Howard Johnson by Wyndham LIfe Xindu Chengdu

The place and surroundings seemed great, but my first one night stay in a Chengdu city hotel turned into a mess. It was winter, and the hot water wasn't working, so there was only cold water when we needed to shower. My sister first called the lobby three times to ask what was going on. Reception said the hotel was full, the hot water was out, and a technician was trying to fix it in 30 minutes. We waited, but after half an hour it was still cold. My sister kept calling every 30 minutes for updates. I then called the lobby five times myself. Each time they promised the hot water would be back in 30 minutes. I waited more than 3 hours, and it still wasn't working. I told them I had to get up at 6am for an early schedule, but the receptionist suggested I skip my shower. After waiting so long, that was a very unhappy-making answer, and there had been no backup plan for those 3 hours. She promised again that I should rest and it would be fully back by 6am, saying with confidence that it would be 100% restored before then. At 6am, the water was still cold. I was angry and called to ask why it hadn't come back; she seemed shocked too. They then offered me a room nearby so I could wash and take a quick shower. I knew that was the only option, so I accepted. A colleague took me and my sister to what they called a hotel, but it was actually a motel with a bad environment. I really needed to shower and clean up, and the weather was super cold, so I went ahead. My sister wasn't feeling well and stayed in the room they provided; they gave her some hot water for a normal wash-up. The motel made me uncomfortable, and what really made me write this review was the hotel manager calling the lobby desk to ask the receptionist why she had paid 200 Chinese Yuan for me to shower at the motel. From start to finish, I never spoke to or saw him come out to solve the problem. I felt bad for the lobby receptionist, who was trying to sort it out, while the manager did nothing. I was lucky to get that motel shower. Many people in our tour group didn't get to shower, and our tour guide had to spend time arranging things. For those 4 hours, they didn't really have a plan B ready. They were just hoping the hot water would come back.