Joyous Hotel

My room was unbearably hot, even at night when it stayed at 27-28 degrees Celsius. Opening the windows did little to help. Nearby construction made it noisy, and the air quality outside was poor. The mini-fridge was broken too, and stayed warm even on its coldest setting. When I complained to the front desk over several days, I kept getting the same explanation: because it was winter and temperatures varied so much between day and night, the air conditioning was centrally controlled and cooling wasn’t being provided. On cool mode, it blew hot air; with it off, the room was stifling. I’ve never encountered a hotel where guests couldn’t choose between heating and cooling, and I was completely dumbfounded. There wasn’t a fan available when I asked, either. I was there in Shanghai in November. Mornings and evenings were around 10 degrees Celsius, while sunny afternoons could go above 20. This four-star hotel didn’t even have usable basic air conditioning. It was the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in, bar none.

The next day they brought meat buns for breakfast. When I asked if they were vegetarian, the housekeeper said, “They’re meat buns.” They’d brought the wrong food, and eating it would have broken my vegetarian vow. Since outside orders and delivered cooked food weren’t allowed, I had to put up with the meals. If I didn’t eat or order, I was still charged 80 NTD a day with no refund. I paid in full at check-in, and now I see why. Other guests found bugs in their vegetables, which looked unwashed. During a pandemic, kitchen hygiene and clean bed sheets should be part of protecting everyone’s safety. I ordered pizza for lunch and had paid the night before, but it arrived late and a little cold. I was eating cold food every day. When the woman brought the sheets, I was close to tears. The whole experience had ruined my mood; even if I hadn’t been sick, it was enough to make me feel sick. I threw the pizza away and won’t eat the rest of the meals. No one dares to eat them, since who knows if someone might spit in them? My quarantine was supposed to be a chance to rest, but it became another source of stress. I didn’t feel well from the start, yet I knew everyone was tired, so I stayed polite and said “okay” and “sorry.” I needed to go abroad for an urgent matter; otherwise, who would pay to be confined to a room? At check-in they told us to eat vegetarian food. The first day’s menu was posted online, and everyone said it tasted like leftovers. That night the pillows and blankets smelled bad, but I put up with it, telling myself the pandemic had already caused enough trouble for others. Then I found old-looking dried bloodstains on the sheets. I didn’t want to raise it in a group chat with more than a hundred people, so I privately added the housekeeper on WeChat. Maybe they thought that made me easy to bully. I was told there were no replacement blankets. I knew they were brushing me off, but let it go. Later I found a set stuffed in the “wardrobe floor.” I asked if it was clean and whether I could change it. They said it was, so I had no choice but to use it. I threw the old blankets by the door. The housekeeper told me to put them in a room bag, but the bag was too big. Is this another case of Zhuang Xiaowei? When my mom complained in the group chat later, they said replacement blankets were available and immediately called the cleaning lady. I was close to tears again. She offered to come in and change the bedding, but I said no, I’d do it myself. I told her she was kind, that it wasn’t her fault, and that she had a family too and should be careful. From the first day, the staff’s attitude hadn’t been very good. As I’m not local, they wanted my local phone number, the address of the friend I’d stay with after quarantine, and my Taiwan Compatriot Certificate number when I filled out the forms. Who can memorize all that? The pandemic control personnel even told me to hurry up. I feel like you’re completely bullying Taiwanese people. I don’t belong to any political faction and have always liked mainland China. I like how straightforward mainlanders are, and I have friends here too. I don’t understand how you can treat us like family and then treat us like dogs. I just sighed.

It’s near the subway, though getting by is hard because they don’t speak English. I only eat at the nearby Novotel Hotel restaurant.

It’s clean, the rent is inexpensive, and the service is acceptable.