Home Inn 如家酒店 in Changchun 长春

Within the chaos that is Changchun Railway Station, I discovered several buses which stop at the station. The trick was choosing which one. I was trying to find a hostel which was recommended by Lonely Planet and I took one of the buses which was parked at the station. I really had no idea where it will take me and I was just looking at the map hoping that I know where I was. The map doesn’t have that many landmarks so it was tough to find out where I was. As you can imagine, blocks in China can be quite big so you can never be sure if you have already crossed a block in the map when you crossed that small street just now.

In the end, I got off the bus too early, and the inn was nowhere in sight. I had a vague idea where it might be and I started walking towards that direction with all my stuff. Fortunately, I packed light so it wasn’t as bad. After crossing a major intersection, forgot which street it was, I came to an area which seemed to have a few places to stay. I’m not sure why they are bunched here though and I never found out why. I didn’t find the hostel to my dismay and I didn’t want to stay at the seedier looking ones nearby. So I ended up staying at the relatively posh Home Inn 如家酒店 just across the street.

At CNY 150 a night, it was a relatively expensive place to stay for me. There was no discount to be had there but I guess you are paying for quality. The Home inn is a chain of budget hotels which can be found all over China even within the same city. You can even franchise if you want to. It is actually a business hotel for the budget conscious and it is quite pleasant. The rooms as large and very clean. They even come with television and airconditioning if you needed it. The bathroom was a godsend as it was sparkling clean and it comes with fresh towels. You can expect nothing less from this chain. The price would be quite okay if you are the budget business traveller, but for a backpacker like me, it might be a once-in-a-while splurge. Besides, I get the whole room and I don’t need to share it with anyone else. And contrary to its name, staying here is actually better than where I stay now.

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