Yabuli Hot Spring Ski Resort Villa

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing We chose to vacation at Yabuli Hot Spring Saki resort because we had read about the kindness and helpfulness of the owner. We read about amenities such as hot tubs, private hot springs, and fully equipped self-catering kitchens. None of the above-mentioned was to be found anywhere at this lodge. Not even the internet was fully functional. The listed amenities simply did not exist. On our second day of the initial reservation, our health code had an asterisk and we were told that we would have to quarantine in Yabuli for a week. Our host told us that he would move us to a more affordable villa since the one we were living in would be too expensive. Instead, he transferred us to a more expensive villa. We repeatedly asked what we would need to pay, and we got vague answers and promises to be informed soon. We eventually decided to use trip.com to make a booking to cover the period of the quarantine but the host told us that he would give us a 20% discount since we were forced into quarantine. He told us not to book through trip.com because if we did, he wouldn’t be able to give us a 20% discount. Since we had no reason at this point to doubt the genuineness of his help, we agreed to this. He warned us that since Chinese New Year was approaching, the price might be more than the prior prices we had paid. Our initial reservation was about 600RMB per night. While in quarantine, we continually asked for a precise price. Eventually, he told us to check the website for the price. At that time the rate was up to only 750RMB. He again reminded us that we wouldn’t be able to get the discount if we booked through trip.com and that he would direct bill us. The last night of our stay we were given a bill for 2593RMB per night. He charged us the rate on that day, not the rate that we could have gotten on the website when the quarantine began. Not only was this an unreasonable increase, but there was no discount. He circumvented the website, charged us full price, and thereby cheated both us and the website. Additionally, each day we were overcharged for food provided by the restaurant where he worked! Also, he broke the rules of the quarantine 3 times by breaking the door seal and delivering supplies. Additionally, when we left the property, we told him that we would not pay his outrageous charges and he called the police and lied to them, saying that we were breaking quarantine. We had our negative results and were allowed to leave. He resorted to lies and extortion to get his money. We were pulled over in the taxi and needed the help of our school HR manager to get us safely to Harbin. While we thought this man was saving us from centralized quarantine and providing a place where we could stay together and have a choice of the food that was brought to us, it turned out that he was just profiteering from our unfortunate situation. In conclusion, the accommodations were grossly misrepresented, the ‘help’ we received was nothing but self-serving and predatory. DO NOT give this property any business! They don’t deserve to make another cent!