No-frills hotel boom hits China

The no-frills hotel industry is booming in China, ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics, according to a report published in The Guardian. Even though many of these hotels are housed in former office building in bustling Chinese cities, such as Shanghai, most clients who choose budget over full-accommodation seem perfectly willing to forgo the luxuries and accept far simpler living conditions than what one would find at major hotel chains, or in larger establishments. Motel168, located near Shanghai’s business centre, is one such discount hotel, which is riding the current trend that appears to favour low-cost accommodation. According to the Guardian, backpackers are hardly the only ones taking advantage of the low prices offered by these hotels. Businesspeople and ordinary tourists are just as interested in saving money by giving up comfortable suites in China’s more glamorous establishments.

There are now over 100,000 low-cost hotel rooms across China, which represents a major increase over the course of the past eight years. Back in 2000, there were no large budget hotels operating in the world’s most populous country. Some analysts have compared the current trend in China to the motel boom that the United States famously experienced over fifty years ago. Hanting Hotels’ chief financial officer, Wang Lie, predictes that China may just become the largest low-cost hotel market in the world, within the next few years, provided that this industry continues to develop at such a rapid pace. This prediction hardly seems unrealistic when one considers that China’s population is about four times larger than that of the United States.