qulistar hotel, zhongshan lu

• strange quasi-western name, until i realize the quli is hanyu pinyin
• nice new rooms with mod cons
• with very able front desk and assorted staff
• and the mod cons are not too shabby either (meaning to say, better than disposable)
• although the bathroom sink is located in the bedroom itself (creative workaround the space constraint, if you ask me, but i believe purists shudder)
• most unfortunately, clouds of tobacco smoke fill the air indoors outdoors and in between
• and the dryers in the self-laundry are the energy saving good-for-the-environment sump type which results in me bonding much with the laundry set this morning and writing multiple blog posts
• also, the lady in charge of breakfast is a most fiercely strident brigadier who strikes fear into the hearts of staff and diners alike although i am sure she has a humanly beating heart just like us
• but it's the tobacco smoke that kills the stay