Early on Saturday morning, after a quick wash, Yaoyao grabbed the luggage she had packed the night before and hurried out of the dormitory. She had arranged a weekend "hotel trip" for herself. Following the trend of "spending the night at a bathhouse," "staying at a hotel on weekends" has now become a popular choice among some college students for relieving stress. Compared with the former, hotels offer more private space and allow people to feel more comfortable and at ease. Yaoyao calls this lifestyle "the wellness secret of college students."

On social media, some college students say that going to a hotel for a weekend "vacation" allows them to briefly immerse themselves and adjust their state, and also to "recharge" for the study and life ahead.

　Exclusive space

Study and relaxation both covered

Because Yaoyao's school is located in a rather remote area and the destination hotel is in downtown Guiyang, she first took an intercity express train early on Saturday morning, then transferred to the subway once, spending more than two hours before reaching the hotel. Along the way, watching the scenery flash past outside the window, Yaoyao was filled with joy. Before even leaving the subway, she ordered a cup of milk tea on a delivery platform, and just as she had expected, when she stepped into the hotel lobby, her milk tea had already been properly kept at the front desk.

Taking the room card, Yaoyao went straight into the room with her milk tea. As soon as she entered, she threw herself onto the big bed. After a short rest, Yaoyao took a tablet out of her backpack and opened a video course.

Yaoyao said the reason she brought her study tasks to the hotel was that when listening to online courses at school, if she did not wear earphones, she would disturb her roommates, but wearing earphones for a long time would damage her hearing, which really put her in a dilemma. Studying at a hotel was equivalent to having an exclusive study room where she could play audio out loud.

In just over half a day, Yaoyao finished all the online courses she had fallen behind on, and all the remaining time was used to reward herself. Eating was the top priority. Coming to the city center this time, Yaoyao could finally taste the glutinous rice she had been craving, paired with tasty fish mint, and her appetite was immediately satisfied. At night, Yaoyao curled up in the hotel room and watched movies to pass the time.

The day was so relaxing and free that before going to sleep, Yaoyao could not resist turning up the volume on her tablet and dancing freely to the rhythm. Freed from the school's 11 p.m. lights-out rule, she did not reluctantly go to sleep until 1 a.m....

　　"Looking for a hotel buddy"

Finding a "hotel companion" on WeChat Moments

Unlike Yaoyao, who chose to stay at a hotel alone and enjoy the quiet and comfortable environment, some college students prefer to go with companions. Kiukiu and a friend had arranged to meet and catch up not long ago, and they agreed to book a hotel in downtown Tianjin for that weekend. In the evening, after finishing their outing, the two returned to the hotel room. Standing in front of the spacious floor-to-ceiling windows, Kiukiu and her friend looked out at the brightly lit night view in the distance, feeling very relaxed.

The best part of staying at a hotel also includes waking up the next morning and enjoying the lavish buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. Kiukiu found that some of her classmates had also experienced staying at hotels on weekends. Posts like "looking for a hotel buddy" also appear on WeChat Moments. Kiukiu said that some of her outgoing classmates do not mind sharing a hotel room with friends who are not especially close.

In a sense, the purpose of "escaping" the dormitory to stay at a hotel on weekends is to get away from crowds, and when necessary, even from familiar crowds.

In Kiukiu's view, when living in a dormitory normally, even the most ordinary and trivial actions require considering other people's feelings. For example, some roommates do not wake up until noon. If she gets up early, she worries that turning on the light will affect those still sleeping.

In addition, every time they return to the dormitory, everyone has to greet each other out of politeness, and this forced socializing occasionally makes Kiukiu feel exhausted.

Yaoyao feels the same way. She said frankly that her friends in college are more like "activity partners," such as meal partners and class partners. Even roommates can hardly be called true confidants. When she is in a low mood, Yaoyao believes that choosing to stay away from the dormitory is also a kind of consideration for others. "I should also think about everyone else and not bring all my negative emotions to others." In such situations, she feels that being alone is more comfortable. "So I might as well look inward and create a peaceful environment for myself."

Therefore, before going out to stay at a hotel that weekend, Yaoyao did not directly tell her roommates her plan. Instead, she told a harmless little lie, saying that "spring has come and I want to go out for a walk."

　　Soothing body and mind

Briefly escaping peer competition pressure

While avoiding passive socializing, the desire to escape the pressure of peer competition has become another reason college students choose to stay at hotels on weekends. Yuyu, a college student studying in Beijing, has deep feelings about this. She said that roommates are the classmates closest to her, but after spending a long time together, there may also be invisible pressure.

She explained: "Although my relationship with my roommates is very good, because we are in the same college and the same major, competition inevitably exists, especially the unspoken rivalry, which makes people uncomfortable."

Peer pressure has become an almost universal problem faced by college students. Often, only after leaving the campus environment can they truly relax.

"Normally, if I stay in the dormitory on weekends and see my roommates getting up early to go to the library, I put psychological pressure on myself, but in a hotel, this sense of urgency completely disappears. I no longer have to compare myself with the people around me." Kiukiu also described the norm in her campus life: "In the dormitory, we often get caught up in 'involution,' and even every time we go out, we may be questioned in great detail by classmates."

Therefore, for Kiukiu, occasionally escaping the dormitory is also a kind of mental liberation.

　　It also has side effects

Some find it hard to return to normal life

In the hotel room, a space shielded from outside influences, college students' stress is released. However, for some people, the sadness that follows comes just as quickly as the happiness, because in the process of returning to campus, they still have to deal with the challenge of "withdrawal symptoms."

On the last Saturday of March, Yu Zhouzhou and her best friend spent their "one-year friendship anniversary" at a hotel in Nanjing. This was already the third time they had stayed at a hotel together since starting college. Yu Zhouzhou and her best friend attend the same school but are in different classes, but even though she lives in the same dormitory as her best friend, she still prefers the two of them occasionally going out to stay at a hotel together.

At night, they immersed themselves in a "brainless sweet romance drama" and binge-watched all 23 episodes in one go. What impressed Yu Zhouzhou most was complaining about the plot with her best friend while passionately cheering for the couple in the show.

To add a sense of ceremony, they specially ordered a small, exquisite cake, surrounded by a ring of warm yellow little lights, creating a very warm and romantic atmosphere. However, the moment to check out also approached unnoticed. Realizing that the happy time spent in the hotel was about to end, a trace of disappointment welled up in Yu Zhouzhou's heart.

The happier the time at the hotel, the more painful the withdrawal reaction after returning to school. "After returning to the dormitory, I felt a strong sense of disparity, as if I had lost my private space and there were no good friends around me." This feeling lasted until Monday morning. With the arrival of a new round of group assignments, Yu Zhouzhou had to work hard to adjust herself and re-adapt to daily campus life.

By contrast, Yaoyao welcomed life back at school with a more positive attitude. She admitted that there would be a brief sense of loss after checking out on Sunday, but she adjusted faster. Later, Yaoyao shared her experience on social platforms and called staying at a hotel on weekends "the wellness secret of college students." She believes that in this public space of collective living, creating a private space for oneself is an important way to relax and recharge.

Yaoyao later decided to post her weekend hotel experience on Xiaohongshu, not to encourage consumption itself, but because she truly needed to use an appropriate amount of money to obtain a space of her own when she was in a low mood and poor state.

At the end of the post, Yaoyao wrote: "Of course, ways to restore energy are not limited to staying at a hotel. Everyone can also go out more in spring, look at flowers in the park, and bask in the sun. You will also feel much better (tested personally and it works)."

Yaoyao initially thought that going out to stay at a hotel was an unconventional and unsociable behavior, but unexpectedly, many college students had experiences similar to hers, and her views also resonated with and were recognized by many netizens, which surprised her but also filled her with comfort.

Yuyu, on the other hand, understands her hotel stays as a kind of "temporary non-action." She reserves the whole of Sunday for herself, to completely empty her mind and release stress.

This way of self-regulation allows her to find a balance between study and life. "But this does not mean that I become a completely different person after coming back. Staying at a hotel is just a way to store energy, or rather, to work harder in the 'rat race' after returning."

(All names in this article are pseudonyms)

　　Reporter's notes

　　There is nothing wrong with creative stress relief, but there are more ways to spend the weekend

College students staying at hotels on weekends as they please? In interviews, Yaoyao, Kiukiu, and Yuyu all regarded escaping the dormitory on weekends and staying at a hotel as a new way to relieve stress. They said that this brief freedom gives individuals more private space and convenience and enables them to achieve "happy fulfillment in real life." In this sense, if it is within the living expenses they can control and they have informed their parents, choosing to stay at a hotel on weekends to relax is indeed worth trying. After all, with increasing pressure and competition, today's college students also face problems different from those of their parents' generation.

It is understood that ten or twenty years ago, when college students felt emotionally unsettled and "homesick," they would ask their counselors for a day or two off and go home. For them, sleeping until they woke up naturally in their own bed at home, chatting with their parents, and bringing some local specialties back to school to share with roommates was a kind of healing, and could even spread happiness to more people. Today's post-2000s college students are a generation with a strong sense of boundaries, and their way of relieving pressure is precisely another kind of "escape."

Not surprisingly, going out for the weekend has also sparked another voice on social media. Some people have expressed doubts and confusion from the perspectives of safety and science. They worry that frequently going out to stay at hotels as an escape may, over time, lead to social barriers, and that staying at a hotel alone may pose safety problems, among other concerns. These issues cannot but attract the attention of Yaoyao, Kiukiu, and others.

In addition, at the end of this interview, the author believes that ways to address these anxieties are not limited to staying at hotels. Participating in an outdoor picnic, going on a CITY WALK, or visiting a library or an exhibition can also achieve the purpose of dispelling anxiety and regulating mood. Everyone's expectations and choices for the weekend are different, and this diversity is precisely part of college life.

More importantly, besides focusing on oneself, are there not more choices? For example, volunteering, serving as an environmental protection promoter, or doing volunteer work at a nursing home... Life is a wilderness, especially for young people. Whether to confine oneself to a hotel and enjoy life or to make more meaningful choices is perhaps a topic worth discussing.

Not only college students, but every young person should choose a way that suits them, so that amid busy work and study they can fully relax and adjust, prepare for new challenges and opportunities, and become a better self and a self beneficial to society.