Dream Blueprint Hostel

The only real plus was being close to the night market and convenience stores. I've visited Luodong every summer vacation, and this was the worst room I've had. It was tiny, humid, and filthy. There were dental floss sticks left on the floor from previous guests. Soundproofing was awful: I could hear people downstairs playing and coming and going at night, along with loud cars and motorcycles outside. The bathroom slippers were too dirty to wear. The towel seemed to be one large towel cut in half to make two, which was shocking. When I showered around 12:00 PM after the night market, the water pressure was very low and the water turned cold halfway through. Luckily it hadn't been cold the previous day, or I really thought I'd catch a cold. The room felt like a partitioned space, maybe a former balcony drying area. The two screws on the wall made that seem likely. I only just noticed its Google rating was 2.3. Next time I'll be less trusting of booking sites. The photos only show the good parts, but the reality was...

There were long clumps of hair clearly visible on both the bathroom floor and the bed. After lying down, my skin got intensely itchy, and I felt like my body was covered in mold. A strong musty odor filled the rooms, and the lighting was dim on both the second floor and in the third-floor room. The address on Booking.com was listed as No. 50 Zhonghua Road, which is actually a post office. The correct address is No. 85 Minsheng Street. I hope the owner takes responsibility for the condition. If the musty smell is that bad, they should get a dehumidifier. The lighting is already poor, so they should stop using that yellowish light, too. And they should stop claiming this is a "second or third-class" establishment. There really wasn't anything redeeming about the place beyond being near the night market.

I booked because the Totoro-themed photos caught my eye, but the room itself was a budget room, which I could accept. What wasn't okay was that the only room photo provided after booking was of the bathroom, and even that didn't match what we got. The listing on Booking.com also gave a different address from the hotel. It was a nightmare from the start, and the lack of clear room photos felt misleading. The room seemed to be partitioned, with very poor soundproofing. I heard footsteps from upstairs and children running and jumping around, so we couldn't communicate or sleep properly all night. There was also an ongoing noise that might have been a pump or another machine. The sofa felt like sitting on springs through leather. The two beds had different firmness, and they were just two single beds pushed together. The hard side slats in the middle made it difficult to find a comfortable position. The pillows were uncomfortable, too. The water dispenser was broken. The hot water came out cold, and I couldn't even get warm water. For the price, the facilities were terrible value, worse than backpacker hostels I've stayed in. When I contacted the owner, all I got was an apology. I didn't sleep at all, sleep quality was zero. Utterly disappointed!

We arrived around 9:00 PM for our winter break trip, with five rooms booked, but drove around for ten minutes before the landlady came to show us the place. The listed address wasn't where the hotel actually was. It was hidden on the second floor of a private residence. Then she took us to a busy red-lined parking area and kept asking us to cancel our Booking.com reservations. We'd already paid deposits, arrived, and were past the cancellation period. We nearly got a ticket before she finally told us where to park. It seemed they just didn't want Booking.com to take a commission. After we parked and returned to the guesthouse, the landlady handed the owner 200 yuan, saying she'd cover our parking fee and asking us to cancel all five bookings. We declined the money and said we'd continue as booked, then paid the remaining balance on the spot. We'd already paid for parking ourselves. The next day, Booking.com messaged us to say two rooms were marked unoccupied, NO SHOW, even though all five rooms had been used and the owner had taken our payment. The above is all true, and the owners are welcome to ask me about it. Is this how they make money? They didn't want Booking.com to take a commission? They didn't want Booking.com to take a commission? They didn't want Booking.com to take a commission! The double room my husband and I used and my friend's four-person room were both on the third floor. They had air conditioning but no heating. The rooms got terribly cold at night during the recent low winter temperatures, even for people like us who don't usually complain about the cold. The blankets were absurdly small, and two average-sized adults had to fight over them when squeezed together. I ended up wearing three thick layers, even my spacesuit, before I could fall asleep. Not recommended! Not recommended! Not recommended! Not recommended! Not recommended! Not recommended!