Banyan Tree Hotels in Shangri-La

This hotel is located in the north part of Shangri-La, about 10 minutes drive from the old city of Shangri-La and within walking distance from the bus terminal. The hotel room was very cozy and clean. The breakfast was excellent, and included some tasty ******* breads. The only issue I had was that the hotel does not work with a travel agency. The hotel staff suggested that I go to the old city and find a travel agency there, which I did.

The staffs at counter desk were courteous, polite and well mannered and willing to go the extra mile to help by changing the room for me. Even the hotel cleaners were very courteous and well mannered which i appreciated them very much. This hotel has welcome self service drinks. I arrived too early for checkin and they accept my baggage and placed them behind their counter and gave me a reference tag for my baggage for security reason by so by matching the tag which i feel confident placing my baggage with the hotel.

I stayed in the suite at this hotel. It was a great and very comfortable stay. Everything about the suite was elegant and built for comfort. The hotel has a restaurant that makes delicious Yunnan inspired dishes. The yak stew and the potato dishes were especially good. The staff was nice and friendly although language presented a barrier. (Thankfully there are translation apps.). The pool was a little weird though. It's presented more like a pond in the middle of the hotel rooms. There seems to be only one access point to the pool and there is zero seating. Its rimmed by plants and trees. Very strange. But thats the only criticism of the hotel. Everything else meets and exceeds expectations of a hotel. And its within walking distance of the old town.

The hotel is located 1 km from the ancient town and is a 10-15 minute drive to the train station. The room was comfortable, and the water pressure and heater worked perfectly. The Wi-Fi was very stable as well. (For foreigners, do bear in mind, if you connect to hotel wifi, you would need to connect to VPN in order to use WhatsApp, IG or Youtube) This is a 9-year-old property, so there are some flaws that can be improved, but that is understandable. My only feedback is about the F&B restaurant; they only have one all-day dining option. Breakfast was alright, with more of a local selection. I stayed for two nights. On the first day, there was staff available to help me and serve my cafe latte order. However, on the second day, I did not see any staff on standby, so I had to make my own cafe latte (I had to froth the milk), which I found awkward. I wish the staff were more well trained, but I understand it is low season and the hotel probably hired part-timers for service. The best highlight of my stay was meeting a lady named Rose He, who is part of the guest services team (i think). She made recommendations on where to go and even found us a local driver to take us around. She was extremely kind and polite. We exchanged WeChat information, and she texted me when the weather turned cold or rainy. She also helped us to arrange complimentary transportation to the train station. It felt personalized. Shangri-La, if you are reading this, I believe she deserves a token of appreciation. She is the true star and a great example of “hospitality.” Overall, we were happy with our stay. Thank you.

Overall room was basic. There was a restaurant in the hotel that offer hot meals. It was low reason, thus the hostel was quite empty during our stay. Or perhaps the location was so close to the bus station, most hikers will hop into bus and back to Lijiang or Shangri-La straight away. The hotel is located uphill. The only trouble we faced was our baggages was stored at the public storage room downhill, and we had to carried our own baggages walk about 200m uphill, and 3 storey staircase to our room.

The owner arranged for transport to pick us up from Shangrila train station and he waited by the main road to carry our luggages to the homestay. Honestly, if one is expecting a glamorous place, this isn't but it does give a quaint, homey, country vibe which we adored. It's located in Dukezong ancient city and touring the ancient city is a breeze. Dukezong is a hive of activity, plenty to see, eat and buy. There are communal dancing and performances at the city's several gathering squares. Let the music leads you.....

This long standing guesthouse is a must stay in many ways if you are visiting Tiger Leaping Gorge - with outstanding views and definitely a perfect location for staying the second night if you are walking the gorge over 3 days. The bedrooms are large and clean and warm. The hotel staff are very helpful both in person and over WeChat - especially when you are doing the gorge walk and want some help with directions. There are great drinks in the bar including local craft beer. A few things that we would note though. Firstly given the price of the room, there absolutely should be real bath towels instead of very unsatisfactory disposable ones. Secondly I do not recommend booking the most expensive top floor rooms because the noise that comes through the roof from the upstairs area (bar/coffee shop/terrace) is very bad and constant (including waking us up in the morning). You would get just as good a view from the lower level rooms but without the terrible noise. Lastly it would be nice if the restaurant included a few western food options for lunch and dinner - the Chinese food we had was great but tired international tourists (and there are more and more of us!) often want comfort food after a long day’s hike.

The picture is of the hotel bar at 20.00. Totally closed. The rooms are quite modern and clean, no problems at all there. The location is a decent walk into the old town. Fine if you have a car, but there are probably better options if you're visiting the touristic locations. The biggest annoyance was when I arrived on crutches having hurt my ankle a couple of days before they just watched my struggle with my bags. After check-in, the small female receptionist did try to take my large bag, but couldn't lift. All while a larger male colleague just watched on. Breakfast was alright, not great. The worst overall mark of any of the hotels in China for me, by quite a distance.

We were searching for a nice spa place in Shangri-la. I have no doubt that this is the best one. Amazing views to the snow mountain from the top spa (available for all) and a very nice private spa as well. Not only did we get a nice spa experience, the host but drove us to a path to overview the city plus also offered us special help to go for a hike the next day to a beautiful location that will be forever imprinted in our minds. Thank you so much!