Courtyard by Marriott Changchun

Super easy checkin. I always pay the room rate in full on arrival unless there are obvious issues, however I always refuse to pay a deposit. The main reason for this is that it can often take months to get the deposits back using foreign cards anywhere in China and everywhere you go hotels and restaurants want deposits using the pretence of VIP cards which in fact don't offer anything other than small discounts which you can usually negotiate anyway. This is the first group who have not argued about deposits in the three years I have been here! Breakfast is quite close to my expectation of a European style despite there being very few non Chinese that we saw here. We decided to eat in our room on arrival after the long drive and were amused by the prompt service and phone call from the corridor made by the little robot who had delivered our light evening meal! Quick note to say our bedroom was airy, comfortable and well-kept. The hotel is very clean, unusually all of the Gym machines were in good order yesterday (we have encountered many broken ones in surprisingly well-known high-level brands) and the indoor pool and other facilities were in good order. Having driven over 800 kms to reach the hotel we requested a late checkout at 2pm, two hours after the stated time which was easily agreed and much appreciated. The underground car parking served by lifts directly travelling to the lobby made our entry very easy and kept the car secure with the added benefit of staying cool as the roasting temperatures' of almost 40c had previously played havoc with the electronics in our car. The location is ideal for onward travel being very close to the motorway of our ongoing Northern travel which worked very well when we departed. All in all an enjoyable experience, enhanced by the charming staff complimented by an excellent Breakfast Chef who understood a picky Brits request for a fresh, runny fried egg. To sum up a quick "hats off" and thank you to the...