I stayed at the Zhijiang Hotel in Hangzhou China for 8 days in July 2005, here is what I discovered. Upon checkin you must place your credit card for deposit, Period! The young men and women behind the desks do not speak very good english if at all and are constantly butting in and interupting each others and everyone elses conversations! They are rude but it seems to be exceptable to everyone but the visitor from the west. The checkin took about fifteen minutes. My room was appx. 12x 16 feet with a view of the city below. There were 2 small twin type beds with decent feather pillows on both. The beds were firm to the point of being hard like sleeping on a carpeted floor. The carpet really was grungy so wear the slippers provided for you in the room. Television had ample channels and varity. I found movies and news in several languages including english. The housekeepers leave you alone as long as the do not disturb sign is on. If you send laundry out for same or next day service expect to call to get it back sooner than 3 days. There is a small fridge under the tv and a tea pot for boiling water for Ramen or tea that was filled daily by the housekeepers. Do boil the water! I used it for the whole stay for ramen and never got sick. The water for showers was always hot and traditional facecloths and towels are provided. The bathroom was adequate with western toilet, tub and shower. My room was on the upper floor so the city sounds never disturbed me. The lifts were fast and reliable. The buffet breakfast was somewhat different for my taste but I did manage to find plenty to fill up on, fried eggs, lots of bread choices, rice, noodles, etc,.but mostly Chinese fare. The bar downstaires had good service but often ran low on our favorite beers when there was a group of 3-4-people at a time.
The Western Restaurant on the second floor had excellent food choices and good pizza. The pasta dishes I had were very good. Prices are low compared to US restaurants. If you need cash there is an ATM machine right outside the hotel that excepts most credit and debit cards but not AMEX! Beware if you go to the ATM at night as there are a group of 4-6 men trying very hard to get you to go with them for fun, massage, girls, etc. Take my word for it DO NOT GO! One of the young guys in our group ended up being escorted to several ATM'S to withdraw 3000 Yaun to pay for his 15 minute good time which included watermellon slices, 2 glasses of cheep wine, peanuts, and 5 minute conversation with local girl in seedy hotel room next door to our hotel with 5 burley men watching over them. After 15 minutes my friend was told it was time to pay and the charge was 3000 yuan! He was escorted to ATM's for the demanded payment so be carefull. Taxies are available 24 hours a day with decent service but get where your going written down in Chinese and take a direction card back to the hotel from the tourist rack by the front desk area. The hotel gift shop has cheep beer, water, soda, juice, and candy as well as instant ramen to make in your room and is open till 11 to 12 in the evening. All in all I would recommend this hotel as an ok place to stay. The group I was with payed about $56.00 US per day. Do yourself a favor and go see the WESTLAKE area. It's a 15 yuan cab ride and about 60 yuan for ferry boat tickets. There are lots of places for water and snacks along the way.