Home Inn: Nanchang... familiar is good

Familiarity is good.

For this reason, we rather like the Home Inn hotel chain.

In fact, we’re card carrying members.

Truth be known, we’ve reached Gold Card status.

When we needed to book a hotel for the adoption, we naturally chose Home Inn. It’s only a 2 star hotel in China (think staying at the Howard Johnson (clean and simple) instead of The Ritz-Carlton (posh with amenities). I’ve never stayed in a Home Inn that was not sparkling clean. They always have:

• (relatively) comfortable beds
• free internet
• a water bottle in the room with cold/hot heating options
• good room rates
• a/c
• the same paint color scheme and standard of cleanliness nationwide
• the hotel restaurant isn’t bad!

In Nanchang, we stayed Home Inn on BaYi DaDao. The price: 150rmb per night. ($21.97)

The BaYi DaDao location was perfect:

• 8 minute walk to the Adoption Services Center
• 10 minute walk to the Square: Walmart, Papa Johns, KFC, etc.
• 15 minute walk to the notary
• 5 minute walk to the long-distance bus station across the street (where the airport bus stops 10rmb/person – $1.46)
• 5 minute taxi to the train station (8rmb – $1.17)

Sandra likes the Home Inn because the floors are not carpeted. Doesn’t it seem like cigarette smoke is always in the carpet? Since the average Chinese man smokes 15 cigarettes a day, it’s not uncommon for a non-smoking room to have a smoker inside.

We often call the hotel “Ikea” because the beds look straight from an Ikea showroom, but really, it’s the bold yellow bathroom tile and brightly colored walls that really make the connection in our minds.

These days, we prefer to book a double bed room so that Schäfer can have his own space to sleep. We call him our “maniac sleeper” because he’s always shuffling around while he dreams. Yes, this makes Hubs and I a bit snug, but we like that.

Ikea anyone?

Sometimes the bathrooms are small…sometimes huge…but always spotless.

Here’s the room after being “lived in” for 3 days. We really appreciate the hot water cooler since we eat oatmeal for breakfast. We also need hot water for making bottles.

At home in the Home Inn!