Seven Sages Hotel - 7

Great staff. We had two doubles with a shared bathroom. Rooms were pretty basic.



Chengdu - Kai Bin Inn - 5

Wasn't as bad as Shanghai hotel but def lacked character. Rooms basic.

Sketchy ladies would call at night asking if alan wanted a "massage"



Hangzhou - Dong Po - 5

Again, a cheaper hotel in China. Basic rooms. P and E had a smelly room, but they switched to a better one. Nothing special except proximity to the lake.



Shanghai - 24K Hotel - 2 - ceiling stucco was falling due to rain. Rooms were a bit musty as well



Guilin - YHA backpackers - 7

Atmosphere was great and we met some nice backpackers who we also saw again in Yangshou. Room Lou and I shared had a shower that didn't seem to drain properly but A, P and E's room was fine. In fact the beds were large enough for me to fit in on the last night. A for some reason had a wooden mattress though.



Yangshou - Snow Lion Resort - 10

The resort is new and a little bit further from town center but it was worth it. We were one of three rooms filled given that we were off season and it was awesome. Breakfast was included and the meals were large enough for two. Free internet, bikes and a so-so pool table. It cost a little more ($12/night) but worth it. Ask for Helen Huang if u go as she will take great care of u!

Recommendations for Africa

Part of this blog is supposed to be tips from our RTW travel but I have yet to post any of our top picks...so here are the ones from the Africa leg. I rate them below:

Safari Makers (Moses) - 10. See comments below. By far, safari has been the best experience on my RTW travels.

Impala Hotel, Arusha, Tanzania - 6 (basic and a bit boring. Breakfast was awesome though!)

Kibo Hotel, Marangu, Tanzania - 6 (rooms were kind of ghetto but management nice and prepared us a late night meal when we arrived late)

L'Oasis, Arusha, Tanzania - 7 (lots of character with good food although bathrooms could be nicer. Food service was very slow but yummy)

Kitete Beach, Paje, Zanzibar - 5 (would be much higher if mgmt not so sketch, next door Paje By Night had great pizza and pasta)

Aman Bungalows, Nungwi, Zanzibar - 5 (basic rooms, no atmosphere)

Jollyboys, Livingstone, Zambia - 7 (great atmosphere with tons of activities to choose from. We stayed in the ensuite doubles. Rooms are basic with showers that sometimes clog but what rooms lack, place makes up with the other fun lively backpackers)

Capetown Backpacker, Capetown, S. Africa - 4 (basic rooms with hot water. We stayed in triple with shared bathroom)

Stumble Inn, Stellenbosch, S. Africa - 3 (would be a 1 if they didn't have the cool bar; the most ghetto hostel so far. Don't stay here as rooms are bare and empty and FREEZING)

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Our safari was through Safari Makers which we highly recommend. Our primary contact Gideone was very helpful and always answered our million email questions. He also got us a better deal on our flight to Zanzibar after. If u do decide to go with Safari Makers, u should def book with Moses our guide. Moses went out of his way to make sure we saw as much as possible. He had an incredible wealth of knowledge about animals and was very fun! We can't say enough great things about Moses.

Zanzibar
We spent half our time in Paje and the other half in Nungwi. In Paje we stayed at Kitete which was gorgeous and next to the beach but sketchy management. Manager Lawrence seemed to be price gouging us on everything including giving us restaurant bills that weren't even ours!!
In Nungwi, we stayed at Aman Bungalows which were decent and unassuming. Nothing all that interesting with the hotel rooms.