We stayed there for three days in the beginning of Jan 2009; firstly, the location of the hotel is just in the entrance of Zhongyang street(main shopping and walking street in Harbin). it's walking distance to Zhaolin Park, Church of St. Sophia and Stalin Park. it's perfect location.

The hotel staff can speak basic English; so, it's so easy to communicate with them. Breakfast is quite enough; lots of selections. The only negative thing is the heat of rooms; it's about 30 degree; just keep the window open for a while before sleeping. The room was clean and the service was good.

Except from the hotel, Harbin is wonderful place to see. Especially; Sun island (Tai Yang Dao), Zhaolin Park and Siberian Tiger Park. You can sky, play snow games, see wild tigers, and walk among beautiful ice buildings and snow statues.

You should see Harbin and stay Holiday Inn!

Our family of 6 stayed in 2 rooms for two nights while visiting the Ice Festival. We are accustom to Chinese hotels and the Hotel itself was acceptable, but just. Just clean enough not to be dirty, just new enough not to be old and the breakfast was just O.K. The staff however was just not enough! Check in was painful (even with our basic Mandarin) our two room together were on different floors, and the staff just did not care. At check out it took a painfully long time for housekeeping to check the rooms and minibar for additional charges. The Hotel attempted to overcharge us both at check-in for included breakfasts and at checkout for dirty towels.

We truly enjoyed Harbin, the Ice festival is worth a visit, but spend much less and stay at a truly local Hotel or spurge and stay at the Shangri-la!

I've been there for 2 days in May 2008. Close to the main shopping area. The hotel is surrounded by dingy stinking shops.

Shady rooms screaming for renovation.

Pros:

- Close to the city centre

- Good food (but stay away from ice cream refrigerator - disgusting stale ice cream)

- English speaking staff

Cons:

- stinking hotel surrounding

- old-fashion rooms

- NO free WiFi Internet access

My sister and I stayed here for 2 nights and we though it was a decent option in Harbin. It is close to many eateries and is very close to the main shopping street. Easy to get taxis to and from the main sites.

The staff were excellent. Not only did they sort out a fight with a taxi driver (do not pay more than 120 yuan for the taxi to and from the airport) but the concierge arranged our day trip to the Yabuli ski resort and even got us a discount!

The room itself was adequate - clean and well-proportioned. It wasn't 5-star luxury but we didn't expect it to be. This hotel's location is better than the locations of the 5-star hotels which we drove past.

If you're going for the ice festival then it doesn't matter where you stay as it's not walking distance to any hotels. We went to the park with snow sculptures first and then there were vans waiting with deals including transport and tickets for reasonable prices to take us to the ice sculptures.

Reservations messed-up. Made reservations by Internet on Holiday Inn’s website for standard room with extra bed & breakfast for 3rd adult. Breakfast was supposed to be included for the 2nd adult too. On arrival, none of these reserved extras were ready. We were able to get the bed in for the 3rd adult but wound up having to pay extra for everything else. After a total of a couple hours of futility working with the front desk over the course of three days’ stay, I was resigned to work this out with Holiday Inn back in the United States. I did not arrive in Harbin to spend so much time haggling out a contract. By check-out on third day, none of the bill had yet been straightened out and the bill’s details all looked very confusing. Somehow the total balance worked out to what was expected.

As for having three adults in a standard room with the extra bed, the room was maybe a little too small. It was wall-to-wall bed on one side. Nobody could roll out of bed.

Extra bed is foldaway.

Room 902's window view is the stairway escape, half at foot level, the other half of concrete.

I had a few reservations at staying at this hotel as Harbin is not as popular as other areas of China. However upon arrival the staff were very polite and helpful. The breakfast buffet was lovely in the morning with a huge range of foods. This is a fantastic hotel considering its in a fairy remote part of the world.

Great location and nice, clean modern hotel, close to everything.

Stayed for 1 night during the Ice Festival and chose this hotel for price, and cause we get "Priority Points". Pleasantly surprised. No problems and would happily stay again!

First the bad news:

Harbin is a loud city. I lived here for 4 months 2 years ago and never really got used to it. How so? No where have I visited have I experienced so much horn honking as in Harbin, mostly from taxi drivers. You cant really believe how bad it is until you are in Harbin. The reason I mention this is where the hotel is located is an area with many taxis. I had to wear ear plugs to go to sleep, and I was on the 10th floor.

Also, starting at about 7 A.M. are people pushing carts to collect bottles and cardboard. The problem is they constantly bang on the back of a plastic bucket to let you know their there. When one is gone another follows about 10 minutes later.

The hotel has a very small and drab lobby.

Probably the biggest problem though is the staff can barely speak English and many cannot speak it at all. Now many reviewers on Trip Advisor will say "Hey, you're not in an English speaking country". True enough. HOWEVER, this is an American branded hotel, so many will pick this hotel with the expectation of an English speaking staff. Now, it's not the staff's fault. I know the owners of the English school that train the staff. The problem is they only have 2 weeks of training a year! Not nearly enough. So blame management or the owners for not spending more money.

NOW the good news:

The location is one of the best in Harbin. Right at the beginning of the city's best shopping street.

The rooms are THE cleanest I have seen in a Holiday Inn, ANYWHERE. The size is good for a Chinese hotel. The rate for the quality of the room is probably the best in Harbin.

The BEST part of this hotel? For those that don't know, Chinese beds are like sleeping on wood. The other hotel I've stayed at in Harbin (See Sinoway review) had a very hard bed. Not the Holiday Inn. Their bed was very Western comfortable.

I can sleep with ear plugs, so because of the nice rooms and the rate, I gave this hotel an above average rating.

Included are some photos of Harbin.

I stay here for the second Time.Everything is clean and works. Its not like Holiday-Inn in Beijing or Shanghai, but I have nothing negative to say. Also one "Plus" is the Location, directly opposite of the Shopping-Street. It will surely be my first Adress for the next Harbin-Visits!

I am used to staying in Holiday Inns and Days Inns in the US. I stayed at Holiday Inn Harbin for 10 days and found the room (king bed) to be large enough that I didn't feel cramped and the small table for two was just right for having breakfast in the morning from the things we bought and stored in the small refrigerator.

The room was clean, the linens were changed regularly (everyday of I wanted)... the furnishings, size of room and such are all what I would expect from a Holiday Inn in the U.S. that was over 8 or 9 years old. Coffee/tea maker. stocked mini bar, a couple complimentary bottles of water everyday, Cable TV had enough English speaking channels to hold my interest...

The staff was helpful (Though I must admit while I don't speak chinese, I had an interpreter) There is a business center with internet access to check web based email. A room service menu was available, wash/dry cleaning, massage and such... Prices were are reasonable and when exchanging US for Yuan they didn't charge too much more than Bank of China did.

Location is at the top of Zhongyang street so its safe and shopping and dining starts at the front door... and its a relatively short walk to St Sophia's Church and down to the river and park.

I did not eat at the restaurant or use the spa. But the hotel is exactly what I like when traveling: A clean, safe, comfortable place to go to sleep, wake up and relax on the odd day I am not out sightseeing. Those who like to "vacation" in the hotel would be better off spending a lot more than the $45 US I paid and book at a resort. But I give this average (for the US) Hotel 5 stars for value and 4 stars overall. I'll be staying there again this winter.