Royal International Hotel

The hotel eventually let us stay after a long back and forth, but then demanded a 500 RMB deposit for each room. That seemed like a punitive and unprofessional double standard: we had not paid a deposit during our stay here the week before, or on the first night of this trip. The trouble started with an extension. At check-in, the front desk confirmed we could stay the following nights, moving from the new building to Block B. They confirmed it again half an hour later and said they would sort it out internally, so we didn't need to do anything else. The next day, a female supervisor surnamed Jin reversed that confirmation. When we returned a missed call at noon while sightseeing, she spoke rudely and made baseless accusations. Rather than take responsibility for what her team had confirmed, she blamed the frontline staff and even threatened to fire them in front of us. We had to ask Fliggy customer service to mediate. Fliggy found our reservation, and another frontline agent called to confirm the stay, but 15 minutes later Supervisor Jin called again and overrode that. She aggressively refused to honor the arrangement, saying the rooms had suddenly been assigned to new guests. Sorting out frontline arrangements and channel management is the hotel's responsibility, not something paying guests should have to carry. Ms. Jin kept saying Fliggy was "not an official cooperating platform." We shouldn't have to audit the hotel's distribution channels. If a booking goes through, the hotel should honor it or manage its inventory properly. The management's shocking incompetence and hostile attitude seriously tarnished our entire trip to Xinjiang. There was severe internal miscommunication, verbal agreements were broken, and leadership showed no accountability.

The rooms are small, and smoking rooms smell awful. There are no baths in Block B. The elevator buttons sometimes give a small electric shock, especially when you're outside. A store behind the hotel starts playing the same rhyming advertisement over a loudspeaker at 8am, in a woman's voice that kept us awake until midnight. It had been the same voice for a month. Local visitors also party with their doors unlocked, smoking and shouting.

What a mess, they gave my room key to someone else! Thankfully it was my colleague. If it had been a stranger walking in, what then? The room was on the small side, but looked recently renovated and was better than before. The breakfast buffet was just so-so. On the plus side, calls and internet were unlimited. There's a night market across the street if you want to have a look.

A great five-star hotel. I'd definitely recommend it!