Is there any cheap hotel(s) in Kunming?
Background:
I arrived in East Asia this time at the South Coast not so far from Nanning. In that small town there were actually a number of cheap hotels between 40-50 RMB per night.
Typically, they had the price written in red letters on the front window.
I subsequently visited Shenzhen but I could not see a large number of hotels like that there. However, SZ is relatively expensive rent wise in general.
Now I recently arrived in Kunming. The average rent is considerably lower here than in Shenzhen.
So I was wondering if it is possible to find one of those cheap hotels in Kunming or perhaps a few to choose from. I bet most of them aren't listed on booking.com.
Any suggestions?
TeraLa
Your own room for 40-50, no way! You might get a bed in a hostel dorm for about that though. Cheapest hotel rooms are about 120.
Chinese citizens can get a room for 50 rmb a night. It's in a back alley in the village neighborhoods past the 2nd ring road. Room is decent sized, pretty clean, and has hot water, tv, and possibly wifi. Those kind of rooms exist throughout China, even in Shenzhen, though it's really difficult to find in a city that size. Only in smaller towns or villages, does a foreigner have a shot at renting one. Just get a dorm in a hostel as Haali suggested. With the heightened police presence and enforcement this month, no hotel is going to risk not registering.
Have you tried Ctrip? I've just searched there for one night (next Tuesday) and I'm getting prices starting as low as 26rmb for a single room. This is in the English version.
Though filter by downtown area and they start from 83 rmb
Just because its the English version doesn't mean you can stay there without using a Chinese ID for checkin.
I've never been refused yet Napoleon. If a hotel/hostel can legally register Chinese then it can also register foreigners
I've been refused many times in many cities over many years. It is not correct that if a hotel can register a Chinese that they can register a foreigner. Many hotels off the beaten path are not registered to allow foreigners and will turn you away. Most hotels on the beaten path are registered to do so so maybe you haven't encountered it yet. The Wen Lin hotel on Wen Lin Jie just around the corner from Salvador's doesn't allow foreigners to stay there last time I checked.
@KuiXing: any idea what the law is about refusing foreign guests? I've had the experience of staying in a hotel in Jinghong that was not, apparently, registered to accept foreigners or whatever, but then they accepted me, I just had to go to a photocopy place and copy my passport details, etc. Have returned to this place many times, they remember and accept me now with no trouble. Room 60rmb.