How to Book Hotels in China for Foreigners

💰 How Much Do Hotels Cost in China?

Prices spike hard during National Day Golden Week (early October), Chinese New Year, and summer in tier-1 cities — a ¥150 budget room can hit ¥900 in central Beijing during peak. Book early or shift dates if you can.

🛂 Do All Hotels Accept Foreigners?

Officially, yes — in practice, not always. A July 2024 notice from seven Chinese ministries told hotels they may not refuse foreign guests for lacking a "foreign guest" license, and asked platforms to stop publishing "no foreigners" listings. Enforcement, however, is uneven: most hotels in big cities take foreigners without issue, but budget chains and small guesthouses — and even different branches of the same chain — vary. A Hanting that accepts foreigners downtown might not accept them in a smaller city.

The reliable workaround: before making a reservation, you can check the hotel's policy page on Trip — it lists whether the hotel accepts guests from other countries and regions. This way, you can eliminate those hotels that do not accept you. If you do get refused at the desk with a confirmed booking, you have three options: call the bilingual hotline 12367 (National Immigration Administration) or 12345, or — usually the fastest — walk to the next hotel. Don't let one front desk derail your trip.

🏨 Which Booking Platform Should You Use?

Trip.com is the first choice for booking hotels in China: English interface, passport-based booking, foreign-card payment, and the largest selection (over a million properties), with the strongest budget-hotel coverage and the best filters and reviews.

Booking.com and Agoda also accept passports and cover Chinese hotels — their listings are similar to each other, skewing toward higher-end properties, and for some upscale hotels the rate is actually below Trip.com. A practical workflow: filter and shortlist on Trip.com first (its filters and Chinese reviews are the most useful), then paste the hotel name into Booking.com and Agoda to compare prices. Booking.com is handy if you have loyalty status with an international chain.

📝 What Happens at Check-In?

• Original passport, no exceptions.

  The law requires hotels to verify and register your identity, so a copy or photo on your phone will not be accepted.

• Police registration is done for you.

  Under the 24-hour registration rule, the front desk registers your stay with the local police automatically. Ask for your Registration Form of Temporary Residence (临时住宿登记表) — a printed slip that costs nothing and matters if you later apply for a visa extension.

• Police may visit to verify your documents.

  Under the same rule, officers sometimes stop by the hotel — often at breakfast — to check foreign guests' passports in person. It's routine, not a raid. Keep your passport with you for the first day or two after check-in, and hand it over when asked.

• A refundable deposit

  Some hotels skip it entirely, others ask for ¥200–¥500. WeChat Pay and Alipay both work for the hold, and it refunds automatically to the original account after checkout.

• Wi-Fi caveat

  Hotel Wi-Fi routes through mainland networks, so your usual apps (Google, WhatsApp, Instagram) may not load on it. Keep your eSIM/roaming data on for international apps and use hotel Wi-Fi for local browsing — see the SIM & eSIM guide for how to stay connected.

📍 Where Should You Stay?

Near a metro station. Chinese cities are huge and rush-hour taxis crawl; being within 500m of a metro exit saves you an hour a day.

Near your arrival airport or high-speed rail station is also worth considering if it's close to the main sights — the transfer is easier on day one, and after checkout you can leave your bags at the hotel and pick them up on the way to your next city instead of hauling them across town. Two more habits that pay off:

• Screenshot your hotel's Chinese name and address.

  Do it before you arrive — taxi and DiDi drivers read Chinese instantly but may not recognize the English name at all.

• Use the payment guides first.

  If your hotel only takes Alipay/WeChat Pay, you'll want those set up before check-in — see How to Pay in China.

• Need a hand picking a hotel?

  Drop me a line — happy to suggest options based on your itinerary.

A safe default in every city: the old center near a metro interchange — walkable, well-connected, and where most of the headline sights cluster. Beyond that, the best neighborhoods differ by city, and each city guide on this site covers where to stay in detail.