Hotel Bintang 2 di Xinjiang, China

This place is amazing, in terms of location it is located amongst the local housing / schools a little bit in the alley however it is not far from public transportation (the subway is 800m away) and taxis are plenty. The room is great for the price it offers, i stayed in the duplex for 3 nights, it was spacious and clean. The amenities are of great qualities too, towels/bedsheets are clean. The front desk are very welcoming and helpful. I don’t speak Mandarin, however this was not a problem as we can communicate through wechat/translation app and they were willing to help me as much as they could and that alone show that the hospitality is beyond expectation. Another great thing is, one of the host speaks great English too! As a foreigner, this is a plus point of staying at this great accomodation, although I would suggest that any traveler to learn a little bit of the local language to have a more memorable travel experience. The host gives great travel advices as well. I would definitely be back again at this place when I visit Xinjiang in the future 💖

First and foremost, this hotel accepts foreigners. The hotel is quite ok but not great. I booked a no-window non-smoking room (don’t do it, go for room with window) because I thought there is more chance people still smoke in non-smoking rooms with windows. The first room they gave me, put the key card on and electricity didn’t work. Waited for them to check with no result so I was relocated to another room. It’s non-smoking but I can clearly smell the smoke. Took 2 days for the smoke smell to go away which is a pity. The room is small but enough for a solo like me. Each floor they built 4 lines of rooms, the 2 middle lines stay wall-to-wall to each other and are the ‘no-window’ rooms. I would definitely recommend you to choose the room with window, because it means you don’t share a lot of ‘walls’ to other room and have a window to open at least for circulation if room is smelly or if room is too hot. In my case, my room smells smoke, and the room heater system only allows 34-37 degree celsius which is crazy! Very hot if turned on so I had to turn it off the whole time I stay at the hotel. Even though it is winter time, the whole hotel is already on heater. Unable to adjust room temperature is annoying because it means no air circulation. There is a blowing machine (similar to a fan) in the room but it is not efficient quickly enough. The room feels extremely suffocating. I did really wish for a window. Also because the no-window rooms share 3 walls with other rooms (not counting the upper floor), it’s more bad-luck chances for weird noise. In my case, I had to endure one whole freaking night with 2 loud Uyghur couples who cannot hold themselves back from banging the freak out and making all kinds of terrible terrible noise. Seems like no soundproof for these walls.

Hotel’s owners are very helpful and friendly despite our language barriers. They took me to get cash and a SIM card. Helped me to go to the bus station and other miscellaneous things. Location is a little bit off. Can be hard to get a taxi and there aren’t many restaurants around but you can ask the owners for help. They’re willing to hell.

This hotel can accept foreigners. It is around 1km from Kuqa railway station which is walkable. I arrived very early (6AM). I took forever for check-in because the reception had minimal experience with foreign guests and asked too many (repetitive) questions. She inspected the passport even more thoroughly than the police in Kuqa that I encountered. She asked about the stamps of other countries as well (not sure why and what it has got to do with the hotel check-in). I had a previous Chinese visa which I repetitively said it was old and pointed to the new one, but she kept coming back to it and asking for more info again and again. After almost 30 mins, I was able to come to the room, still the reception came knocking 2 more times for more questions. The second time I had to politely gave a sign that I wanted to sleep for a bit because I had sightseeing to do a couple hours later. I don’t know if this is protocol for Kuqa. So far the most ‘questioning’ hotel which I only expected to happen in Hotan. I negotitated to check in early because I would check out very early the next day (4.30AM) to board the train to Kashgar. It took a while to negotiate but it was possible in the end. Clealiness is so so, not the best but acceptable. It was not a memorable stay but the room will suffice your comfort. Just wish the check-in process would be faster and simpler. 100rmb deposit at check-in which will be refund at check-out.