booked via ctrip just two day before arrival. smooth reception, just odd to charge your credit card about double cost for services deposit and then cancel on checkout as it is common in China, I guess it is better to leave the deposit in cash. Single room small but adequate, bathroom shower also small, but I am a large guy, and did not suffer. Excellent staff, very helpful, 6th floor restaurant may be difficult for English speakers, but there's always someone who can help. Lack of seating in the lobby, but one can always sit and talk in the ground floor cafe, they do not charge for that. Free WiFi and cable Internet, very fast, works with VPN. No complaints, good atmosphere, efficient and pleasant. Good breakfast. Marvellous location. Will certainly stay again.
Only a die-hard contrarian or a malcontent could deny the supremacy of the location of this hotel. It’s a two minute walk to the ferry to Gulang Yu (yet set on an unexpectedly quiet street), it’s located adjacent to the main (pedestrian) shopping street and, of course, it overlooks the harbour (and Gulang Yu).
The hotel is smart, modern and well maintained – up to the standards of a business hotel, although I was not there on business.
The room I had – a single – was perfectly acceptable, save for two things: One was the claustrophobic, glass shower stall, which found me hitting (and altering) the water control lever a few times during each shower no matter how hard I tried to shower without moving. One wrong move would turn the water off, another would push it into hot or cold water; the other issue was the absence of a mini-bar/refrigerator, which is a required accoutrement in 3 star, never mind 4 star, hotels. But if you don’t find yourself completely confounded by one thing or another on a daily basis, then you’re not in China. I can’t speak to the other classes of rooms, but be aware of this if you are planning on checking into a single.
The Chinese restaurant on the top floor is very good. You can either order from the standard, physical menu (highly recommended for non-Mandarin/Cantonese speakers) or cast your fate to the wind by wading into their buffet-style, a la carte system, with two separate sheets of paper written exclusively in Chinese dropped onto your table and supposedly cross-referenceable to log what and how much you ate. None of the food is identified in the buffet-style area (with regard to what it is or what type of dish it represents) and no prices are visible anywhere, either on the sheets of paper or by the food itself. You may have a sumptuous meal or you may not… and you’ll be hard pressed find someone to accept blame should you find out that your final bill is two, three or four times what you had anticipated spending.
If you’re planning to stay here, do yourself a big favor and research the hotel’s actual prices on the web before arriving. It will save you a lot of money, unless you are an innately, highly skilled and very patient negotiator. I found out the hard way: I walked into the hotel and the listed rate for a single was 600 yuan, which no one obviously took seriously. It quickly dropped to 500, then 451 when I showed the rate listed in a top tier guidebook’s 2008 edition. [Thanks un-named guidebook, by the way… good job of doing your homework]. But the manager wasn’t caving as is customary, where you fairly quickly end up between 50 and 60 percent of the quoted rate.
It being late in the day, I took it for one night (knowing I was likely paying way too much for a room but not specifically how much) and set out to find a nearby internet outlet and either a cheaper, quotable rate for this hotel or an alternate, cheaper hotel. I happened to stumble upon a web site (other than the hotel’s) and was both angered and happily surprised to find out the hotel’s listed rate was 348 yuan, including service charges and breakfast (but not the 4% tax). The hotel manager – a skilled negotiator… believe me, I’ve been around – quickly and graciously honored that rate for my entire stay.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your circumstances… for me, I’m married) this hotel was free from the evening telephone call from an anonymous female asking if one if one wants a “massa”, which allowed me to leave the phone on the hook to take desired calls.
If you don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, stick with the hotel manager on hand or reception as a last- resort back up for anything that involves detail or that is of importance. Knowledge of English or any other language falls precipitously after that, although the doormen seem to have a rudimentary ability for lesser issues, depending upon who you talk to.
I have stayed here many times, it is one of the oldest hotels in Xiamen, but at the best location, corner of Jong Shan Road and Lu Jian Dao, right across from the famous and beautiful Gulangyu island.
I have stayed there, before and after is was refurbished and it is still of high quality with an early 20th century facade.
They can handle foreign guests and for location you won't find better in Xiamen, right on the best shopping street in the city and across from the seawall overlooking the gulangyu island, which is illuminated at night.
It is in the center of all the tourist activity and is where travellers in the know stay who are there for themselves wanting to be within easy access of great restaurants and activities.
I book all my interenational friends here when they come to visit as the hotel is a destination in itself.
try the outdoor restaurant on the 6th floor, very very populat with the locals, plus this is an affordable hotel for foreign travellers too!
This hotel has a great location. Our room overlooked the harbour and Gulanyu island. The ferry to the island is about 10 minutes walk away. The staff were very friendly and helpful and spoke good english. The room was very clean with a huge bed than was softer than is usual in Chinese hotels. The shower was one of the best I have found in any hotel. Out of the 3 restaurants we found the Chinese one the best. There are not many restaurants in Xiamen outside of the hotels so we ate in the hotel every night. We were amused by the huge, bizarre water feature in the bar. It seems to represent a jungle water fall with fountains and flashing lights. The hotel did not have much information about local attractions although they do provide a map in each room. We would recommend visiting the island and the botanical gardens.
The location is fantastic, just in the center of old commercial area of Xiamen, facing the sea. Just across the ferry terminal for Gulanyu island (very nice trip). Nice building, luxury entrance, rooms are a little basic but good service, a hotel with some character. I will repeat.
地址： No.54 Lujiang Road
点评
booked via ctrip just two day before arrival. smooth reception, just odd to charge your credit card about double cost for services deposit and then cancel on checkout as it is common in China, I guess it is better to leave the deposit in cash. Single room small but adequate, bathroom shower also small, but I am a large guy, and did not suffer. Excellent staff, very helpful, 6th floor restaurant may be difficult for English speakers, but there's always someone who can help. Lack of seating in the lobby, but one can always sit and talk in the ground floor cafe, they do not charge for that. Free WiFi and cable Internet, very fast, works with VPN. No complaints, good atmosphere, efficient and pleasant. Good breakfast. Marvellous location. Will certainly stay again.
Only a die-hard contrarian or a malcontent could deny the supremacy of the location of this hotel. It’s a two minute walk to the ferry to Gulang Yu (yet set on an unexpectedly quiet street), it’s located adjacent to the main (pedestrian) shopping street and, of course, it overlooks the harbour (and Gulang Yu).
The hotel is smart, modern and well maintained – up to the standards of a business hotel, although I was not there on business.
The room I had – a single – was perfectly acceptable, save for two things: One was the claustrophobic, glass shower stall, which found me hitting (and altering) the water control lever a few times during each shower no matter how hard I tried to shower without moving. One wrong move would turn the water off, another would push it into hot or cold water; the other issue was the absence of a mini-bar/refrigerator, which is a required accoutrement in 3 star, never mind 4 star, hotels. But if you don’t find yourself completely confounded by one thing or another on a daily basis, then you’re not in China. I can’t speak to the other classes of rooms, but be aware of this if you are planning on checking into a single.
The Chinese restaurant on the top floor is very good. You can either order from the standard, physical menu (highly recommended for non-Mandarin/Cantonese speakers) or cast your fate to the wind by wading into their buffet-style, a la carte system, with two separate sheets of paper written exclusively in Chinese dropped onto your table and supposedly cross-referenceable to log what and how much you ate. None of the food is identified in the buffet-style area (with regard to what it is or what type of dish it represents) and no prices are visible anywhere, either on the sheets of paper or by the food itself. You may have a sumptuous meal or you may not… and you’ll be hard pressed find someone to accept blame should you find out that your final bill is two, three or four times what you had anticipated spending.
If you’re planning to stay here, do yourself a big favor and research the hotel’s actual prices on the web before arriving. It will save you a lot of money, unless you are an innately, highly skilled and very patient negotiator. I found out the hard way: I walked into the hotel and the listed rate for a single was 600 yuan, which no one obviously took seriously. It quickly dropped to 500, then 451 when I showed the rate listed in a top tier guidebook’s 2008 edition. [Thanks un-named guidebook, by the way… good job of doing your homework]. But the manager wasn’t caving as is customary, where you fairly quickly end up between 50 and 60 percent of the quoted rate.
It being late in the day, I took it for one night (knowing I was likely paying way too much for a room but not specifically how much) and set out to find a nearby internet outlet and either a cheaper, quotable rate for this hotel or an alternate, cheaper hotel. I happened to stumble upon a web site (other than the hotel’s) and was both angered and happily surprised to find out the hotel’s listed rate was 348 yuan, including service charges and breakfast (but not the 4% tax). The hotel manager – a skilled negotiator… believe me, I’ve been around – quickly and graciously honored that rate for my entire stay.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your circumstances… for me, I’m married) this hotel was free from the evening telephone call from an anonymous female asking if one if one wants a “massa”, which allowed me to leave the phone on the hook to take desired calls.
If you don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, stick with the hotel manager on hand or reception as a last- resort back up for anything that involves detail or that is of importance. Knowledge of English or any other language falls precipitously after that, although the doormen seem to have a rudimentary ability for lesser issues, depending upon who you talk to.
I have stayed here many times, it is one of the oldest hotels in Xiamen, but at the best location, corner of Jong Shan Road and Lu Jian Dao, right across from the famous and beautiful Gulangyu island.
I have stayed there, before and after is was refurbished and it is still of high quality with an early 20th century facade.
They can handle foreign guests and for location you won't find better in Xiamen, right on the best shopping street in the city and across from the seawall overlooking the gulangyu island, which is illuminated at night.
It is in the center of all the tourist activity and is where travellers in the know stay who are there for themselves wanting to be within easy access of great restaurants and activities.
I book all my interenational friends here when they come to visit as the hotel is a destination in itself.
try the outdoor restaurant on the 6th floor, very very populat with the locals, plus this is an affordable hotel for foreign travellers too!
This hotel has a great location. Our room overlooked the harbour and Gulanyu island. The ferry to the island is about 10 minutes walk away. The staff were very friendly and helpful and spoke good english. The room was very clean with a huge bed than was softer than is usual in Chinese hotels. The shower was one of the best I have found in any hotel. Out of the 3 restaurants we found the Chinese one the best. There are not many restaurants in Xiamen outside of the hotels so we ate in the hotel every night. We were amused by the huge, bizarre water feature in the bar. It seems to represent a jungle water fall with fountains and flashing lights. The hotel did not have much information about local attractions although they do provide a map in each room. We would recommend visiting the island and the botanical gardens.
The location is fantastic, just in the center of old commercial area of Xiamen, facing the sea. Just across the ferry terminal for Gulanyu island (very nice trip). Nice building, luxury entrance, rooms are a little basic but good service, a hotel with some character. I will repeat.