There are budget hotels, and then there are budget hotels.
A Xiaohongshu user, known by his surname Yang, has made a name for himself by travelling across China to review ultra-cheap accommodations, some costing as little as 10 yuan (S$1.90) a night.
Aside from a single bed, amenities at these lodgings vary from place to place — a toilet is not always guaranteed, neither is hygiene.
Yang recently gave a tour of a room in Dongguan that costs 15 yuan (S$2.80) a night, and let’s just say… it left the internet horrified.
Scroll down for pictures.
For starters, the door looked like it had been “bombed” and was “difficult to lock”, and the light switch very grimy.
The bed, which Yang described as 1.5m-long, was equally gross with — you guessed it — a suspicious brown stain.
If you’re in the mood to catch up on work, a desk and a mold-ridden office chair with rusty metal handles await.
Take a seat, and you might very well have to get a tetanus jab after.
As for the loo? It’s separated from the bed by cardboard and a cloth.
Though basic with just a squat toilet and a small tap next to it, it didn’t seem so bad compared to the rest of the room.
But the real surprise awaits at the rooftop, where the shared shower was located.
The rooftop was essentially a mini landfill, filled with piles of plastic bottles and trash.
The shower itself features a plastic bucket for washing clothes, a simple water source, and a cracked cement floor.
Despite the rough conditions, Yang gave the hotel a rating of 7/10, concluding that for the price, “it’s not bad”.
Seriously?!
Netizens were shocked, with some saying they wouldn’t stay there even if you paid them.
One user commented: “If you sleep here for a night, you might end up spending 1.5K yuan (S$277) treating newly developed skin and breathing problems.”
Some even questioned if the place could even be considered a hotel.
However, one user explained the lodging caters to those in financial hardship who can’t afford basic housing and criticised Yang for bringing attention to it “in such a judgmental manner”.
But another user clapped back: “With hygiene conditions like this, even the homeless wouldn’t want to stay here. The playground is much cleaner.”