When Australian tourist Alice Jiao booked a hotel in Nanjing, a city in eastern China, she double-checked the online listing to make sure it accepted foreign guests before reserving her accommodation.
But when Ms Jiao arrived at the Nanjing Rest Yizhi Hotel in February, hotel staff politely told her she could not stay there because the hotel only accepted foreigners with a Chinese permanent residence card.
Exhausted from travelling, the unexpected rejection left Ms Jiao feeling anxious.
"Of course, it felt unlucky to run into something like this," she said.
One year after Chinese authorities ordered hotels in China to accept all foreign tourists in a bid to boost inbound tourism, some hotels continue to turn international travellers away.
Many tourists have taken to social media platforms like Reddit and Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, to share their experiences and vent their frustration.
Other travellers from countries including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia have left reviews on platforms like Booking.com, warning other tourists to not repeat their mistakes.
The tourists' experiences come as Chinese authorities attempt to rejuvenate the tourism sector with a raft of measures, including easing visa rules for foreign tourists, including Australians.
Relaxing tourist visa rules has been highly effective — in 2024, the country recorded 131.9 million inbound visits, a 61 per cent increase in visitor numbers from the previous year, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy.
Policy and practice disconnect
Ms Jiao booked her stay through Meituan, a popular Chinese super-app that provides a range of services including food delivery and hotel and ticket booking.
Nanjing Rest Yizhi Hotel apologised to Ms Jiao and offered her a refund, but the listing on the booking site continues to show the hotel accepts foreign guests.
A hotel staff member told the ABC the hotel's policy was in line with local police rules, which stipulated small hotels can only accept guests with a permanent resident card, called a five-star card, in China.
"Larger hotels can take passport holders. We are a low-cost hotel," they said.
Under China's Exit and Entry Administration Law, hotels must register foreign guests and report their information to local police.
Foreigners staying outside hotels must register with local police within 24 hours, either by themselves or through their hosts.
Chinese law also previously required hotels to obtain special licenses to accommodate international tourists and travellers from Hong Kong and Macau.
But this rule was gradually relaxed and officially scrapped in May 2024 as part of China's post-pandemic tourism reforms.
The May joint notice from China's Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Commerce, and National Immigration Administration said hotels must not reject foreign guests under the excuse of lacking foreign-related licenses.
Sam Huang, a tourism researcher at Edith Cowan University, said the current government policy was more of a guideline than a mandate and was not enforced by some local authorities.
"In practice, central government policies don't always align with how local authorities regulate hotels," explained Dr Huang, who has worked at China's National Tourism Administration.
Smaller, independent budget hotels were used to serving local Chinese travellers and often struggled to accommodate international tourists because of language barriers and outdated systems that struggle to register foreign passports.
Hotels need clearer ads
Malaysian tourist Emily Qin was also knocked back from a hotel in China in January.
Ms Qin booked the Royal International Apartment, near a major airport in Guangzhou, through Meituan but was turned away at check-in.
"[It was] my first shocking booking experience of 2025," she said.
Ms Qin explained there was nothing on the hotel listing about foreign tourists, and said hotels should clearly state what guests they accepted.
Ms Qin said the hotel's policy could pose a "big problem" for elderly travellers and young families.
When Ms Qin initially asked for a refund, the hotel told her to request it through Meituan.
But after a dispute, she secured a full refund directly from the hotel.
A staff member from the Royal International Apartment told the ABC it had always stated its policy regarding foreign guests on Meituan since it opened.
But Ms Qin insisted she didn't see the note when she booked.
Meituan did not respond to the ABC's request for comments in relation to both Ms Qin and Ms Jiao's experiences.
Call to confirm booking
The ABC found multiple hotel listings on China-based online platforms including Meituan, Ctrip, Trip.com, and Qunar, that stated they only accepted guests with a valid Resident Identity Card, an ID for mainland Chinese citizens.
However, often the same listings on global platforms like Booking.com did not have that information.
For example, on Trip.com, the 7Days Premium Chengdu Giant Panda Base hotel said it only accepted guests with a Resident Identity Card, but the same listing on Booking.com did not include this information.
When the ABC called 7Days Premium Chengdu to ask about the discrepancy, a front desk staffer said they were not aware of the listing on Booking.com.
The ABC contacted Boooking.com for comment.
Mingming Cheng, a professor of marketing at Curtin University, said the discrepancy in information between global platforms and local hotels was common.
"Local Chinese online travel agencies integrate better with domestic hotel systems," Dr Cheng said.
"But many hotels don't understand what information international platforms required. There are also translation errors."
In Xi'an, a major tourist city in China, there are at least 52 hotels within 500 meters of the popular Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City.
Only 15 hotels accept foreign guests, and just two are budget hotels, according to an ABC analysis of hotels listings on Ctrip.
Travel agency The China Guide suggested foreign tourists choose a hotel that was rated a minimum of four stars because they usually have more experience with international guests.
For smaller or budget hotels, the agency recommended reading listings and reviews carefully and calling ahead to confirm.
Travellers who find themselves rejected by the hotel could also refer the hotel to the government's notice that they must accept foreign tourists.
In some cases, they could call the police for assistance, though this might cause further delays or inconvenience, the travel agency said.
Dr Cheng said Chinese authorities and industry groups should encourage hotels to adopt a more welcoming approach toward foreign guests.
He said small hotels need financial support and training to better accommodate international travellers.
"Chinese hotels need a culture shift like during the 2008 Beijing Olympics — to treat foreign visitors as welcome guests, not as a burden," he said.
The ABC contacted the Chinese government for this story but did not receive a response.
