Chengdu is filled with affordable and aesthetically pleasing hotels. Shanshui S (Kuanzhai Alley Tianfu Square) stood out to us for a few reasons, location and price being the bigger factors. The large bed and view was also played a part as I wanted to take some cool looking long exposure shots of the city. Turns out, this hotel was a great choice and I’ll share more in this Shanshui S Hotel review.

In this Shanshui S Hotel Review

Check In

Check in was smooth, the usual procedure of showing our identification allowed the hotel staff to pull up our booking and the entire process was done within 5 minutes.

The Room

We booked the Romantic Round Bed Room and one of the factors that led us to booking this room was the view. First impression when we entered the room was how spacious it was.

Upon entering the room, the bathroom and a large living area greet us. The room measures 36m² based on what’s listed on Trip.com.

The Bed

Being a round bed, the bed was slightly larger than a normal King size bed. The bed was very comfortable, just the right level of softness, but not too soft to cause a backache.

Room Amenities

All the basics were covered in the room amenities, kettle, water, coffee & tea, and most importantly — room slippers. There was also a plate of snacks that welcomed us when we checked in.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was spacious, with the shower and toilet separated. Though isn’t a big deal, the shower was hard to use, and even with instructions on the wall, wasn’t easily to get the hot water going.

The best part of the bathroom, was the washing machine, which was very useful after our road trip around Western Sichuan, albeit small. Washing detergent was provided too.

Shanshui S Hotel Amenities

There weren’t many amenities in the hotel, not even a gym, but you can see the thoughtfulness throughout the hotel. At each level’s lift lobby, there will be a small table with water and a phone that connects to the front desk. The phone proved to be very useful (more on that in the service section below).

You can also get snacks and tea, right across the front desk. There is also porridge for supper every night.

WiFi

We never got to use the WiFi, as the WiFi does not work with foreign Apple phones, and we had to use our mobile data the entire stay.

The Service

The service of the staff was warm, and were quick to answer our queries whenever we had any. As our flight out of Chengdu was at 8pm, we requested for a late checkout, which was complementary, until 2pm. We also left a review on Trip.com in exchange for an additional hour of late checkout, until 3pm.

As the room keycards stopped working at 12pm, the usual checkout time, we were unable to get into our room when we got back to the hotel around 2pm after some morning shopping. As every lift lobby has a telephone, we phoned the reception from our room level’s lift lobby and the reception staff quickly sent a staff, who happened to be on the same level, to assist us, so we didn’t need to go back down to the reception for a new keycard.

The Location of Shanshui S Hotel Chengdu

Shanshui S (Kuanzhai Alley Tianfu Square) Branch is located very close to some of the main attractions in Chengdu. It’s a 10-minute walk to People’s Park, and a 15-minute walk to Tianfu Square.

The hotel sits on a relatively busy road and it doesn’t have its own drop off area, so cars can only stop along the road. We didn’t encounter any problem getting on or off our Didi rides, but we did have to be quick as there was always many cars right behind, honking.

Price

We paid around SGD 70 per night and from what I noticed, the Romantic Round Bed Room tends to be the cheapest option on most dates. Some dates, the Superior Room (which is smaller, at 32m²) is cheaper.

Final Rating

Cleanliness: 5/5
Price: 5/5
Ambience: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Remote workability: 2/5

Shanshui S (Kuanzhai Alley Tianfu Square) ticked all the right boxes. However, if you’re looking to work remotely, especially if you’re an Apple phone user, you’ll most likely have to rely on your mobile data.

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