Dali hotels & places to stay

Great facility, our room was very spacious and staffs were all so helpful. Although there was a misunderstanding in regards the shuttle bus going back to hotel from the old town, made us waited like an hour but eventually hotel sent a separate car to get us and even offered a complimentary shuttle service to the train station on the day we left. It is a little inconvenient for the location wise but hotel has free shuttle service in the morning and afternoon to the main attraction Dali Old Town. Breakfast was super good. Will come back again in the future.

Dali Five Elements ranks among the best hostels I've ever stayed at, and this comes from a frequent traveller/backpacker. It has a star in its staff, especially Amy, who singlehandedly registered my family of four, fielded all our questions on what to do with our time in Dali, booked the cable car to the Cangshan mountain for us AND made lunch for us -- all under extreme time pressure as we got in from Kunming around 1pm and wanted to take the 3pm cable car ride up. The wonderful service is topped by the good location of the hostel, just outside the old town. I'd recommend this place -- without any reservation --to anyone going to Dali.

The personalized service is excellent. Many good stuff have been said about the service here and the attentiveness of the boss and his staff. Words doesn't do justice to the attentiveness and friendliness in this place. We've staying in many 6-star hotels in Yunnan, and none of them come close. Xizhou is made extra special because of Linden Centre. One thing to note : We had intended to hire a private car and guide to bring us around. But thank god, we didn't. Because Linden Centre itself is one of the historical sites. So, you are technically living within a piece of history. And your room rate included a day tour around Xizhou town. If we had hired a guide, it would be a total waste of money. Xizhou is small and the boss practically knows everyone. All you need to do is ask. Walkabout is a breeze. If you are going to Dali, definitely stay here. It's away from the Dali ancient town, but you'll love the quaintness of Xizhou. Very unspoilted. (Dali has been commercialized to death). In my company, I have a number of really fussy people. (ie. with food, cleanliness,... you name it), and they all unanimously feel that Linden Centre is most memorable for our Yunnan 10-day trip. We will definitely return soon.

Had a great room ... could see the mountains as well as the East Gate. Room design very nice. Bed comfortable. Lots of hot water ... great after a day of touring. Service excellent and flexible. Responsive with giving tourist guidance, ordering car service, assisting with errands, learning about China, Dali, etc. Whatever we asked about and needed, we received excellent help. Would highly recommend! Would visit Dali again and stay at this property. Thank you Bella for a wonderful experience.

In the beginning I planned to stay only 2 nights but due to the good service and friendly atmosphere at the Lily Pad Inn and also of course the charming Old town of Dali I prolonged my stay with 2 more nights.I recommend warmly the lily Pad Inn for its location, its good service, its friendly and helpful staff who try all the time to make you pleased to be their guest through for exempel commun dinner with other guests for symbolic expenses.The excellent english of the staff which is not usual in China make it easy to get information on different activities and programmes, The Lily Pad Inn gaved me really much value for the modest money I paid.

This youth-hostel is probably OK if you are trying to save as much money as possible on a trip. But the quality of the rooms were not very good. A lot of sound thru doors and windows. And a "teenage-boy-nest" facing the backyard, an they kept it going all three nights with loud voices and music. Which was really annoying. The windows and door had big gaps and had no isolating value at all. Apart from that, the personal were very helpful and spoke good english. Close to everything. And "nightlife".

I spent weekend in Dali with few colleagues. We booked 2 rooms. Hotel ambience is perfect, homey with nice mini garden and tea table. Room is clean and complete. Location is strategic: 5 min walk to Dali Ancient Town West Gate and close to Mountain. Easy to find food, water, etc nearby. The best of all is the hospitality from the owner and hotel manager. They let us check in earlier because we took morning train to Dali. They provided us with free breakfast on that day. They served us with nice tea with ceremony. They helped us book cable car, taxi, etc. I can say that this is the best hotel that I experienced so far. Very value for money.

I really enjoyed my stay here!! There were five if us that stayed - three guys in one room, and two girls in the other. Absolutely impressed by my stay at the hotel, so much so that my view of Dali is at its best Location: Very handy. At the bottom of one of the main centers with shops, bars, supermarket etc nearby. Also not far from many sightseeing attractions for a Cab to take you. Hotel: Beautiful. Its very welcoming and pretty grande when you walk in. It has stone features and a chandelier which is quite impressive. The receptionist was very helpful. Although we had a firm grasp of Mandarin, they still had english speakers on offer. They even offered umbrellas when the weather was terrible. Thank you staff! Oh, the pool was awesome. Even though it was winter, and i was the only one swimming, it was quite refreshing!! Rooms: BEST! Of all the rooms in China the five of us had stayed at, we all thought that the Dali Regent Hotel had the Best rooms!!! We had two King sized Beds (maybe even queen; we;re not specialists lol), air con, hot showers, bath etc. we were majorly impressed by the rooms that the small town offered. Price: EXCEPTIONAL. with all taken into account, the rooms were very well priced - too well if you ask me. Value for money, definitel.

Nice new building, clean well equipped rooms and friendly helpful staff. Negative’s, about a kilometre outside the ancient town South Gate. Agoda map places hotel in wrong location, it’s located near the tourist coach station. Breakfast is served in a local Chinese soup kitchen a short walk from the property. English not spoken at the property and no English TV channels. Overall a modern clean hotel if your ok walking, skip breakfast and speak Chinese.

I stayed in the Double Room with Balcony and it was very comfortable. Loved the little touches around the room, everything is clean and neat. Loved the little alcove sitting area (the "balcony") with its small window that opens into the winding vines growing upwards from the tree in the inner courtyard. I sat there with a book during the day, and a bottle of wine during the night. The bathroom was small but adequate with thoughtful supplies of the usual disposable amenities you might need. However, the hot water wasn't working very well and I only had lukewarm showers which during the summer days would be fine but it was during the colder autumn season. Strangely, the hot water from the hand basin was perfectly fine. I did not have a chance to dine here but whatever the lady owner was cooking certainly smelled delicious. Location was excellent, very easy to find and it was easy to navigate around the old Dali town from this base.

The hotel was beautiful, the staff friendly. We had a tough time finding it, but our host met us a couple of streets away and helped us with our bags when we finally approached. (The namevseems ti be different in Chinese.) The rooms and courtyard were very serene, and we were exhausted, so we had a delicious dinner there. Bed is typical Chinese (hard), and there is no door to the bathroom, only a shower curtain divider. But the shower was great. We had breakfast of bacon and eggs and congee. Location is good if you can find your way around. Several cute cats. Dryer on premises was a huge help.

After travelling for almost two months in China and India, my husband and I agreed that Dali Mountain Delights was not only the best value we'd experienced in our travels but also one of the most wonderfully hospitable and welcoming. We intended to stay one night and extended to six. Part of it was due to the location (just a short 10 minute walk to Old Town and located in a quiet alley) but most of it was due to Lin, the owner. With impeccable English, she is a natural at hospitality and went out of her way to make us comfortable. When my husband was sick, she delivered a sandwich to the room. She provided us with expert advice on the area, arranged for a driver and pointed us in the right directions. Her hotel is spotless and every need is taken care of. Our room was comfortable and peeked out onto the snow-topped mountain, there was great hot water around the clock, the bed was excellent and the breakfast one of the best we've found for a very reasonable price. After staying here, we felt that Lin (and the lovely Daisy) were friends that we would remember forever. And, of course, if you're a dog lover, Dali the Golden Retriever will be the first to befriend you. We are so very happy we found Mountain Delights and we would recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

We stayed here two nights and loved it. We got delayed leaving Dali so were due to arrive in Jianchuan around 10pm. Cato was concerned there wouldn't be any taxis at that time (there were some drivers around offering rides to Shaxi as it turned out) and organised a car to come and pick us up. Nancy also helped us to book tickets to Tiger Leaping Gorge from Jianchuan the next day, and organised a car to the bus station for us. Both Nancy and Cato speak excellent English and were extremely helpful in suggesting things to do, and helped us do some laundry free of charge at their place. There is excellent fresh ground coffee (you grind it yourself in the DeLonghi machine!), tea and snacks available from early morning until late, and you can enjoy this either on the lovely little decking rooftop area in the courtyard, or from the chairs outside your room. We were also given a free upgrade! All in all a great place to stay!

After a late arrival, though we had advised the hotel about that, we realized that the young unilingual Chinese guy at the counter did not have a clue about our reservation. After many phone calls with the owner - who could hardly speak English too, and realizing that we did not have a room for the night, they finally gave us the employee's room which we had to clean and change the sheets. The day after we claimed a compensation for the previous night and the owner refused to compensate us. At my return to Canada I complained about that, but more thant one month later, they keep telling me they are taking care of the situation, but no results. I find it very frustrating to count on a reservation and when you arrive at the hotel, they do not have it. The room we got the second night was very clean and spacious.

Good place to stay with the lovely Bai traditional style unique building within walking distance to foreigner street, walk around the ancient city streets, travel agents, bus ticketing agent, food, you can have everything within reach, taxi is accesseble to the hotel door, hotel rate is reasonable and I will stay at this hotel again in the future. Hotel receptionist don speak/ understand English. breakfast 6.30 to 8.30am insufficient food.

First off, If you flew into Dali airport, the taxi fare to Dali new town is $50, it is 100+ dollars to the Dali old town which is about twice as far. If you are adventurous, you can take the mini bus from the airport to the new town for $10 yuan each, then another bus to the old town. Not recommended tho if you don't speak or read Chinese. The hotel is pretty difficult to loacte, so we recommend having the hotel's phone number handy for the taxi driver to ring up to locate the hotel. The hotel is in a small alley off the main road from the east gate. Check in was very efficient by the friendly staff who speaks excellent English. No deposit required. The room is very neat and clean with an oriental flavor. The bathroom is huge. However, apart from the shower gel and shampoo satchels, there was no comb, shaver, cotton buds typically found in bigger hotels. But for the price we paid, who cares... The hotel is conveniently located next to the main shpping street, FuHsing street. However, pay attention to the alley way or you may lose your way back later on. We also recommend arranging trips and tours with the front desk rather than venturing out to the travel shops on the Main Street. The reception provide discounts and will give good suggestions on where to go. Despite its location, it is secluded enough with a quiet surrounding. Even tho our room was on the ground floor (or 1st floor in China), we did not experience any noise or disturbance the two nights we were there. Overall, this is an excellent hotel and we highly recommend it.

I wasn't expecting the inn to be located at such a beautiful place. In front of the inn is the famous Erhai in Dali. It was a good feeling to wake up to see the lake just outside your window. It is 15-20mins bus ride to the Dali Old Town. So the location of the inn was near enough to be away from the crowd. Maybe the time we were there is the off peak season, many eatery were either closed or under renovation. But we could still find a decent eating place near the inn. The next time if I were to come back to Dali, I would choose to stay in Wanghaiting Inn again.

Friendly service by the owner who is a Shangrila tour guide. The simple accommodation located on the outer of Dali Old Town seems to be a good choice by the useful infomation from him: Dali people with good English communication. He can give many data and good recommendations from the local story to attractive places: nature, culture and etc. Nice place for non-chinese speaking travelers especially.

Take Bus 8 from Dali railway station till the end (bus terminal) and with a few minutes of walk you will reach the hotel. But you have to know the direction. So, it will be better to contact the hotel when you are at the railway station and ask the hotel to arrange for someone to meet you at the bus terminal. The hotel does not provide breakfast but there are many restaurants outside the hotel. The walking street is just minutes away. The owner is very friendly. He invited the hotel guests for tea and have a chat in the evening. Overall, the stay is wonderful.

Take #3 bus (turn right after exit Dali train station) and stop at Gurong Hotel. Cost 3rmb only. Gurong Hotel is just next to Red Dragon Wall Gate (a big grey stone wall). Cross the highway and walk straight for about 5min until came about 77 Guesthouse. Then, turn left and walk uphill to Jade Emu Guesthouse. The guesthouse is nice. Room is spacious and they will change your towel everyday. There are no air-conditioner in the room but the room will get cold especially during night. Only few minutes walk to Dali Ancient City. Anyway, we have a nice stay here. The staff can speak/understand english and don’t forget to meet Magic (i think the owner’s dog). p/s: Take the same bus #3 from the guesthouse to Dali train station which is also the last stop