The Hostelz.com Review
Perfect Time International Youth Hostel is affiliated with the Chinese YHA and as with all such hostels you either need to be a member of a YHA of any country, join on the spot, or pay for temporary membership in the form of a higher price for your bed or room. There are no curfews or lockouts but the common area is closed at 11:30 p.m. It's a long bus ride from the city centre. There is Wi-Fi internet access throughout the hostel and smoking is permitted in the common area.
The Location
The hostel is located in the mostly fake but attractive Old Town - Ci Qi Kou and is forty-five minutes-plus by bus 202 from the North rail station and associated bus station. The 202 bus arrives from the north -- when you cross a bridge over a ravine and find yourself in an area of attractive but commercialised old-style buildings, get off! Walk back to a pedestrian pathway behind a Chinese archway and turn left into it. Continue to the end and turn right, when you come to some steps the hostel is on the left. It's about ten minutes from the bus stop.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The accommodation floors are much more basic than the very attractive reception and common area you first encounter. The dorms are basic but adequate and accommodate either four or eight people. The bunks are wooden and have thin hard traditional mattresses; there are individual lights, a power point and a small shelf for each bunk. Aircon is provided but it is disabled from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Each guest is given a key for the door and one for a large locker.
The bathroom facilities are common, of low standard and totally inadequate. The toilets, Asian style, are on the second floor -- males have just sufficient facilities (three cubicles and two standees) but there are just two cubicles for all the females who are not in en-suite private rooms. The showers are on the third floor -- separate male and female showers each have two shower heads without any curtains and the doors open directly onto the common passageway. This means two persons might shower together, but if one person enters and locks the door -- as they are likely to, as most people prefer to shower alone, and even if they open the door, anyone can look in -- the bottom line is that there is really only a single shower for each gender!
Common Spaces
The indoor common area is attractive and quite large with many soft sofas and tables. There's a pool table, a DVD player with projection, and one internet-connected PC. Wi-Fi is available through the hostel but it seems unreliable. A bar is also a major feature with drinks available but no economy beer. Local and western food is also available from the bar (though we never saw anyone eat there in two days), but there is no members' kitchen, only hot and cold water. Music is always played in the common area, often loudly. An outdoor balcony alongside the indoor area has a view across the river. Smoking is permitted throughout the hostel -- there are no signs forbidding it in the dorms. There's a single sink for hand-washing clothes and a covered outdoor drying area as well as a fee-payable washing machine.
Summary
The hostel presents a very attractive image when the traveler arrives but it is not as good as it looks. The worst is undoubtedly the bathroom facilities -- they are totally inadequate and low quality. The lack of a nonmoking area is a real issue when there is ample space to provide one, and there should always be signs enforcing no smoking in dormitories. It could be quite a partying location as there is an attractive bar facility set in a very pleasant common area, but the high prices and closing the common area at 11:30 p.m. severely reduce that likelihood. Closing the common area so early is hardly in line with the expectations of today's hostelers. On our final morning, no breakfast was available and checkout took twenty minutes as no one could be found to handle it. Unless you especially want to be located in the mostly fake old town, we suggest you check out other hostels first.
The Location
The hostel is located in the mostly fake but attractive Old Town - Ci Qi Kou and is forty-five minutes-plus by bus 202 from the North rail station and associated bus station. The 202 bus arrives from the north -- when you cross a bridge over a ravine and find yourself in an area of attractive but commercialised old-style buildings, get off! Walk back to a pedestrian pathway behind a Chinese archway and turn left into it. Continue to the end and turn right, when you come to some steps the hostel is on the left. It's about ten minutes from the bus stop.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The accommodation floors are much more basic than the very attractive reception and common area you first encounter. The dorms are basic but adequate and accommodate either four or eight people. The bunks are wooden and have thin hard traditional mattresses; there are individual lights, a power point and a small shelf for each bunk. Aircon is provided but it is disabled from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Each guest is given a key for the door and one for a large locker.
The bathroom facilities are common, of low standard and totally inadequate. The toilets, Asian style, are on the second floor -- males have just sufficient facilities (three cubicles and two standees) but there are just two cubicles for all the females who are not in en-suite private rooms. The showers are on the third floor -- separate male and female showers each have two shower heads without any curtains and the doors open directly onto the common passageway. This means two persons might shower together, but if one person enters and locks the door -- as they are likely to, as most people prefer to shower alone, and even if they open the door, anyone can look in -- the bottom line is that there is really only a single shower for each gender!
Common Spaces
The indoor common area is attractive and quite large with many soft sofas and tables. There's a pool table, a DVD player with projection, and one internet-connected PC. Wi-Fi is available through the hostel but it seems unreliable. A bar is also a major feature with drinks available but no economy beer. Local and western food is also available from the bar (though we never saw anyone eat there in two days), but there is no members' kitchen, only hot and cold water. Music is always played in the common area, often loudly. An outdoor balcony alongside the indoor area has a view across the river. Smoking is permitted throughout the hostel -- there are no signs forbidding it in the dorms. There's a single sink for hand-washing clothes and a covered outdoor drying area as well as a fee-payable washing machine.
Summary
The hostel presents a very attractive image when the traveler arrives but it is not as good as it looks. The worst is undoubtedly the bathroom facilities -- they are totally inadequate and low quality. The lack of a nonmoking area is a real issue when there is ample space to provide one, and there should always be signs enforcing no smoking in dormitories. It could be quite a partying location as there is an attractive bar facility set in a very pleasant common area, but the high prices and closing the common area at 11:30 p.m. severely reduce that likelihood. Closing the common area so early is hardly in line with the expectations of today's hostelers. On our final morning, no breakfast was available and checkout took twenty minutes as no one could be found to handle it. Unless you especially want to be located in the mostly fake old town, we suggest you check out other hostels first.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
June 2011
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