A couple that were almost great...

Following my article on the best places we've stayed, here's another one about some hostels that didn't quite make it...

Mingtown People's Square, Shanghai, China

Being the hostel professionals that we now are, we've spent a lot of time over the last twelve months discussing the qualities that make a good hostel. We've talked about atmosphere, decor, staff, location and so on. While these are all without any doubt absolutely essential, there remains a more elusive quality that is harder to identify. In the same way that a person cannot learn charisma, there is something about the very best hostels that can't be manufactured or imitated by their lesser rivals however hard they try. This hostel in Shanghai is a perfect example.

The location, first of all, is excellent. In a city the size of Shanghai, it is impossible to be near all the sights; however, within walking distance of this branch of the Mingtown chain is the People's Park which contains the Shanghai Museum, surely one of the best in the country, and not much further is Nanjing Road, China's most famous shopping street. Just a bit further, at the other end of Nanjing Road, lies the Bund, perhaps Shanghai's most famous landmark.

The reception staff were friendly if perhaps a little cold and the same was true of the bar staff - they would answer your questions and smile while they served you beer but the conversation was only one way. I think the bar itself was the big problem. It looked perfect, two large U shaped sofas, some small tables, a free pool table, seemingly the perfect place to meet new people and chat about your travels. First of all, though, I think the seating arrangement was wrong. If I take as an example my beloved Leo's in Beijing, the tables there seemed almost deliberately designed to make people talk to each other. They were too large for the average group of backpackers travelling together so people would inevitably end up sharing. The low tables facing the DVD screen also appeared to be deliberately arranged to ensure maximum interaction. In fact this appearance was no coincidence as I later discovered when I talked to one of the owners - he confirmed that no little amount of thought had gone into the the layout of the bar in order to create exactly this effect. The hostel in Shanghai was exactly the opposite. The the bar had apparently been laid out without any real consideration and as a result chatting with other travellers was at a minimum. We stayed for a week and it took us three or four days to build up a small group of friends to sit with each evening.

Then there was a certain almost comical level of incompetence behind the bar. In the evenings from seven to ten (or something like that, I can't remember exactly) there was a happy hour with a "buy one, get one free" offer on cocktails. Now, for taking cold beers out of the fridge and handing them over to me, the staff were able to cope. When it came to mixing drinks, however, it was clear that they were out of their depth. One example: Florine ordered a Pina Colada, not a hard cocktail to make, and one I flatter myself to say I can make reasonably well from memory.  When ours arrived they were purple. I, personally, had never seen or tasted a purple pina colada before. However, the next cocktail on the list I believe was a mai tai. As the Americans say, "go figure" - I suspect quite strongly that the poor barmaid was reading the ingredients from the wrong drink.

Then there was the fact that the bar closed at 11 every night. Once the bar was closed there was nowhere to sit and talk but in the corridor. And once the bar emptied and everybody took up the tables in the corridor, the inevitable result was a lack of the peace and quiet conducive of sleep that the people in the nearest bedrooms might have been hoping for. And the result of this chain of cause and effect was a clash between the recently evicted drinkers and the slumbering occupants of the rooms. Again, not very well thought out at all. Close the bar, stop serving drinks, but let the people stay in the bar area rather than wake everyone up. Their policy was about as logical as 11pm closing in UK pubs!

I suppose I would still go back to to this hostel, especially as the room rates were very reasonable for Shanghai. But I would go there knowing that I have to generate my own entertainment and not expect too much from the hostel.

Wushanyi Hostel, Hangzhou, China

I was delighted when we finally arrived at this hostel after a long slog with our huge bags seemingly twice their usual weight in the heat of the May Zhejiang sun. With a well laid out bar and well stocked fridge, the usual TV and DVD room, and especially the beautiful garden area, it seemed to bode well. But my first disappointment was just after checking in when I found my way to the toilets. They apparently had a second function as a mosquito sanctuary, and on top of this, they stank.

I could have forgiven this small inconvenience. After all, the time I spent in the toilets and shower room was a relatively small. What was unforgivable was the lack of people to talk to. Other than the limited conversation and obligatory photo shoot with the two crazy Chinese girls in our dorm room, and a brief chat with an Irish couple who seemed to be the only two natives of their island who don't drink alcohol, we made no friends here. My visions of sitting out in the garden whiling away balmy evenings with an abundance of interesting people over a couple of bottles of cold Qingdao were replaced by the reality of sitting outside alone with my book, watching the fireflies dancing and listening to the raucous chorus of the frogs.

Another case of lack of the X factor. This place just didn't pull it off. I'd go back though. After all, the fireflies were pretty cool!

Yamen Hostel, Pingyao, China

In 1591, the emperor of China planned to visit the important banking centre of Pingyao. The townspeople, understandably honoured by the imminent presence of the Imperial court, set about constructing an abode worthy of their sovereign. As a result, the building now housing the Yamen Hostel was created. In the event, the emperor's visit of 1591 never took place; but the building was not built for naught for in 2009 I personally graced the premises and even deemed it a worthy place to celebrate my 29th birthday.

The building was glorious, with the bedrooms reached through original Ming era courtyards which were lit by the ever-present red lanterns. For authentic old-time Chinese atmosphere, there can be few places that come close, short of staying in past closing time and sleeping in the Forbidden City itself (in fact, this probably wouldn't be a very atmospheric option at all); unfortunately, as far as meeting other backpackers went, we were practically alone, with just a pair of sullen, snooty Chinese girls who occupied the bar and seemed against the idea of any kind of attempt at communication for company. Excellent location but out of season and so no fun. Ironically, unbeknown to us, a couple of Belgians we had met before in Beijing were staying in a hostel just across the road and we didn't find out until the day after my birthday. We later found out they had also spend the evening of the eighth alone in their hostel playing pool with the bar staff as we had because their hostel was as empty as ours.