DAYS INN - OUT AT NIGHT!

Days Inn Forbidden City - Beijing, China

Being the caring and loving lady I am, I volunteered to book a hotel for my bf’s first night in China (why he is there and I am not calls for a whole different blog). I looked up some options and was of course overwhelmed by Chinese characters and foreign currencies. Add to that the horror stories some people share on the web regarding their visits to other countries and you can imagine how challenging I felt this quest was. Well, that was until I saw the Forbidden City Days Inn Hotel!! (http://www.daysinnforbiddencity.com) We have all seen the Days Inn hotels on the side of the road; they look like motels with high aspirations. I, of course, booked the first room I could get since it was a familiar name and their staff speaks English according to their advertisement. 

Well, my poor hunnie gets to China at midnight, asks someone to translate the hotel’s address to Chinese characters, takes a cab to the Days Inn, is dropped off in a dark alley (get your popcorn out this sounds like a horror movie already) and wanders through the streets for a while not finding the infamous hotel. With his gullible smile he tries to find someone who speaks good enough English to give him directions (perhaps you should know he only knows two sentences in Mandarin: How are you? And I don’t speak Mandarin), this takes a while but he finds some sort of officer guy who walks him to the hotel. Surprise, no one opens the door at the freaking hotel, no one! Want another surprise? My card had already been charged for his stay. Anyway, after knocking on the door for some time he gives up and the officer guy takes him to a hostel nearby where he checks in and happily shares the night with another five travelers…not what I envisioned for him after 20 hours of travel. I was livid when he called to tell me the story, was my late arrival note not clear enough? I proceeded to pick up the phone and call the Days Inn customer line to be put on hold for 45 minutes and then be told I had to deal with the property in China directly as it is independently owned. Independently what? Not my problem lady, I said, it is advertised as a Days Inn property therefore it is you I am dealing with. Why would I want to deal with a property that closes its doors at night to expected visitors? (by the way, I checked the website, not a word about doors being closed at a certain time)  http://www.daysinnforbiddencity.com. Now I have to wait three business days for a reply to my concern…oh I emailed them too letting them have a piece of my mind in the politest of ways. I am not looking for shares in their company as compensation but I want my money back and then some. 

Will keep you posted.