WTF! My Hotel Nightmare Totally WRECKED My China Trip!

[Mr. Otis Schaefer]

Hangzhou Fuchun Fantasia Resort: Is it Really Great for Family Fun? My True Experience!

Earlier, I happened upon a video clip of the Hangzhou Fuchun Fantasia Resort on Douyin (China's version of TikTok). It looked amazing in the video: beautiful environment, perfect fit for families with kids, and there were special "family-friendly" rooms designed particularly for children. The advertisements mentioned that you can catch fish from a small stream, enjoy an indoor playground, feed small animals, go boating, and during summer, there’s even an outdoor swimming pool! It was enough to make me drool, so I immediately booked a stay at this resort.

However, the actual experience turned out to be much different than what I expected: I promise that I will never visit this place again!

• ️ Warning: the room issues were most headaches-inducing!

  • I booked a so-called "Lingwa Family-friendly Room," which is specially designed for families with children. Initially, upon entering the room, everything seemed alright.
  • But problems soon popped up:
    • The carpet beneath the child’s slide was utterly dirty! Oh my!
    • There’s another major issue: when I was trying to sleep at midnight, a horrible stench arose from within the room. After investigating, I found out the smell came from sewage leaks through the drainage system in the bathroom!
    • It was past 1 AM when I called the front desk. They said it might be due to a clogged drain, and we could switch rooms. However, the hotel had run out of Lingwa Family-friendly Rooms, so we could only switch to a regular double-bed room, which would have required moving my kid and a ton of luggage. I didn’t want to handle that hassle.
    • With no options left, I opened a sliding door leading to a balcony in order to let some fresh air in. Eventually, the smell dissipated, but then another trouble came; the air conditioner began making a loud noise! At this point, it was beyond the point of being able to settle down and rest. (I actually took some photos, but unfortunately, I couldn’t post a video here, otherwise, you could have heard how crazy this noise was!) My investment of nearly 1000 RMB brought nothing but a night full of troubles.

• Other activities were nothing special either:

  • The so-called “stream" was virtually dried out; only tiny puddles could be found there. It’s almost impossible to catch fish there, let alone play in the water.
  • Besides, the so-called “guagua park” (sounds like a frog-themed park?), “Hobbit village”, “Rubik’s platform”, and “leaf embossing” activities: they were totally different from what I had seen online and were quite boring. I felt extremely disappointed.
  • The fishing experience might have been decent on its own, but after such a disastrous night, I didn’t even have the energy to go fishing the next morning.
  • Canoeing: seemed reasonable, but my child was too young to paddle with me.
  • Outdoor swimming pool: personally, I don’t like swimming in pools, so I didn't join in. And based on the disgusting state of the room, I was also doubtful about the cleanliness of the pool.
  • The so-called “cute animal resort”: nothing special. Visitors need to buy vegetables such as carrots outside the hotel at the entrance at a price of 30 RMB per basket to feed animals.
  • The “dog park( which claimed to provide unlimited access for play): this is simply laughable! There was not even a single dog; it was just an empty piece of land that circled the hotel entrance.

• Admittedly, there are positives, let’s be fair:

  • The hotel’s shuttle service and staff’s attitude were still good.
  • The scenery around the hotel was beautiful, suitable for photography.
  • The stargazing at night was also beautiful.

• An unexpected surprise - Mei Cheng Ancient Town near the hotel:

  • Oh yes, there is an ancient town called Mei Cheng near the hotel, well worth visiting!
  • The natural scenery surrounding the town is beautiful, featuring such attractions as Yuquan Temple, Fengzhen Daoist Temple, Wulong Ridge (a mountain ridge), Wan Song Forests (a forest), "Twin Towers Reaching the Sky"( two towers piercing into the sky), and "Two Rivers Forming Characters" (two rivers’ intersection forming a unique pattern), etc.
  • Cultural background: Mei Cheng Ancient Town holds a little fame in Chinese history. It is said that some famous classical novels like “Outlaws of the Marsh” (like Robin Hood story), “Bureaucracy Satire,” “Classic Tales from the Scholarly World” (stories about ancient intellectuals), and controversial novel “The Golden Lotus” occurred here. Therefore, the town carries a considerable cultural value.
  • Scenic spots in the ancient town: You can visit Wulong Mountain, Yuquan Temple, Yanzhou Ancient City Wall, Qingshui Gate(old gate of city), Taiping Bridge, Wazi District(a traditional entertainment hub).
  • Local delicacies: Please do not miss trying out local specialty dishes, including Meicheng dried noodles, fresh noodles, corn cakes, Yan Zhou grilled pies, Jiande tofu buns, and more.

• In a nutshell,

  • My stay at the resort was really terrible mainly due to the issue with the room, and it gave me lots of headaches.
  • The only silver lining here may come from visiting the nearby Mei Cheng Ancient Town unexpectedly.

[Mr. Otis Schaefer]

Regretting it already, not much fun here.