We took an Ibis hotel near the airport even though it was not strictly the cheapest option, and despite reviews warning that this was a very dingy and sleazy hotel. Clearly it was an Ibis hotel at some point in the past, yet now even the logo was fading off the windows. We insisted on carrying our own bags up because reviews suggested they aggressively demand tips for that (not normal in China.)
The room was very big and as expected, if a little worn. When we woke up we found business cards for prostitutes slipped under our door. The staff were unhelpful in the extreme: They don't run a shuttle at night when you need it the most, and refused to even try to call a taxi, claiming there are no taxi services at night (and certainly none that would be willing to take us the short 3km to the airport.) We tried to borrow their phone to call the airport taxi service and it took maybe half an hour to explain that we were not physically at the airport but in a hotel nearby and wanted to have someone pick us up - that led nowhere. Instead the hotel staff suggested an exorbitantly priced "special shuttle" driver for 30 yuan. We walked outside and a couple of drunks accosted and followed us, offering to take us to the airport for that price: that was probably the same "shuttle" driver.
In the end we took our things and walked to the hotel next door, followed by the drunks. Their reception staff were also unhelpful, until we explained our situation to some hotel guests staying there and they all argued with them to let us use that hotel's shuttle, gaining face. We ended up crowding in there and getting to the airport for free.
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