I stayed in this hotel for a couple of nights and I was really impressed with almost everything the hotel had to offer.

The room was of a very good size, the beds were comfortable. I had free internet access (free internet access only applicable if you stay in the club level.)

The bathroom had a glass 'wall' that seperates the bedroom and the bathtub. It was a nice touch so that you can actually watch TV while taking a bath!.

The one and only thing that was slightly disappointing was the quality of the food in the hotel. both in the executive club lounge AND the room service. The food in the club lounge was very average. the room Service, menu does offer vegetarian menu.. which is great!.. BUT the quality of the food is quite mediocre. I ordered 2 different dishes in 2 consecutive nights and both of them were really below average.. oh.. do NOT order the Tiramisu.

That said, there is plenty of other food options that are much better just downstairs, just along the 'shopping' street. so food matters should be the least of your worries.

Would I stay there again? Of course i will!

Stayed at this hotel between the 1st and 6th of November 2008 on a business trip to Guangzhou. My regular hotel was fully booked due to a trade fair which was on at the same time. This hotel was actually better than my normal hotel. Rooms were huge as was the bathroom with seperate walk-in shower and bath. Level of cleanliness was high and staff were very helpful.

Location was good, in the middle of a huge pedestrianized shopping area. With local shops staying open until 10 pm. It was a little hard to find but it is signposted both in Chinese and English. Breakfast was a little steep at 168 RMB per head, but I prefer to visit the local bakeries which have the most goregous buns both sweet and savoury and well worth tasting.

For each night I paid 664 RMb ( £66) including 15% service charge for the room which was not bad due to the hiked up prices due to the trade fair. Normal prices would be a little around £42 per night. Please be aware that if there is any kind of trade fair in GZ at the time of your visit you will pay more for hotel rooms.

This hotel is used a lot by Europeans so please be aware of pickpockets, my work colleague felt a hand in his trouser pocket at 10am in the morning!.

We planned a three night stay at this hotel based on the reviews here. We very disappointed with the food and with the service the hotel provided and moved to another hotel after the first night. We booked a deluxe room on the club floor for 1194RMB/night. We checked in at the club floor and when I asked the club floor representative for recommendations for Guangzhou attractions she seemed confused and told me to ask the bell boy who was waiting with our luggage, he knew nothing about sightseeing. I asked the representative for shopping recommendations and she did provide a good map and pointed out the many shopping locations in this crowded city. However the club floor representative made no mention of the food, drinks or anything else that the club floor offers. After attempting to eat the club lounge hors d'oeuvres/drinks (available 5:30pm-7:30pm) I can understand why no mention was made of this. The food was inedible and cold. The wine was cheap Chinese and not drinkable. There was only one service person in the lounge, the same club floor representative that checked us in. My companion is Chinese and speaks the language fluently so I don't believe the language barrier was the reason for some of the less than par service we experienced at this hotel.

The deluxe room was huge as other reviewers have mentioned. A good sized bedroom separate from an enormous living room and office. Strangely for a room this size there was only one sink in the bathroom. The room was very nice and quiet except for a distinct musty smell, and not much of a view. A breakfast buffet was included with the room at the hotel restaurant and again the food was disappointing. After seating us the staff never came to the table to clear any plates, nor did we see the staff clear plates from any of the other tables. The limited selection of food was not what we were accustomed to compared to our stays in many fine western hotels all over China. The breakfast wait staff was more interested in cleaning the floor and setting up tables than providing any table service to patrons. As others have mentioned the hotel lies directly within a busy shopping area and is close to some of the historic sites in Guangzhou however this wasn’t worth the trade off of staying at this hotel. You can get around easily within the city quickly using the subway and/or cheap taxis. There are many better shopping areas and bargains to be had in Guangzhou than the cheap shopping street near the Holiday Inn Shifu. You can find excellent bargains at the shopping street “Beijing Rd.” We left the Holiday Inn after one night and spent our remaining two nights at the brand new Ritz-Carlton where we had unbelievable service, gorgeous facilities and fantastic food and only 988rmb/night.

Spacious, modern and clean hotel, rooms are in very good condition.

Friendly counter staff and bellboy who dashed 50m to help "snatch" a taxi. That said, sometimes it can be difficult getting a taxi.

The executive room are worth the extra penny. It comes with free internet access, free drinks and snacks till 11pm (happy hours from 530pm to 730pm includes liquor) at the executive lounge.

Didnt really like the location though, it can be scary going back to hotel at night as the only way is to drive through some old and dark lanes.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Shifu for 6 nights recently, having had a negative experience at the Guangdong Victory Hotel a few months before (see my review)..anyway, the place is immaculate , the staff is very helpful, friendly, courteous and diligent-though English-challanged (when I called housekeeping and asked for an English newspaper, they came up with a roll of toilet paper..and on two other occasions, I asked for something and was given something that sounded like that item...close but no cigar)...nevertheless, the shopping area is wonderful-right by the Li Wan shopping district and nearby is the Chen Family Temple with its ornate architecture and bronze statues and the nearby famous Tao Tao Ju restaurant and bakery serves up delicious fare and Shi Fu Road, which is a pedestrian mall, has hundreds of shops-selling everything from discounted shoes to dumplngs...the hotel's rate was very inexpensive (395 yuan/night exclusive of taxes) and for 6 nights I figured that i saved about $1000 than if I had stayed at the nearby White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island-also a nice little walk from the hotel...I would definitely stay and recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice, clean convenient hotel in guangzhou.

We stayed 3 nights in this hotel in May and absolutely loved it! The rooms were large and well-appointed, and the staff friendly.

Location was excellent being right in the middlie of a famous pedestrian mall in GZ. There are great restaurants and food outlets nearby (although mainly Chinese, hence, more suitable to those with taste buds for Chinese cooking!). The location is good for cheap shopping too, but only if you can converse in either the Mandarin or Cantonese dialects.

Overall, it is one of the best value hotels I stayed in.

I had booked this hotel based on good reviews on Trip Advisor and I am delighted to say, this hotel is wonderful in every way.

We had booked on the Holiday Inn Website and got a great advance booking deal from them for a deluxe room.

To our delight, when we arrived we were upgraded to a suite and it was absolutely amazing.

Actually, everything about this hotel is amazing- the staff, the rooms (which are immaculate), the restaurant, the food, the customer service. We could not fault it in anyway at all.

An added bonus is the fantastic location. The Shifu is located within a very busy pedestrian shopping mall which is lit up with hundreds of neon signs, and is very busy day and night, with a great atmosphere, but, even though the hotel is located within this busy shopping mall, the lobby is on the 4th floor and there was no noise at all.

It was very special to just walk outside the hotel and spend a couple of hours wandering up an down, or to be able to visit one of the best restaurants which we ate in- The Guangzhou Restaurant, which is about 3 minutes walk from the hotel. Apparently this restaurant is very famous and we had an delicious and huge meal which cost AU$12 for two of us (drinks not included)

If and when we return to Guangzhou, I would never stay anywhere else- this hotel has it all!

Just returned from our trip to China. This hotel set the pattern for all of it. Very helpful staff, they couldn't do enough for us.Drew out maps for us when we needed to go to specific stores or restaurants. Heat in the was welcomed during this very cold time in Guangzhou. Rooms we large and spotless.Linens we crisp and white..no stains or wear. Bathrooms were so clean I didn't mind walking barefoot in them.

I'm not sure moving up to the exc. floor was needed or worth the extra money, but nice.

The hotel is right in the middle of the best shopping, with everything just outside the door.

It is a bit confusing when you arrive by cab from the airport since you enter on street level to a small lobby, but taking the elevator to the 4th floor puts you into the main hotel.

The beds are comfortable for Chinese beds since they like them very hard compared to American ones. The beds in other hotels as we travel much further west just got harder and harder.

On our next trip to China via Guangzhou, we will definitely stay in this hotel

Booked this hotel on a very cheap rate (AUD$80) off the hotel website. Was amazed with the size of the room and bathroom. Very good features for a 4star hotel.

Location was awesome. Right on the main shopping pedestrian street, which can sometimes be a little loud but quitens down at night.

We had the buffer breakfast one day and it was reasonably priced and food was okay.

Only negative was the noise from the corridors. Everytime sometime got the lift or was in the corridor we could hear from our room. Other then that it was a great hotel.

Stayed 27 December 2007 to 2 January 2008. Hotel is furnished to a very high standard. Staff were extremely helpful except for an inexperienced Assistant Manager...

Restuarant staff need to be more attentive: they show you to a table and then nothing, assuming that you will take the buffet. For me, never - always a la carte.

The hotel itself is situated in the middle of a pedestian shopping mall (taxi access to the rear), with the lobby on the 4th Floor. I would consider it to be in a perfect position for anyone who is in Guangzhou for shopping. Of course, there are also restaurants everywhere. I preferred this area for shopping, rather than the Beijing Rd shopping area as I thought there were more stores and I wasn't hassled once by people trying to sell me a rolex, etc.

On arrival, there were no rooms available (at 4pm). Not overly happy, but understanding, I smiled politely and said that it was fine as I was going to go out shopping anyway, but would like a room in the next two hours, the Front Office staff thanked me for my understanding and did some searching on her computer. She upgraded me to a suite on the executive floor and said a room would be ready in an hour. (I think that she was going to offer me a temporary room at nearby hotel at no cost if I wanted to lie down somewhere for a few hours.)

A little off topic, but I have found, especially in Asia, sometimes even when things don't really go your way, it does pay to be smile and not let it get to you. Being polite to customer service people throughout Asia can have very positive effects and they do like when a foreigner is polite and tries to be patient and understanding, as I am sure they have more than their fair share of western travelers who make their work a little more difficult than it should be. The language and culture barrier is sometimes wide, but a smile is universal.

The suite was is a large size (just over twice the size of their regular room), with a large living area with two sofas, writing desk, tv, etc. The tv has CNN, Discovery, HBO movies, etc, along with Chinese, Japanese, German channels. The separate bedroom is a good size and very comfortable (king bed and large tv). Plenty of draws and wardrobes. The bathroom has a great shower and separate bath (no tv).

Everything was very clean, with nothing out of place or looking worn out. There is a turn-down service at night, which will get you anything extra you need and place your slippers beside your bed. Also note that Guangzhou water should not be drunk - two free bottles of water are provided. An extra touch was the selection of pillows available - they have notes to enourage you to request a different pillow if you request. It was a nice place to be after walking around shopping. I didn't use the club facilities, so cannot comment on them. The doorman at the ground level was helpful with questions and told the taxi driver exactly where I needed to go. Taxis in Guangzhou are fairly well regulated and easy to get around (cheap, with a flag-fall of Y7. A typical fair might be around Y30).

Overall, I will definitely stay at this hotel again. The Holiday Inns I have stayed at recently are great value with this one being no exception - probably the best value of all. Would recommend this to anyone.

We moved from the Westin due to price and location, as my companions did not want to pay the higher hotel rate. Holiday inn seemed to be best bang for buck, initially i was given a average room which as everyone seems to concur in this forum was clean and although a little older, still in good shape.

Would be nice if the hotel upgraded the beds though, as the floor seemed softer (and i like a hard bed.)

However my room did have an odour of urine which was a real letdown at about 3 in the morning, Not sure of the cause as the other 2 rooms did not have the same problem.

needless to say the hotel people took care of the situation upon quietlly complaining. I was offered a great rate on a 1 bedroom suite which was the finest holiday inn, room i ever stayed in.

Staff was equal to any 5 star hotel without the snooty attitudes. everyone seemed happy and eager to please. English was not that big an issue.

pool on roof was good, gym with trainer was great, buffet restraunt ( included) was excellent.

Phillipino bar band sucked and needed to turn down the volume although the beer was good.

Security was everywhere and gave guests confidence.

Shopping is the reason i would stay at this hotel, pedestrian mall which connects to a main plaza was great and reminded me of people watching on the patio in any major square worldwide.

Guangzhou the city is huge and on reflection walking, partying and shopping in the city was better then the desperation, shills and in your face aggresivness of nanjing road in Shanghai.

I would recomend getting a room facing away from the construction across the street.

holiday inn for shopping.

however the westin kicks butt and for my dollar i would choose the westin and take the subway to the square and pedestrain mall, while using a cab to come home, when traffic is lighter.

hope it helps

Staying in this Hotel was one of the biggest (good) surprise of our China trip. The Hotel is right in the middle of a pedestrian area with shops and a large choice of restaurants and in top of all at the end of the most incredible Quing Ping market street of Guangzhou. Rooms are very comfortable and large. Bathrooms equipped for desabeld people. Excellent breakfast and a nice swimmingpool and fitnes center complete the equipment on the 14th floor. A have rarely seen modern western comfort intermingeled with the exotisme of Asia to such an extent!

This is exactly that, a hideaway. For those that want to be in a new modern area. Look elsewhere. For those that like local flavor and tucked in the middle of a neighborhood, this is THE place to stay. That being said, the hotel is only a year old and due to the location, taxis will have a hard time finding it. Our taxi driver from the airport had never heard of the hotel and I had to use my cell phone to call the hotel and have them give directions to the driver. From the airport it cost 120 Yuan. Also, during rush hour it took a bellman about 10 minutes to get a taxi because its not in a major area.

I didn't use the metro because of time considerations. To the U.S. consulate it was 49 Yuan. The big shopping street Beijing Lu was 17 Yuan.

The hotel is probably only second to the Holiday Inn Kensington in London of all the Holiday Inns I have staying in over the years. (Over 20) This is Crowne Plaza or better in quality. The only thing lacking was a separate shower. Though the bathtub is a step up in quality than regular tubs. The bathroom itself was good size and stocked with plenty of amenities not always seen in hotels twice this price. And the price is also what makes this hotel great. Book from the Holiday Inn website.

The rooms were larger than a typical Holiday Inn and for the price, again a great deal. While the beds were very firm, they weren't like sleeping on wood like some Chinese hotels. The choice of pillows are a nice touch and the ones on the bed helped make the firm bed easier to sleep on.

All the employees were very friendly and seemed to like their jobs.

The only thing that kept me from rating this hotel excellent was the beds and the problem with the taxis. (Though that's not really the hotels fault.)

Don't be fooled by the appearance and location of this hotel. The entrance is not majestic but once you're on the 4th floor, which is the lobby, you'll be impressed. Even though it's rated as a 4 star hotel but the quality of the room and service of the staff are 5 star. The room and bathroom are big and spacious. And you get to choose the type of pillows that you want. Staff is attentive and would accede to your request promptly. The location of the hotel is great for shopping and local Cantonese cuisine. There are a few famous restaurants along the pedestrian mall and they serve really good Cantonese cuisine. This is the place to stay when in GZ for a vacation as it's not touristy and you get a taste of the local flavour. The metro is less than 10 mins walk away and along the way you get to savour the sound and smell of the locals. Great metro, train is clean and efficient. Would stay in this place again in the near future.