Chaozhou | Can someone tell me, is Atour actually a budget hotel?!

❤ Verdict: I always thought Atour was a budget hotel and never stayed there. This time in Chaozhou, a friend recommended booking Atour, and... my first stay was an instant love affair, full of delightful surprises at every turn! If Atour is really a budget hotel, then the budget hotel game has gotten insanely competitive 😂 ❤ We booked two queen rooms. At check-in, the front desk had a whole tray of homemade milk tea, plus candies, snacks, and ingredients for DIY floral/fruit tea. For someone like me who can be easily won over by good food and drinks, this was absolutely perfect—I downed three cups of milk tea in one go 🤣 After check-in, we were even given two bags of welcome fruit... Before even entering the room, the service had already wiped away our travel fatigue and maxed out our mood to five stars 🥳✅ ❤ The room wasn’t as lavish as a five-star hotel, but the simple, practical layout and clean, stylish decor were very comfortable. The mini-fridge had free drinks, and they also provided tea and coffee. A thoughtful touch: two disposable cups for drinking water, catering perfectly to people like me who rarely use the ceramic cups in rooms ✅. The hotel uses robots to deliver takeout to rooms—safe and fun, though the robot was kinda hilarious. It talks when entering the elevator, making everyone think it’s super smart... but once inside, it just parked itself right in the middle near the door. One time, a guy with luggage had no idea how to get out and said, "Excuse me, could you move?" The robot didn’t budge. He bent down and repeated, "Please move," but the robot stayed frozen, silent. The guy had no choice but to lift his suitcase and squeeze through the tiny gap between the robot and the door—I nearly died laughing 🤣 ❤ Breakfast was decent, covering most of my needs, though the utensil setup was a bit awkward. Another surprise: Atour even offers free late-night snacks (around 9:30–11:30 PM), with toast, Chinese pastries, congee, and freshly made noodles—another thoughtful plus ✅. Outside the dining area is a reading zone with a piano, and there’s a gym on the same floor (though I didn’t check it out). ❤ At checkout (maybe because it was Lunar New Year), there was a front desk raffle—I won three gift bags with small tins of Phoenix Dancong tea, candies, towels, accessories, and two beautiful ceramic bowls. ❤ Back to the question: Is Atour a budget hotel? Just curious, not arguing. I asked DeepSeek (see screenshot) and Baidu’s AI—the latter said no, but related info said yes... ❤ Final thoughts: This was my first stay at Atour, and the experience was fantastic. I’ll definitely be back.