Dalian Tiantian International Youth Hostel
About this hotel
This is the sociable end of cheap in Dalian, and the ratings are strong enough that it outperforms several hotels charging three times as much. It sits a short taxi ride from Sun Asia Ocean World and the Polar World, on the seaward side of the old centre, which puts the trams, the food streets and the Victory Square metro interchange within a manageable evening. For an event at Dalian Sports Center that matters: the run west to Ganjingzi is a train ride from a proper interchange rather than a long haul in from the eastern corridor. Free wifi, air conditioning and a genuinely enforced smoke-free policy are the practical wins, and the last of those is rarer in this price band than it should be. Fans staying here get company for a fixture, which solo groundhoppers rate highly, and a bed cheap enough to fund another ticket.