The Hostelz.com Review
Mix Hostel Chengdu Guesthouse was set up by Mix, a young Chinese traveler who has stayed at many hostels and therefore knows what a backpacker really wants. The hostel is a large three-story house with an open courtyard centre, which has coal fires gently burning away during winter. The decor of graffitied messages scrawled on every inch of wall and Mix's travel photos hung on the walls gives you that travelers' feeling.
The dorms are either four- or six-bed and are very reasonably priced with winter deals making this even cheaper. They are a bit squishy and don't have lockers but they are cleaned everyday, and each person has their own key. As they don't have double-glazing on the windows, the rooms get very cold -- some rooms have working heaters but if these don't work, then the free electric blankets ensure that you don't get chilly sleeping.
There is no guest kitchen here but they have a good, reasonably priced food (try the banana pancakes!) and they have hot and cold water dispensers on all floors. The downstairs area is the social area with the internet room (free internet), TV room where you can watch DVDs for free all day long, restaurant and general area where you can sit around the fires and chat or just defrost in winter.
All the staff speak good English and can help you with almost anything. There is a pack of cats living here -- each one seems to have claimed it's own room but they just sleep and don't bother anyone. Finding the hostel is quite easy, as it is just off the main road where a number of buses travel along. If you arrive by train, then you can be picked up for free as long as you let them know what time you will be arriving.
The dorms are either four- or six-bed and are very reasonably priced with winter deals making this even cheaper. They are a bit squishy and don't have lockers but they are cleaned everyday, and each person has their own key. As they don't have double-glazing on the windows, the rooms get very cold -- some rooms have working heaters but if these don't work, then the free electric blankets ensure that you don't get chilly sleeping.
There is no guest kitchen here but they have a good, reasonably priced food (try the banana pancakes!) and they have hot and cold water dispensers on all floors. The downstairs area is the social area with the internet room (free internet), TV room where you can watch DVDs for free all day long, restaurant and general area where you can sit around the fires and chat or just defrost in winter.
All the staff speak good English and can help you with almost anything. There is a pack of cats living here -- each one seems to have claimed it's own room but they just sleep and don't bother anyone. Finding the hostel is quite easy, as it is just off the main road where a number of buses travel along. If you arrive by train, then you can be picked up for free as long as you let them know what time you will be arriving.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
April 2007
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Home away from home I have stayed in the Mix Hostel a couple of times in October (for one night) and November (a week). It was the first hostel I have ever stayed in so I didn't know what to expect. Straight away the hostel seemed very welcoming, the staff are brilliant. Many speak English and always seem happy and always willing to help. I stayed in dorms (four- and six-bed), although relatively small they had decent features such as reading lamps, storage lockers, and hooks to hang things on as well as a small shelf next to each bed. The food was quite good, although the pizzas are very cheesy. Bathrooms, toilets were relatively clean and the western toilets were a godsend. If you stay on the second floor you have to go up a floor to shower, a minor gripe. The showers themselves are decent but the temperature can change frequently if other people are using water. Location is decent -- thirty minutes' walk to Tianfu Square. Taxi costs 15yuan from main bus station Xinnamen. One of the best things about Mix hostel is the atmosphere, the outdoor garden (which I missed the first time) is a great place to relax, talk to people, and have a drink or two. When I come back to China and go to Chengdu I will definitely stay again. — Adam , England (2009-11-25) Nice impression but bad performance Showers are broken, internet is the slowest possible if there is any access at all, staff speaks minimal english, ac doesn't work properly or rattles all night like a rattlesnake. toilets and all around smell, the songpan tour they offer looks like a good deal but you get drunken drivers leaving off without you. a deposit of 200 yuan leaves you with a threat to call the police as the deposit slip isn't worth a dime. they call you a liar claiming you never paid for the rooms, which is ridiculous for we spent over 5000 yuan going to the opera and songpan and the panda's. they wake you up in the morning telling you have only ten minutes left to catch the bus instead of the one and half hour they told you the day before. reservations are just deleted without reason so when you come back from songpan the rooms are sold, so why take chances? — Karen Middendorp , Holland (2008-08-04) Yes, definitely one of the best! we stayed there in june 2007. well, they have everything that you need in a hostel. free drinking water, free internet access, board games, and helpful staff! — siew lian , singapore (2007-09-13) Spectacular This hostel is fairly westernized and the staff really do speak English. I didn't have to reserve a room online with some kind of percentage fee, wondering if I was investing in a good thing. I just e-mailed them and asked them to save a room for me and friends. They responded quickly and were even accommodating to last-minute flight changes. The hostel itself doesn't look like that much on the outside. The entrance is shrouded by bamboo plants. But inside, it's got the worldly style of a backpacker hostel. Staying there for four nights, the biggest assets were the willingness of the staff to help you, the array of foreigners from everywhere whom you could converse with -- that is, if you could find a seat -- and the showers. I've been living in China for four months and I've never had such a good shower. The kitchen and menu isn't the greatest, but it mainly appeals to tourists rather than backpackers. I'd rather eat at a dingy noodle house and burn my throat on Sichuan cooking (and I thought Xin Jiang food was spicy!). This place isn't as authentic and charming as some other hostels you might find, but it is a very comfortable place to be. — Mike , United States (2007-06-15) This is one of the best hostel I have been! This is by far the best in China. The location is great, the staff is really nice and good, the hostel is very clean, and the atmosphere is really cool and great. What else can I say? I was there in June last year (2006). — Mudem , Belgium (2007-05-15) One word I can say about this hostel is excellent. They helped me in every step to travel there. Also I can get each and every facility in there. I think this is the best hostel in Chengdu. — PRITAM MITRA , INDIA (2007-05-07) The best hostel in China by far! This place seems very new so is spotlessly clean and the staff are keen to be friendly and helpful, even by western standards. I really enjoyed the Chengdu area and this hostel made it all the better with great, free amenities. Many people going from or heading to Lhasa if that helps. — Mikey , England (2007-03-31) Good clean rooms, the cheapest in Chengdu. This place has friendly helpful staff, clean bathrooms and toilets (hot private showers!). Nice communal area with a water feature and traditional Chinese decor. It's a good place to either meet people if you want to, or there are nooks and crannies to just chill out and read. Good Internet connection, cheap bike hire, and pretty much everything you could want from a hostel — keep up the good work! One of the nicest places I've stayed at in China. — Tangle (2005-10-29) The Mix & Backpacker's Guesthouse was clean, comfortable and had helpful and friendly staff. The hostel's kitchen provided good quality food at reasonable prices. The hostel had a great atmosphere and there were many communal areas where you could sit and relax. — Matt W. (2005-08-21)