Lijiang Yinjian Inn

Let's start with the positives: 1. The auntie who makes breakfast noodles with sauce is fantastic; I had them for three days straight because they were so delicious. 2. The hotel staff are very enthusiastic and respond quickly to any issues. They work tirelessly from morning till night. The 4.5-star rating is based on these two points! 3. The location on top of Lion Mountain offers easy access to and from the ancient town. 4. The hotel is relatively new. There's a small viewing platform next to the front desk with good views. Now for the issues, to be completely honest: I was drawn in by the 4.9-star rating. I'm not sure how Ctrip calculates its scores nowadays. 1. I stayed in room 205, which was advertised as 28 square meters. It has one double bed, and a bench at the foot of the bed. The actual floor space in the room feels like about four double beds could fit, but one double bed completely fills the sleeping area. The only small round stool was one I had to ask for. Honestly, I've traveled for over 20 years and seen many 28-square-meter rooms, and I can't agree with this measurement. There's just a bench at the foot of the bed, then the projector screen. 2. The bathroom is tiny, pitifully small. It's just big enough for the toilet. I'm 1.59 meters tall, and when I sit completely, my legs are as shown in picture one; if I try to sit a bit more normally, the bathroom door won't close. 3. The glass sliding door is dangerous! It's stiff and gets stuck when opening or closing. I struggled to slide it when showering. 4. Shower water: I stayed three nights. On the first night, around 11 PM, almost midnight, the water was lukewarm – I couldn't shower. The staff member did resolve it immediately by asking us to wait half an hour for the water to heat up. This ended up taking until about 1 AM, which was exhausting. The second night was fine. On the third night, showering around 9 PM, the water was either scalding or freezing when adjusted, fluctuating back and forth multiple times. I ended up having a rushed shower, which was quite a frustrating experience. 5. Air conditioning: On the first night, I set the AC to 26°C, but I froze all night and woke up with a stuffy nose. The staff told me I needed to set the AC to 28.5°C; I was stunned. I had just come from Meili and Shangri-La, which are much colder than Lijiang. I guess I've never encountered an AC unit that needs to be set to 28.5°C to be warm enough… you can imagine its heating effectiveness. 6. The hotel's smart design: As soon as you open the curtains, you can see the bed opposite, and everything on it is clearly visible. Zero privacy. 7. My final point is a suggestion: I stayed three nights, and the breakfast didn't change at all. I personally suggest a little variety would be a more thoughtful touch. Someone will probably ask why I didn't change hotels or rooms given these issues. Honestly, frequent travelers don't particularly care if a hotel is luxurious or not; clean and decent is usually enough. Switching back and forth is truly a hassle – packing and moving luggage is too annoying. It's just for sleeping, after all. Oh, and on the last night, around 10:30 PM, the projector TV suddenly started fast-forwarding, pausing, and blurring on its own, which scared me to death. It might have been a machine malfunction, but it gave me a significant fright. I first came to Lijiang in 2005 and have visited 5-6 times since, in different seasons, staying in various hotels and guesthouses. In this very weak off-peak season, there are many choices for a 398 CNY per night room, and this one really wasn't worth it. Lijiang was originally just a stopover for us because of altitude sickness, prompting us to come down from Meili earlier and stay an extra night, but it was truly disappointing. While strolling through the ancient town, we saw guesthouses touting for business, and we even checked some out. So, there's definitely room for improvement!

Located on Lion Mountain, it's incredibly convenient to reach all the attractions in the ancient town, whether it's Sifang Street, the Big Water Wheel, or Sifang Market. Getting around is super easy. The hotel's central courtyard offers a panoramic view of the entire ancient town – the scenery is absolutely stunning. The afternoon tea was delicious 😋 with fruits and pastries. And the breakfast rice noodles were especially fragrant.