Hotel4Real!

The JI brand was born as one of the first attempts to break into the midscale market by China’s leading economy hotel chain Huazhu (later stylized as H World). It was founded in 2010 and has since been wildly successful with more than 3,000 hotels in operation as we speak. In smaller Chinese cities like Xinxiang, it’s not uncommon to find little (in Xinxiang’s case, no) presence of international hotels, and these are the places where brands like JI comes in and promise a premium experience at a budget-friendly price. So, what exactly is the typical JI experience like? I decided to find out for myself.

Upon arrival, we were surprised to find signs to a handful of hotels basically congealed together, with JI being one of them. However, the JI hotel did have its own lobby, and it was actually quite nice and welcoming, with a gift shop area in the corner and a complimentary snack and tea bar closer to the door. Check-in was uneventful and somewhat transactional, but the lady at the front desk did reveal to us that this particular JI hotel occupied the lower floors of the high-rise building while other hotels could be found higher up, and that none of the properties would share any indoor space, including elevators, throughout the building – quite a smart setup if you ask me, and it turned out to be fairly common among select service hotels in China.

We took the elevator upstairs and quickly found our room. At first glance, it felt aesthetically pleasing and fairly well put together. The layout was pretty standard, with a smaller bathroom, sink and closet space at the door, and sitting area alongside the window to save floor space. Most surfaces and items were woodgrain or of a lighter and warmer tone of colour, adding the “hominess” while keeping the contemporary vibe.

One thing of note though was the aggressive application of smart technologies in the room. H World was apparently a leader in this field, and having a voice-controlled smart assistant had been a brand standard for JI Hotels for a while now. That being said, apart from the smart toilets, I personally do not see much value in having other things under voice control – call me old-school, but I’d rather hit a button to turn off my lights.

Another thing that caught my eyes was the tea set on our coffee table when we arrived. I am a huge tea drinker so I was initially quite hopeful – the tea that came with the set packaging got me excited for a hot second because the packaging looked like loose leaves, but then I discovered it was still your regular tea bag. The tea itself was mid too, so I’m not sure if the tea set was entirely necessary. A gimmick at best.

Now, I did have a MAJOR problem with the room we got – cigarette smoke. The entire hotel was non-smoking, so I wasn’t entirely sure how the cigarette smoke even got there, but the whole room stank of it, and opening the window did little to no good. Worse yet, the beddings, having been soaked in the stench, also smelled of old cigarette butts, and immediately triggered my allergies as soon as I laid my head on the pillow. To be fair, I didn’t bring this up for some reason so the front desk had no chance to rectify this during our short stay, and when I brought this up at check out, they were still very apologetic and offered solutions for my next stay including new beddings and air purifiers. They also gave me a little gift as a gesture which was appreciated. Ironically, the gift was a “scent pouch” for cars, I loved it but my partner really hated it and insisted it was triggering his motion sickness. Alas, sometimes you just can’t win =\

All things considered, while I myself would be cautious booking again for personal reasons, I agree that this hotel and JI as a brand can be charismatic in their own way. As H World’s mainstream midscale brand, it has without doubt been successful in its market segment – in fact, the hotel included franchising ads on our TV home screen, and they were proudly showing off their ~CA$60 RevPAR – a VERY strong number for a midscale chain that focuses solely on Chinese mainland. At their pace of expansion, I’m sure I’ll cross paths with another JI property some time in the near future, and until then, I look forward to China banning smoking nationwide.

RealScore

Service: 7.5

Design and Room Size: 7.5

In-room Amenities: 7

Bathroom Size and Layout: 7

View from (my) Room: 5

Hotel Location: 7

Available Guest Facilities: 7

Food Quality: N/A

Food and Beverage Service: N/A

Executive Lounge Quality: N/A

Final RealScore: 6.86

Final RealRating: B

Hotel is built/opened: 2021

Total number of rooms: 137

Length of stay: 1 night

Membership level at check-in: Silver

Room type experienced: Standard Room