Plus: Location is a little heaven in the middle of the countryside more than 10km from downtown.

Rooms are former Tibetan farms decorated with stylish Tibetan furniture and with a direct view on the river. Staff is friendly, efficient and sweet (thank you very much Herman!)

Spa is gorgeous and treatments magnificient.

Minus: Diner selection is limited and quite expensive. As the hotel is a bit far from downtown it needs organization to get out for diner.

Excursion as well are quite overpriced.

But it stays a beautiful place to stay for at least a couple of days to enjoy a peaceful rest in this little Tibet.

I just returned from the “Spirit of Yunnan” holiday with Banyan Tree, staying first for 2 nights in Lijiang and then for another 2 nights in Ringha. Both were excellent but Ringha was really quite a different experience. The rooms were traditional and beautiful and the staff friendly.

I think it is fair to address some of the “complaints” made by other guests. Firstly, yes, this is a rustic hotel in a rustic location charging five star prices. Granted, some people might baulk at this but one has to accept that part of the cost is from the logistical difficulties of setting up and running a hotel in such a location and you have to realise that it’s not all going to be perfectly polished edges and fluent English. To the person who complained about the road leading up to the hotel a) it was fine in our 4WD, even with a foot of snow (and our driver was very good) and b) if you want a sanitised holiday, then stay in your comfort zone in a 5 star in Bali or wherever – this isn’t a big city! To those who complained about the English level of the staff – well, try going to the middle of Scotland, or South Dakota and finding perfect Mandarin. The staff were all very friendly and really did a good job and many of them spoke excellent English. To those who commented about rats – I didn’t see or hear any.

My only issue was that the food is pretty expensive for what it is (although again one has to consider the logistics). I do feel that the chef could probably show a bit more flair without substantially changing the ingredients. I stayed at the Zhiwaling in Bhutan last year where the issues for obtaining ingredients are probably not dissimilar but the overall standard of the food was much better – if still not exactly refined…. although again, that is not what I was expecting.

Banyan Tree Ringha exceeded my expectations for a unique and memorable experience; I absolutely LOVED it there. I will preface my comments with the fact that I have traveled to over 20 countries, have lived in China for 8 years and speak Mandarin. Banyan Tree Ringha is not for everyone, just those who are a bit more adventurous, love nature, and can accept that going to a remote hotel in a developing country means that there are some limitations to service staff and facilities. Considering that the Shangri-la region only really opened to tourism in 2000, it is remarkable what Banyan Tree has accomplished with its resort. Lijiang and Dali have both had at least a five year head start to get their act together. With all that in mind...

Ringha offers a quiet and luxurious experience in the middle of Tibetan farming villages. The rustic lodge (spa villa) was gorgeous with its Asian rugs, thick velvet curtains and Chinese style furniture. Even though the lodge can get chilly, a well-prepared traveler would be sure to bring extra layers of sweaters, socks, hiking boots, etc. Bring some of your favorite snacks too. Leave your makeup, cologne and dress shoes at home. This is a place to let your hair down, go unshaven for days, walk through the fields and interact with the locals. Menu is limited, but accept it, learn to eat rice, and you will be much happier. Service staff are more comfortable speaking Tibetan or Chinese, but their English is fine if you are patient. (You are, after all, in China). And, yes, you will be in the middle of nowhere - isn't that why you pick this place?

Every morning, I sat on my deck watching the mist rise from the hills and listening to the cows, yaks, and pigs come to life. The hotel's position in the hills amongst several other villages offers travelers a very special experience away from the overly touristy town and flag waving group tours. Within minutes of the hotel are friendly Tibetans who are keen to open their homes to you and share yak tea and barley powder with you. Wander along the river, walk to the temples, slow down and just enjoy the natural surroundings. That's what makes this place special. The best time to go is early to mid-June when flowers are in full bloom and before the rains come.

Take advantage of the guided tours to the villages where you enter a Tibetan home and experience a local meal. The Banyan Tree rotates the visits to each home in each village so that everyone in the area benefits. They do the same for the horse rentals. Ask questions and engage the local community to truly enjoy this place. Most of the guides are employed from local villages and they have worked very hard and at tremendous expense to their family to learn English to cater to the tourists.

If you want to see the neighboring sights, go to town and explore the options. Rent a car from town if you prefer to pay somewhat local prices (and you will get somewhat local service too!). Shangri-la's abundance of nature means that everything has entrance tickets so get advice before booking a tour. If local operators know you are staying at the Banyan Tree though, they will charge you more - Chinese logic. Songzanglin is a worthwhile trip to see an active monastery and community. Valley of the Blue Moon offers great views of the neighboring mountains and villages below (bring your fleece, gore-tex, gloves, and sunglasses) and Baishuitai (White Water Terraces) is a winding 2 hour drive past some beautiful mountain scenery.

Banyan Tree Ringha was a rugged, raw and authentic holiday experience with luxurious accommodations and relaxing spa treatments. Not for everyone, but for me? I would go back in a heartbeat, hopefully before this treasure of an area is over-run by the tourists.

We read the reviews before we left and specifically addressed the issue of rats.... Of which they of course had none! Everybody staying at the hotel were talking about having difficulty sleeping because they could hear the rats being busy. My husband suffered terribly from altitude sickness so couldn't really go on any of the trips, it would have been lovely to at least have been able to eat good food but alas, the food is so bad that the last day we had only tea and bread to eat blaming tummy upset. Even the breakfast was horrendous. I had serious concerns about basic hygien as we saw staff going to the loo then handling bread without washing their hands in between.

We did go on one trip, at huge cost, and really it wasn't worth it. The guide seemed more interested in getting us to sample local food at a restaurant known to her than actually giving us the tour we had booked. Would advise to find your own way around hotel. They will not help you, even direct you, they seem to be pushing the trips, but it is fairly easy.

And not to forgot that you can't say anything, they simply do not understand you. That is OK in LIjiang where the Banyan Tree is beautiful and the food is OK but if you have a room that is so dark that you have the lights on all the time, the power is cut off at least three times a day, and you have to reset the heaters, all seven of them, or freeze to death, the above mentionned rats etc etc you are not going to be in a charitable mood. The place is awful.

The area is beautiful, but there are other equally beautiful areas, if you have to go make it a very short trip. We couldn't wait to get out. Tried to change but it would have cost us a lot so we had to stay. That is the first time while on holiday we have felt that.

The Good:

The hotel is located next to a roaring river, in an unspoilt valley in the back of beyond. Rooms are very large indeed, beautiful Tibetan Carpets on the floors, complimentary broadband internet access, and humongous bathrooms.

The Bad:

Menus are extremely limited; food is very plain and boring, priced as if it were in an expensive developed world city centre restaurant. Very little fresh produce.

WC have a permanent smell of grey water probably due to the use of locally recycled water in the cisterns (A Chinese classic)

Impossible to get a Spa treatment unless you have booked it before arrival.

The 7km side road to get to the hotel is fairly adventurous and rather fun especially in the rain but really needs to be paved as one risks getting stuck in the mud or worse every time it's traveled.

The landscaping around the hotel rooms is extremely basic and trees, grasses, and bushes need to be planted. Remember this is the place were Rhododendrons and Azaleas grow naturally in the wild!

The Ugly:

The tours organised by the hotel are priced for the Chinese newly minted who generally tend to feel good if they overpay for goods and services (if it's expensive, it must be good). They are at best boring unless you go trekking around the hotel. This is very beautiful and the recommended pastime when you stay. We had a serious problem with the tour guides who sent us on a banged out staff Chinese minibus for a ride, (saying that all the other vehicles were gone) when we had booked (at Manhattan prices) one of the hotel's 4x4. We didn't get anywhere before the van started having brake problems, and had to order the driver to turn back. Still we wasted the whole day, and they put our lives in danger. The Singaporean manager was extremely apologetic and very commercial about it, trying to rectify the situation. Still it shows some of the staff's lack of know-how and seriousness. Unacceptable for a hotel of this category and reputation.

Overall they have the roots of something that could be great, but let down by disorganisation and the lack of some seriously skilled staff, although they generally tend to be very smiley... At this level of service, the whole thing is overpriced by at least 50%.

We stayed for 2 nights in April 2007 and absolutely loved it. We got there by car from Banyan Tree Lijiang (see separate review), a scenic 4 hour drive stopping at the Tiger Leaping Gorge along the way. We decided to try out the Ringha resort because after 2 nights in Lijiang you would get tired of the souvenir shops in the old town (although staying at Banyan Tree Lijiang was a delight). Ringha offers the traveller a glimpse of rural Tibetan China and the Banyan Tree Ringha allows you to do it luxuriously. There is no property like it in Ringha. So if you are a spoilt traveler like me, Banyan Tree Ringha is heaven sent.

First, you cannot really compare this resort to other Banyan Tree properties or even other luxury resorts. It is not built in the usual Banyan Tree mould. They bought an entire village in the middle of nowhere and converted it into this resort retaining the interesting Tibetan architecture and design. Thus, the resort is a simulation of a Tibetan village with all the modern comforts thrown in. The resort is surrounded by 5 other original villages which remain intact and the village folks from whom they purchased the property simply moved to the adjacent land and built new houses. The resort therefore co-exists with other authentic villages and even provide employment for the village folks. To get to the resort itself you have to go through a very long dirt road with no street lamps. You are literally transported to a completely different world. As far as location goes, you cannot get anymore authentic than this - totally pastoral tibetan setting.

We agree with the last reviewer that the rooms in the resort are the largest rooms that anyone would ever encounter but we are definitely not complaining. Tibetan houses are indeed huge with the living quarters located in the upper level and the animals kept in the lower level. You would appreciate this if you go for the cultural trek offered by the resort which we thoroughly recommend. During the cultural trek, you walk along the bank of the sacred river that meanders through the plains as you head for the adjacent village to experience Tibetan hospitality. Along the way, you would encounter goats and yaks grazing, and piglets burrowing in the muddy soil. At one of the Tibetan homes in the village, you will be served yak butter tea (which tastes like soup to me) and homemade bread for morning tea. You continue to trek to an 800 year old monastery located on a hill just behind the resort, the pathway to which is adorned with thousands of prayer flags fluttering in the wind. You end the trek with lunch at another Tibetan home.

It is this kind of experience that sets this Banyan Tree resort apart from other resorts. You are no longer a passive tourist but you are participating in a cultural immersion. Both tourist and locals benefit from this exchange. The villagers take turns to host the hotel guests and get paid for their services. It is a chance for them to showcase their culture. The guests in turn enjoy the unadulterated rural experience. It is sustainable tourism in action, opening the doors to visitors yet encouraging the preservation of the traditional way of life. For this, kudos to the Banyan Tree management.

So when you return to your villa, you will then appreciate why the rooms are so big and why there is a fire place in the centre of the room – because that is how the locals live. What Banyan Tree has done is in fact to give you as authentic a Tibetan experience you can get with all the modern comforts and luxury thrown in. And this, I think they succeed very well.

I agree with previous reviewers that the members of staff are wonderful, always eager to ensure that your stay is memorable. If there are some staff members who do not speak English as fluently as you expect, please be patient. These are locals whom the management have hired and are training. I think it is admirable on the part of the management to do that. The resort is not short of other staff members hailing from Singapore and Indonesia who speak very fluent English.

We definitely did not have any rat problem. The room downstairs at ground level is not a bedroom but a spa treatment room. There definitely was no sewer smell in our bathroom and the wooden tub in the humougous bathroom on the ground floor is a very nice touch and a hark back to ancient Chinese bathhouse practice which I have only seen in old Chinese films. I will not go into the details of the décor as it has been done by other reviewers. What you definitely will get is a luxury of space, serene isolation and peace.

You may of course opt for trips to town to see the mini potala (worth all the trouble to travel to Ringha in the first place) and the “old town” which is a faithful reconstruction of the old town of Lijiang with wider streets (where you should join the locals in line dancing every evening at the town square!).

Like the Banyan Tree property in Lijiang, you will not get quality accommodation like this anywhere else in town. In my view, there is no other deserving address in Ringha fit for the luxury crowd.

Stayed there during the peak "Golden Week" holidays after 3 days in Banyan Tree, Lijiang.

Wonderful environment. World of difference from the city, Zhongdian.

Close to nature and next to a Tibetian village. Have to drive through

a small Tibetian village before reaching the Resort, which is at the end of the valley. Access is via a 7km dirt road after turning off the main road. Can be quite bumpy at certain areas.

Villa is a 2 storey structure built in traditional Tibetian style. The villa faces a river and a farm, with the mountains as a backdrop.

Superb! The level of accommodation was as expected. You will meet yaks, sheep, horses and pigs while walking around the farms surrounding the resort. The locals are friendly.

The restaurants were OK. Nothing to scream about. But the hotpot is worth a try. Try to reserve early if you want to try the hotpot or barbecue. The spas was not as good as some of the other Banyan Tree resorts I have been to.

Overall, definitely beats staying in a hotel in Zhongdian itself. The

atmosphere and environment are definitely worth paying for.

I stayed three nights at the Banyan Tree in Ringha in late November. First tip, for those heading that way who look for weather information on the site and can't find it - it snowed the whole time. (I wasn't expecting this - and whilst I had cold weather clothese, I had no shoes that were suitable....)

I am really torn about this review. I absolutely loved Shangri-la - I loved it. It is incredibly beautiful. Authentic. Peaceful. Inspiring.

And the employees of the hotel - they were lovely. They wanted so much for me to have a great time. They were truly beautiful.

But for the price - the hotel really wasn't up to it.....I would (and am) going back to Shangri-la in a heartbeat. I wouldn't stay at the Banyan Tree again. Others have written about the problems with the hotel - and I would echo them. (Well - except for the rats - I didn't see any of them thank-heavens. ) But for example, the bathroom was beautiful - it had a large hottub - but it smelled like a sewer. And when I tried to explain this to the frontdesk, their limited english meant they didn't understand - so in the end I gave up spent as little time as possible in the bathroom. And the food - they really should just offer a chinese breakfast and be done with it - the western breakfast was so bad it was inedible.

But the location - the people - all beautiful. Although I wish I'd known there was a Buddhist monastry within 10 minutes walk - would love to have seen it.

We stayed at the Banyan Tree Ringha for 4 nights during August.

Having done our research, we were not expecting the Banyan Tree Phuket. We were expecting Tibetan remoteness, harshness and altitude sickness - that is what attracted us (we are used to extremes of climate and environment). That said, we were also expecting a certain level of comfort/professionalism because this is a Banyan Tree resort, and because we were paying a room rate that reflects the rates not dissimilar to other Banyan Tree properties.

There is nothing however, on the Banyan Tree website to prepare guests for the difficulties we encountered (quite the opposite - you'd never guess that you were not heading to something akin to Banyan Tree Phuket from the website), and which, from the dismissive replies we have received from the hotel, are part of the fabric of this resort.

In short:

- While we understand and think it wonderful that the Banyan Tree support the local population (a big draw to us), we found it extremely difficult and frustrating to have very few people around us that could understand us. We would have expected someone on duty at all times in all areas (reception, restaurant etc) who had a good understanding of English to help the guests. It's not really good enough to ask us to be patient and speak slower (in the hotel literature and welcome papers) - we need to be able to communicate our needs and questions (such as what are we eating?) - what if it were an emergency? All the staff were exceptionally friendly and as helpful as they could be. They just couldn't understand/speak English enough to be truly so.

2. The facilities were not as we expected they would be at a 5* resort, nor as advertised. The food choices were limited. The only real local flavour came in the form of the hotpot which we enjoyed on one night. We were there for 4 though, with no other choice than the main restaurant which served mainly western food (we really wanted local food). The advertised (on the web as well as in the rooms) bar with Tibetan snacks did not exist. Even the staff did not know that. It's only after we asked about it on our last day (having searched high and low), pointing to the room information on which it was advertised, and enquiries were made among the staff, that everyone seemed to find out it only opens in winter?! That limited choice could have been really boring - we are grateful however, to the chef for making us our special request on the last night - the resort gained back some "brownie points" for having done that!

3.The resort is in an isolated location - one of its key attractions. Shopping is not at your doorstep. Why then are basic supplies not available. For example, I unexpectedly needed an amenity that in my experience of hotels of this class - and not solely ones that are in remote locations - are typically stocked to assist their guests, typically at no cost. The resort however, does not do so. I am grateful to the receptionist (sadly I did not get her name) who arranged to purchase what I needed for me and her local shop (I paid). Not sure what I would have done had she not done that. The minibar is also very poorly stocked (Blue Nun wine??)...

4.Our guide on the drive/trek we did was very not to our liking/not what we expected. Among other things, he seemed very disinterested in everything other than the prospect of a tip (he fell asleep on the drive and tried to discourage us from wanting to go everywhere advertised), he could not answer any of our questions (he wasn't the knowledgeable guide advertised) and his personal habits made me hugely uncomfortable (and to be honest, a little sick). He called it "Tibetan toilet break". It consisted of stopping the car and urinating just behind it (within earshot), and stopping to urinate/defecate on the trek. I have to say I did not expect to have to go through that - and be offered lunch from him after that! I expected a much more professional and educational drive/trek for the price being charged.

There are a lot of great things going for the resort and a lot of things it does really well. We loved the fact that it is so integrated into the local society. We loved the ginger tea, the room, the spa and the location. The staff were great as I say above. But it was not truly a 5* experience reflective of the price charged (or our other Banyan Tree experiences) for reasons which cannot be blamed on its location/its rustic nature. The hotel has responded to our concerns doing just that.

We left feeling not wholly satisfied and remain so, having had nothing but defensive replies from the hotel implying we were expecting too much. Sadly then, if that is how the hotel intends to continue, we are unable to truly recommend it. - a great pity as it is in a great location

One last tip - if you do go, don't do as we chose to do (to support the locals) and catch a taxi from the airport. Better I'm afraid, to book the hotel car. Our local taxi driver stopped in the town and started gesturing and talking at us - as we couldn't understand, we called the hotel. It turned out the driver wanted money...4 times the proper fare to take us to the hotel!!! Thanks goodness for mobile phones...and a hotel who negotiated for us!

This is not your typical Banyan tree experience. If you're expecting swimming pools, golf courses, tennis courts and the like, this is not the place for you. Don't take your manolos and those evening dresses girls; trade them in for a nice, warm fleece jacket and practical hiking boots. Banyan Tree Ringha is located in an amazingly serene, calm and remote area of Yunnan. You live in a rustic Tibetan farmhouse, secluded from the rest of the world. You're forever surrounded by lakes, valleys, pigs, goats and yaks. They're sooo adorable you might be able to resist the tempation to chase after them. (I of course did chase after them, with 3 of my other dear friends) Its only when you get back to your lodge that you realise you might just have fallen prey to high altitude sickness. Fear not, there's endless (complimentary, may i say) cups of ginger tea for your pleasure and the tour guides are always equipped with oxygen bottles just in case. The hotel staff are wonderful and friendly, always here 24/7 to attend to your needs, even if it means listening to you talk about complete nonsense for hours on end. (the lack of oxygen makes you weird and dumb, trust me) I had a GREAT TIME and would go back to Ringha in a heartbeat. Need I say more? Look at the pictures................