Somewhere Intime Hostel

We stayed from March 12 to March 24. The location is excellent, and the rooms were small but cozy. Towels were changed every day, the floors were mopped, and toilet paper, soap, and brushes were topped up as needed. The breakfast really was as meager as other reviews said. There were five options: eggs, boiled or scrambled; fruit, including mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, and cherry tomatoes; cucumbers and broccoli; noodles, flatbreads, and pies; and bread. Tea, sweet coffee with milk, and jams were also available. Previously, check-in cost 150 yuan. The travel agency offered it for 5,500 rubles.

I strongly advise against staying here. The problem isn't only the worn rooms or the bad breakfast, both of which are completely true. It's the way the staff and owner treat guests. The reception is often empty. We waited half an hour to check in, standing with our passports and suitcases until someone showed up. Our room was dirty and wasn't cleaned properly, although they did change the towels daily. When the main light didn't work and the shower head broke, the owner said there was no one to fix them and he couldn't do anything. Breakfast runs from 7:30 to 9:10, but there isn't enough food for everyone, and they don't want to bring more on time. It's always boiled eggs, cucumbers or salad, noodles or flatbread, and bread. They take a deposit of 100 yuan or 2,000 rubles, though the rooms are so bad I couldn't see what it was for. The owner smokes at the reception desk and seems indifferent to everything. We once saw police come and argue with him about something. I've stayed in plenty of cheap hotels, but this one was a shock. You could get used to it, but paying a little more for somewhere much better seems wiser. The staff are all Russians sent here by Pax and Biblioglobus. They know exactly what the conditions are like, yet seem not to care about their tourists or representing them on vacation. I didn't meet a single guest here who wasn't horrified by the place.

We stayed at the Biboluo Hotel in February 2024, on a tour we bought through Biblio Globus. Our transfer dropped us off around 5:00 AM, but nobody was at reception. A little later the receptionist arrived, looking rumpled and sleepy, wearing a tank top and short knit shorts. She said she couldn't check anyone in before 2:00 PM. We were exhausted after the long flight and had to wait eight hours. If you choose this hotel, arrange early check-in through the tour operator so you can go straight to your room. We paid for a neighboring hotel ourselves and stayed there until 2:00 PM. When we finally checked in, my husband and I were given room 112 on the first floor. It was appalling: thick dust everywhere, piles of sand and dirt on the floor, dirty dishes, and a kettle covered in limescale. We were assigned two single beds for some reason. The bathroom had no door, which was especially disconcerting. We asked to change rooms, but they refused, saying there was no availability, even if we paid extra. We then asked them to at least clean it, but the staff acted as if they didn't understand. After wasting a lot of time in pointless discussions, my husband and I cleaned the room ourselves instead of resting. We couldn't use the windows because they faced the courtyard, where other guests sat at tables smoking, drinking, making noise, and playing music, sometimes at night. Staff did nothing, and it interfered with our rest. Breakfast was usually tea, coffee like 3-in-1 brewed in a teapot, bread or loaf, boiled eggs, and a little sliced fruit or vegetable. In the photo that day it was cucumbers; other days there were dragon fruit, small tangerines, or crab apples. Guests brought their own food. The whole experience was disappointing. There were a few positives. The location is good and close to the beach. Towels were changed daily and were always clean and in good condition. And despite the unhygienic conditions, there were no cockroaches, bedbugs, or other vermin. I strongly recommend against choosing this hotel for a vacation. I regret it, and it spoiled part of our trip. Other tourists told us their rooms were dirty and untidy too, and anyone who wanted theirs cleaned had to do it themselves. I'm attaching photos of our room and breakfast. The boiled eggs weren't in the breakfast photo at first, but they were added a little later.

We vacationed in Dadonghai Bay, Hainan, on a tour from March 26th to 9th, 2019. Sanya Biboluo Hotel is listed as a 2-star property on Booking.com, though tour operators sell it as a 3-star. That difference didn't matter much to us. We didn't expect much, since the other hotels at the top of the tour list cost more. We just needed a place to sleep and swim, and it worked out fine. The hotel is wrongly marked on many maps. It's just behind Leto, in a quiet courtyard where you can't hear the road. The location is very good. You can walk to the sea in 3 minutes, though the return trip can take up to 7 minutes if you're tired. Chifanki, affordable cafes, are a minute away, as is the food court between Summer and Winter. Shops, including fruit and vegetable stores, are nearby, and Dadonghai Park is close, well-kept, and pleasant. The bus also worked well for us, with fares from 2 to 15 yuan and no change given. MAPS.ME offline maps were a big help. I downloaded the China app at home and marked where I wanted to go, and the GPS always told me where to get off, especially after dark. There are some downsides. No balcony, no fridge in the room, and a very poor breakfast, if you can call it that. The shared fridge at reception is always full, and they could at least have put one on each floor. Breakfast was two kinds of cabbage, a few bits of fruit, flatbread or a bun, and a boiled egg, brought to you individually on a tray. You could help yourself to tea, sugar, salt, rice soup, and mayonnaise. The Wi-Fi password is at the guide's desk, and the signal was strong enough for me to send videos and photos without problems. To get online, you need to download Turbo VPN at home; without it, the internet doesn't work at all. We were in room 410 on the fourth floor, probably the smallest in the whole hotel. It had one large bed, which we're used to, while nearby rooms had two much larger beds. The building has nine floors, with guest rooms on eight and breakfast on the ninth, where the laundry room is too. Instead of a balcony, our room had a bathroom with semi-transparent glass. The windows had mosquito nets, and outside there was rebar supporting a climbing plant. We tied a rope there to dry our things, because the humidity was so high that nothing dried inside. Hot water was available 24/7. The room came with an electric kettle, two cups, a thermos, a large umbrella, a 40-inch TV, mosquito repellent spray, and two plug-in devices that were probably an ionizer and an aroma diffuser. There was also a large and small towel per person, toothbrushes and toothpaste, a comb, shower cap, soap, shampoo and shower gel in a dispenser, hairdryer, slippers, wardrobe with six hangers, two nightstands, a table and chair, safe, and air conditioning. You open the room with a keycard. A room sign and doorbell light up in the hall while you're inside, and the sign goes out when you're away. The building is made of two towers connected by walkways, with high-speed elevators on both sides. On the ground floor between the towers there's an evening seating area with tables. There were lots of mosquitoes, and sometimes we saw a rat running around. Large cockroaches showed up occasionally too. Be careful not to stain the towels or bed linens, or you'll have to pay for them or wash them. Check-in requires a deposit. They said it was $20, gave us a receipt, and returned it immediately when we checked out. A bank was close by, with an exchange rate of 6.64, but the process with a passport took a long time. Some banks even require a voucher. The hotel guide could exchange it at 6.50 yuan for $1, or vendors on the second floor in Zima offered 6.60 yen = $1. Not far away is Barry Boutique Hotel Sanya 5*, with observation balconies on the 33rd floor. The night view over Dadonghai was especially beautiful, with buildings, trees, and phoenixes! We skipped the guided tour because it was so expensive. In late February and early March, the sea was 22°C in the morning and around 24°C to 26°C in the afternoon. Days reached 30°C and nights 22°C. It was quite comfortable. Storms varied from strong to mild, but we swam every day!