Frequently Asked Questions

If you don't find the answers to your questions here, or on our Travel Tips page, please contact us with your specific questions, and we will be happy to assist you.

1. How are you different from all the other on-line reservation sites?

We are the only site in the whole world that's focused exclusively on hotel-apartments (see explanation in 2nd question) in China for business travelers from the US, Japan and Europe. We work with quality local hotel apartments that are capable of hosting foreign guests. Through our agreement with these hotel apartments, we offer the rooms at 50% to 70% of the equivalent star-hotels and the rack rate. You get spacious apartment living at less than one room in a hotel. We are also implementing plans to offer even more convenience to our member guests, things like paying for the hotel stay by credit card, etc. Watch out email for announcements soon.

2. What is a hotel-apartment and why is it a preferred place to stay?

A hotel-apartment is born out of a hotel and apartment. It's an apartment that behaves like a hotel.Your stay can be one-day, two days, a week or longer.You get to stay in a one-bed room, two bed room apartments- with furniture, beddings, regular cleaning services, and other amenities like DSL connection, security, well-managed recreational facilities such as gymnasium, swimming pool, etc.For the same or less than a regular hotel room, you get to stretch out in spacious rooms, where the living room can act as your mobile office, leave the bed room to a place of rest.You get value, convenience and choice with hotel apartments.

3. How do I become a member and is there a fee to join?

For a limited time, the annual membership fee of $45 is waived. All you have to do is register, and instantly, you can log into the members area and enjoy all the hotel discounts right away.

4. What services can I enjoy as a CS101 registered member?

Deeply discounted hotel-apartment service is the core of our offerings to you right now. Our mission, however, is to make your every road trip to China a home run. To this end, we are working with prospective vendors in China to meet our objectives. Stay tuned for additional services from us to make your China trips home/office away from home/office.

We'd like to hear from you too. Tell us in what areas can we make your trips more productive, efficient and comfortable.

5. What's the level of discount I can expect to get as a member?

The difference between retail and member rates range from 25% to 70%, depending on the hotel-apartments. That's a huge savings. If you take into account the savings from staying at a comparable international chain hotel, the savings are even great, not to mention the added room/space.

6. How far in advance should I reserve a room for my trip?

Ideally, make your hotel reservation after you know where specifically you will be in the cities you will conduct business. Beijing and Shanghai are so big, that it could take up to 2 hours in taxi from one end to another. Once you know the locations you will be visiting, look up for hotel-apartments that are in the general area, consulting our the city maps on our site.

If you need help with deciding where to make your reservation, please contact our customer service for help.

7. Can I cancel my reservation after it's confirmed?

When your travel plans change, let us know right away. In some cases, there might be a small service fee to be paid to the hotel for late cancellation. Our customer service personnel will be happy to assist you in making alternate reservations.

8. If you don't take my money, how do I know my reservation is confirmed?

The use of credit card in China is still more of the exception than the rule. It is a generally accepted practice to hold a hotel reservation based on the good wills of the customer and the hotel-apartments.

If you require later check-in than the hotel apartment, please specify it with your reservation.

That said, most of the hotel systems in the Western brand name hotel-apartments rely on more on manual input than that's the norm in the US. We do our best to ensure all reservations are good. In the unlikely cases when there is an issue, we will resolve it to your satisfaction.

9. At the front desk, can I pay for my China stay with credit card?

Many of the hotel-apartments will accept foreign credit cards; although we strongly recommend that you pay for your stay in RMB, the local currency. Credit card usage is still an exception than the rule, and most Chinese merchants will charge you, the customer, service fee they have to pay to the bank. So, with the service fee (somewhere between 2 to 4% of the total) from the hotel-apartment, and the service charge from your credit card company, you could end up paying close to 8 to 10% more than what you have to.

For more on cash and credit card use in China, refer to our newsletter here.

We find the most convenient place to exchange your money for RMB is at the airport. Right after you come into the receiving lobby, there will be a bank open for currency exchanging.

10. I don't recognize most of these hotel-apartment names. Are they up to the standards that I am used to?

These hotel-apartments are selected based on their location, level of service and value they provide to the guests. Most of the hotel rooms are built according to international standards. Compared to the $100, $200 a night at better known brand chain hotel rates, these are worth the rate they charge. You will know, once you experience them.

11. What if I need to stay longer than one month, is there discount for my reservation if it's on a monthly rather than daily basis?

Almost all of the hotel-apartments have longer term lease programs, monthly, quarterly, etc. We will be happy to work with you, based on your specific requirements. Please email customer service, and you will hear from us within 36 hours.