May 20, 2007
International Youth Hostel in Dalian does not allow Foreigners
I’ve recently been moving content from my Dalian City Guide to a newer, better location, but it seems there’s at least one listing on there that I’m gonna have to remove pronto.
Dalian Sea-Rhyme International Youth Hostel
??????????
This hostel is actually located on a warship, and looks like quite a neato place to stay. But it looks like at least one person ran into some problems. He contacted me, in order to warn others:
“hey this is T (we’ll call him T),
I was trying to post a review of the dalian hostel but got some crazy error messages about spam reports when i clicked send. can you add my coment manually? since your site comes up at the top of the serp for this hostel, i really do hope i can leave this
comment to warn everyone about them. thanks!!!
T from Beijing
T’s Review:
Hi this is T__ from Beijing. Was in Dalian for a day last week and booked a room in advance at the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel on Zhongshan Qu (Warship #104). But upon arriving at the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel I was met by a hostile (not to be confused with hostel) receptionist who refused to allowme through the front doors, claiming that FOREIGNERS ARE NOT ALLOWED at the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel!
I was with my Chinese traveling companion, and we met with the manager of the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel, reminding them that “international” usually means everyone, not just Chinese, and that the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel’s racist, exclusionary policy of refusing westerners contradicted the basic tenants of YHA and HI.
They retorted that because the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel was located on a naval facility that the government had established the NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED at the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel rule, but then how did the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel ever get authorized to use the HI logo on the front of the boat? My intuition says that they were just holding out for
Chinese tour groups because that’s where the real money is, but I will email HI and YHA just in case.I should also add that the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel is located about an hour’s bus ride from the train station and quite a drag to find, especially if you are carrying a big pack. I was quite p.o.’d at having to return all the way back to Shengli Square to find a luguan (cheapest one from a tout for 35rmb), since there are no other affordable accomodations in the area.
It’s a real pity that the Dalian Sea Rhyme Youth Hostel does not allow foreigners, or that any hotel in China has the right to refuse western guests because of the color of our skin, but I hope leaving this post will start some change.
That’s just ridiculous.
So, needless to say, if you’re coming to Dalian you might want to consider scratching this hostel off your list.
For a list of accreddited hostels in China, please go to:
The Hostelling International Website
.
And take note that there is no hostel listed on that site for Dalian.
Surprise surprise…
Maybe change the listing to a warning, but leave it up so people know.
Btw, are we blogging about the new project now?
I thought I’d mention it in passing.
But yeah, fuck it. Let ‘er rip.
Maybe we can run a test podcast tonight.
I am in Suzhou and three or four local hostels display the HI sign that aren’t listed on the IYH site. In fact, not a single hostel is listed here. At least TWO restaurant in town display the Lonely Planet sign and one, YangYang, used to be on there but got taken off because it has fail local health certification three times.
interesting. i knwo of foreigners who have stayed at the warship hostel and had a great time and got along with the workers there.
i’m not so sure that it’s a ‘racist’ policy more than a ’stupid’ policy from the government. perhaps the warship hostel hadn’t applied for the permit to host foreigners as a hotel/hostel and did so (previously) without a permit? that’s just my guess..
trust me, that boat is a piece of crap. no tour groups would stay there..unless it was an ultra cheap tour group i guess?
Yeah… Legal regulations are a bummer. Displaying the sign incorrectly is a bad thing. There’s no reason to pull a listing though… information about something bad is no less than information about something good.
Perhaps worth a Guides post about calling ahead of time too, and making it clear that you’re a foreigner. In the long run it would do a resort good if this was all clear and in the open.
I’ll send an email on my thoughts about site publicity, but my thoughts have aligned with yours, Rick and Chris.
I am siding with Dezza that it’s a lot less likely about the colour of skin and much more likely about protection of government secrets… though perhaps if there are any military secrets in a hostel… China’s got bigger problems then letting some backpacker see them.
International Youth Hostel in Dalian does not allow foreigners…
Dalian’s “International” Youth Hostel is not living up to its name and is denying access to foreigners. Racially spurred or just a silly law in regards to it being located on a navy vessel… we may never know. Apparently it’s crap anyway – still, …
come on alex, is ANYTHING in china “clear and in the open”?
you can’t even buy fresh produce in the market at a ‘clear and open price’! haha
No reason not to expect better though.
When I made reservations for a hotel in Macau, I asked for a specific one that I had looked up on ctrip.
The woman just responded, “This hotel is not suitable for foreigners. You must choose somewhere else.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by this and I was too stunned to ask. Did she mean it was not nice enough for foreigners and therefore only Mainlanders should stay there? Or did she mean I wasn’t allowed to stay?
Maybe I should do a fake inquiry about making a reservation there again and actually ask why this time instead of being like, “Um, okaaaay..??”
Hotels cannot legally deny you for being a foreigner (unless they have government secrets like this one, har har), so ALWAYS call them on it. I was travelling in Gansu a while back. I found one hostel that looked nice, and the lady in there said “sorry, we can’t allow foreigners to stay here”. I told her that her actions were illegal and offered to call the local police station to verify for her. Her face went white, and immediately started the discussion of prices. I purposely continued to haggle with her, and once we agreed on a price, I smiled at her, and told her I’d still be staying at the polite hostel next door. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS call them on crap like this.
31st May 2007, this a date that will be remembered, the long awaited Launch of Hostels247.com has finally arrived.
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The youth travel market is changing fast and growing day by day, it’s all about affordability, inexpensive and budget accommodation, when we say Budget we mean clean and Affordable accommodations, not run down dives. The youth of today are nimble and globally savvy, they know what they want and at what price. They want to be able to get up and go at the drop of a hat and not restricted by boundaries.
They require a fast and easy to use service where they can Search, Book and Go, the last thing they want is Hassle.
Hostels247.com understands the youth travel market and has developed an easy to use, No hassle site that offers a budget and inexpensive accommodation booking, Travel Tips and Guides and a lot more. Unlike other web sites, that I am not going to mention, that claim to know what youth of today and backpackers want, they operate web sites with no clear means of contact, and charge for even to use credit cards on their site, Hostels247.com is made for youth market and Budget travellers, we travel in the same circle and we believe in Get Up and Go and Can Do Attitude.
Might I interest you in buying some ad space, Mr. Piyagarn?
It’s cheap, affordable, and hassle free.
Hey, everybody, may anyone tell me what are the phone numbers of the hostel, Dalian Sea-Rhyme International Youth Hostel. I have some but can’t reach.
Hi Sergey,
I would recommend trying another hostel or hotel, because it seems that for some reason or another, the Sea Rhyme Hostel does not allow non-Chinese people.
:em14:
Maybe try this one:
??????????
Dalian huanan guiji qingnian lushi.
??????1?
xigangqu, yingchun lu 1 hao.
#1 Yingchun Road, Xigang District.
ph: 82496830
See photo
:em32:
hello, tnanx for reply. trying for many days to reach the hostel (??????????
Dalian huanan guiji qingnian lushi. ??????1? xigangqu, yingchun lu 1 hao.
#1 Yingchun Road, Xigang District.
), it seems impossible. the number is wrong, maybe you know other cheap accomodation in Dalian?
I have read that the person ( so called T) has found “I was quite p.o.’d at having to return all the way back to Shengli Square to find a luguan (cheapest one from a tout for 35rmb), since there are no other affordable accomodations in the area”. Do you know what is it? And how to find it, maybe it’s possible to contact the person for more information like phone numbers, adress etc. Please, contact the person.
Thanx in advance.
Sergey, I have a short list of 3-star hotels here that maybe you could try.
http://www.pandapassport.com/dalian/?cat=34
Sorry to hear you’re having trouble with the other numbers. :em41:
About Huanan International Youth Hostel (???????? huánán guójì q?ngnián l?sh?). The hostel is no more exist. You can find here HUAYUE BUSINESS HOTEL. Adress is the same: 1, Yingchun Lu. Tel: +86-411-82588666, +86-411-82588866. You can reach the hotel just taking 706 bus from Zhongshan Lu close to Qingniwa shopping area and Victory Square. Rates start from 118 RMB for a room. It was in a high season.
dear Admin change please information on this page http://www.pandapassport.com/dalian/?p=80
so im in tianjin right now and yesterday i tried to get a hotel and 2 said that they are only allowed to take chinese people. and that i must find a hotel that is permited to do so. i was very suprised at this. so is it true that hotels need a special permit to take in westerners?