Bargaining

[tangbaba]

I was reading up on a travel book and it said that in some areas, you might need to bargain for 宾馆 and 如家 。 Anyone have any advice or know how prevalent this is? (This is for Taishan mountain summit)

[pon00050]

Bargaining for hotels?

I have never done that myself and  I have never seen or heard anyone who's done that.

But, my experience is very limited. I am sure that other members can offer  better informed opinions on this matter.

[abcdefg]

10 hours ago, tangbaba said:

Anyone have any advice or know how prevalent this is? (This is for Taishan mountain summit)

 

In a situation like this, where demand far exceeds supply, you should count on paying the full list price for lodging (or anything else, for that matter.) 

 

In other situations, it doesn't hurt to try if you have something to bargain with, in other words, if you have some bargaining power. "Can you give me a better price since we are a group of 25 people and are prepared to hold our company business meeting here as well?" Or "Can you give me a better price since I am prepared to book for one month and pay cash in advance?"

 

Sometimes when I have no good reason to expect a discount, I will still ask "Can you give it to me cheaper?" 可以少一点吗？“ But then I l don't pursue it, just let it drop if they say no. 

 

Any such bargaining, of course, needs to take place in Chinese. And you are at an immediate disadvantage if your appearance gives you away as an obvious foreigner. 

 

[Pandarow]

Typically if you are going to stay at a chained hotel like 如家 and 锦江, it is not easy to bargain. If you are staying at some non-name hotels, you may find a good price discount with bargaining and that is more common. I would recommend you to use Qunar or Ctrip to book hotels before going to Taishan, the price is not transparent in most scenic spots, especialy those non-brand hotels.

[tangbaba]

Interesting stuff thanks for the feedback. From the book I got, it suggested it was more like a home stay on the summit. People apparently wait near the hotel on the summit to offer to stay in their cramped houses for like 125 rmb a night. My mandarin is pretty broken and I look western so hopefully they don’t overcharge me too much.

[abcdefg]

Advice: Figure out on your own ahead of time what you are prepared to pay for spending the night on top. If they ask for more than that amount, then counter with a more acceptable offer. If they say no, smile and climb back down to the bottom. Strength lies in being of one mind; in not waffling about, blown this way and that by shyness or indecision. 

 

It should be too obvious to need saying, but do your bargaining in advance. Do it at the front end of the deal. Don't just mutely smile and hope for the best and then get upset at the end when they ask for what you consider an unfairly large sum. 

 

This is not a gentleman's game. This is every-day, street-level business. Best to try and master it early in the course of your China visit. You can handle this transaction with minimal command of the language. You can write numbers on a scratch pad or display them on your phone. 

 

If you are in fact an Old Asia Hand and not a China Newbie, then I apologize for stating things which are so elementary and basic.