Best Western Premier Hotel – Yiwu

I travelled to Yiwu when I first came to China a little over a year and a half ago. Yiwu is very well known to business travelers in China as the country’s largest wholesale market. I think it could quite possibly be the largest one stop wholesale market on the whole planet! There is a mall, or I should say a row of interconnecting malls that span over 2 kilometers and contain shops that feature products ranging from Christmas decorations, to hardware, stationary, undergarments, toys, and everything under the sun that you can imagine China produces. The scale of this shopping district is colossal and the minimum quantity required to purchase any of these products is only 1 carton. The sheer volume of business that takes place in Yiwu is enough to boggle the most complex of minds. But apart from business there is not much more to do in Yiwu, so it is with much apprehension that I accompanied a friend of mine visiting form Africa to the world’s largest wholesale market. The last time I was in Yiwu there was only one large hotel which was very standard but this time I was pleased to find we were staying at the newly constructed Best Western Premier Hotel.

Looking back at my first visit you can see from the frontage of the hotel how much the services in Yiwu have improved since then. Not only is the lobby of the Best Western much more attractive, the buds are a hell of a lot more comfortable. The rooms being brand new had no dank smell and the sheets for soft, clean, and fragrant. There is nothing more comfortable then a good hotel bed with loads of fluffy pillows.

The rooms were also pretty spacious with a large desk to work on and a fairly big TV, although it was not a flat one. The channels were petty bogus with only Star Movies and HBO in English and the picture was out of sync with the speech so they were pretty worthless. The coolest thing however was they they had Fashion TV. And these days they play even better music than MTV. Even music videos now suck ass so watching hot women strut up and down a catwalk suited me just fine. I even caught a lingerie show which was too hot to handle. The usual amenities were also available, free internet, mini-bar, and all that good stuff.

The coolest feature in the rooms at the Best Western Hotel in Yiwu would have to be the window from the bedroom into the bathroom. Fortunately there is a curtain that comes down over the window when you want.

The bathroom features a large tub, sink, toilette, and standing shower. The fittings are all GROHE which are an awesome German brand. The large rain shower head was off the hook after I spent a whole day walking around in minus 5 degree weather.

There is nothing more soothing in that insane weather than coming home to a hot tub as well. Being situated right next to the window allowed me to get a clear view of the TV while reclining in my bathtub soaking up some warmth, and playing with bubbles. It just aint a bubble bath without a healthy amount of bubbles.