Nanyang King's Gate

The WiFi was slow, and the hallways smelled of cigarettes, though I expected that in China. The TV comes on when you switch on the room’s power. It feels like most of the money went into the lobby. I wouldn’t bother with a massage here.

The beds, views, and service were good, and it’s a nice hotel. But the restroom has no fan or air conditioning, the TV is expensive, and breakfast hours are too short. The staff also all seemed to lack English skills.

Lovely hotel and perfect staff. I’d recommend it to Europeans.

The room and lobby both had an old European palace look, which made me uneasy when I arrived. I couldn’t get a refund, so I checked in anyway. Around 1 a.m., someone pounded on my door for two or three minutes. I looked through the peephole and saw nobody. I was scared, but assumed it might be a drunk person at the wrong room. After a while, the banging started again, harder this time, and I heard someone trying the doorknob as if they wanted to get in. I was terrified and called the front desk to ask if there was someone drunk in the corridor. They sent a staff member to check, but no one was seen on my floor. I muttered an apology in the room, saying we were only staying one night and asking not to be alarmed. Nothing else happened, and we checked out as soon as it was light. I don’t usually have much reaction to paranormal or scientifically inexplicable things. Later, I found online reports of a serious fire at the hotel in 2017 in which two people died. The reports said they were a hotel employee and his girlfriend, who had been knocking on doors to evacuate guests floor by floor before thick smoke overtook them; they were found dead in the stairwell. I’d urge people to think carefully about staying here, especially alone or at night. I hope sharing what happened can spare someone an unnecessary scare.