I traveled with a school group of teachers, administrators, parents, students and community members for 10 days in China. While in Jinan, we were booked at the Yuquan Simpson Hotel, No. 68 Luo Yuan Road, Jinan, Shandong, China. The hotel is walking distance to the city square, which is lovely at night. The staff tried their best to be helpful and accommodating, especially with such a large group. The hotel lobby was nicely decorated and inviting, and there is a very nice coffee shop with delicious pastries, but that's where the positives of this hotel end.

After checking in, our group (and everyone else) had an endless wait for incredibly slow elevators, coupled with the stench from a sewer issue permeating the hallways. Once in our room, we were surprised at the "themed room" decor. The photos on the hotel site looked nothing like any of the rooms we were assigned. Our room featured a disco strobe light in the corner of the room (that seemingly could not be turned off), crayon shaped ceiling lights, mirror and vinyl on the wall serving as a "head board" of sorts, and a Winnie the Pooh wall clock. Other rooms had cartoon-like monkeys, and other odd characters. There was nothing charming or "themed" about it. The combined bath/shower room featured a large picture window looking into the bedroom area which was concealed only by a thin shower curtain. Not much privacy once the light was on!

We stayed in this hotel twice during our trip. The first stay included a non-working air conditioner, though the hotel staff did manage to find us a fan; and drainage problems along with a sink fixture that fell apart. Contrary to the listing on the hotel site, we had to ask for a hair dryer; it was not available in the room. For our second stay, the sewage odor was almost gone except for the hallway by the elevators on our floor. The toilet would not flush, and it leaked; the sink would again not drain. However, the air conditioner did work, and this time, there was a hair dryer.

Now oddly, there was one other strange feature that we found not only here, but in other hotels we stayed at in China. The beds in the room seemed suspiciously low to the ground, with absolutely no give at all. We found ourselves sleeping on the hardest mattress in the world. It became clear that this was no mattress, but only the box spring of the bed! In fact, we walked by a room on our floor with a large window where we could see mattresses piled up to the ceiling! The mattresses had been removed from all the beds. We wondered why the hotel would have done this, though honestly, aside from not being able to sleep on one's side, those of us with back problems had no complaints in the morning! It was just bizarre.

In all, I am glad that our stay in this hotel was brief. It would not, I am sorry to say, be my choice for a return trip to Jinan.