I searched and think this is the first review entered for the "Grand Howard Hotel" in Qingxi, China. It is a gritty industrial town about a 1 hours drive from Shenzen in Guongdong province.

Our host told us that the Grand Howard was the first western hotel in town. It sure had a lot of the trappings of a 5 star hotel, and I expect that this is as close as you will come to one without a 1 hour drive.

The lobby is impressive and multistory. The service at the counter was just OK. Very slow. When I checked out there was a line of other people checking out too (maybe 3 others). There was only one person doing checkouts. Meanwhile there were 4 staff members working away by themselves at the check-in counter. I think no one ever explained the concept of customer service.

There is a small gift shop in the lobby well stocked with every top high-end designer name you can imagine at bargain prices. Gucci, Prada, etc. You could even buy a set of Callaway golf clubs! Oh, and of course I am absoluely, positively, sure that everything is completely authentic, and not a knock off! Kind of funny to see this in the hotel.

Interestingly, there is a 97-room KTV Karaoke nightclub on the 3rd floor. No kidding. I guess this hotel is a major destination for recreation in this otherwise gritty town. I poked my head in there, and it seemed well attended. But the staff in there spoke no English.

In general, finding English speakers in the hotel was tough. The front desk had some, but the restaurant not.

The room was clean and well furnished. Although I could not figure out the TV. There were two remote controls and a note saying that one was for digital TV and one for analog. I was able to get CNN, so that was OK.

There was a caution in the bathroom not to drink the water. I expected this, given the fact that this was kind of an industrial frontier town. You have to be very careful - they did serve tapwater and ice in the restaurant.

The food in the restaurant was OK. I had a hamburger and fries (the first western food I had after a week in China). It was decent. There was a breakfast buffet with eggs made to order. There was plenty of staff in the restaurant to help out, but only one English speaker in there. I was not able to convey the concept of "decaffeinated coffee."

I would absolutely stay here again, and recommend it to anyone planning to visit Qingxi. Although I do not have direct experience, I was warned the that the alternatives were pretty scary. I did drive past another hotel in town called the "Grand Oscar" (no kidding). If I was going back I would either stay here, or stay in Shenzen and put up with the one-hour drive.