Arrived late in Dali after a horrendous 6.5hrs bus ride from Kunming...

1-Kitchen was open late, we tucked into a delicious plate of yak stew with rice.

2-Before going to bed, the sheets were dirty and had to be changed.

3-The shower is weak, bathroom had a mouldy smell, towels weren't terribly clean.

4-Our room faced the main street, it was generally quiet between 12:30am and 5:30am.

5-Great location, easy to get to, close to some very historical parts of Dali.

6-They had limited Internet access.

7-The price for two nights was incredibly reasonable.

Positives: interesting decor - great attention to detail. Clean. Friendly staff (though a bit quirky). Interesting tours.

Negatives: our room was too dark. Expensive.

So the question is, do the positives outwiegh the negatives? You can't deny that the rooms and the trips are priced high. Whether it's too high really depends on what your budget is. The hotel (and Jim) delivers what they offer and no one pushes you into anything. Really it's up to you. Check the prices, compare to others, and decide for yourself if the extra money is worth the lack of hassle. We paid for the airport pick-up, a tour to the opposite side of the lake, and a ride on the old road to Lijiang. We enjoyed the trip and the ride to Lijiang. Cheaper elsewhere? Oh probably, but we can't complain about what the hotel offered us.

This is a review of Jim's Tibetan Hotel -- not Jim's Tibetan Guesthouse. Jim seems to be present at both -- he is a very warm and welcoming individual The staff indeed were very kind and concerned -- and spoke excellent English. However, there are a few challenges here. We were at the hotel for three nights in December -- and although the room was beautifully funished, it was terribly cold and damp. There was a space heater provided, but the room was still cold. (People in this part of China don't seem to be bothered by cold.) There was no hot water in the sink; there was warm water at night for the shower and bathtub (solar heating). Actually, if you are here during the cold months, staying on the second floor -- or higher -- would make sense. The sun gets through to the second floor -- and warms things up a bit. And laundry can be hung on lines up on the roof -- it's sunny and warm up there (in the winter). Breakfast was simple but ample -- and the staff made sure that we could sit in the sun ( for the warmth). They were very kind! By the way, the hotel will arrange excursions in the area -- they are pleased to do so.

We traveled in China for 5 weeks on our own and Jim's will be one of those special places in our memories. The hotel is clean, well-managed and comfortable. The manager, Lisa is friendly and competent. The cafe atmosphere is relaxed which allows guests to share their travel tips and experiences. We opted to take an all-day land/boat tour with Jim, the owner and the experience was incredible. We saw the non-touristy side of China (markets, a school, a clinic) and met many minority people. The beauty of the surrounding area is outstanding. Highly recommended!

The service at Jim's varied from person to person. Some of the folks who worked there were very friendly and helpful, others less so - it made for an awkward exchange, once or twice, when we wanted to use the internet, which required a staff member to log off, or to sit in the dining area, which disrupted staff members' cell phone conversation and card game. The location is just fine; it's a quick 5- 10 minute walk to the center of town. Breakfast was tasty. Our room was fine, though the entire bathroom got soaked with each shower, as the curtains and tub did little to keep water from dousing the room.

May be Jim and his crew just had a bad day. Unfortunately, we cannot share the positive judgement about Jim and his team. The hotel is definitely not bad and besides the overall look and feel we appreciated very much that toys and a small playground for our little

kids were available. Surprisingly, there were actually a number of kids in the hotel when we stayed there. This was good.

The disappointment was the overall service level. The team of the hotel did not really care a lot about any of the hotel guests. Getting the attention of the staff in the restaurant needed a real effort and we felt the breakfast was a disappointment. Our questions of where to go at night were answered by the recommendation to stay at the hotel bar - something you do not want to do in Dali.

Most importantly, we had booked a day trip with Jim to see the surrounding area. Even though the scenery was definitely impressive, Jim limited his role as a tour guide to the occasional comment. Given

all the good comments we had heard about his tours and the positive first impression we had, this was not what we expected. But again, may it was just a bad day....

Hotel is actually not in GuCheng (old town) but walking distance from the south gate & thus away from the chaos. This little "hotel" is about 1 year old and the 2nd lodging by the owners that have a popular guesthouse in the oldtown area.

good atmosphere, bathrooms were relatively clean, furniture/decor tastefully done, good service, decent food, while the rooms do not have heating, the heated mattress makes up for it and my little room for 250 yuan has 1 separate bedroom with a total of 3 beds!

what I liked about this hotel

1) location: close enough to the south gate and on a quiet street

2) never had to sign a piece of paper, there was no check in process--they just took me directly to my room, there was also nothing to sign after a meal or taking a beer out of the fridge

3) the Tibetan decor and photos of the owner's travels around the region makes the place very cosy (even had these photos in the individual rooms)

4) food was pretty good

5) saw an amazing sunrise from their rooftop terrace

two couples - enjoyed jim's immensely. the rooms were clean,very colorful and well appointed. the food was not exceptional - greasy - but adequate.