Yunnan small group tour hotels
Accommodation options in Yunnan have changed a lot since we last visited the province back before COVID. Finding good options for our Yunnan small group tour hotels used to be, frankly, something of a challenge as the overwhelming majority of visitors to China’s somewhat remote, southwesterly province were local tourists from large Chinese cities such as Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Chengdu etcetera and foreign tourists were few and far between. (Incidentally, Chongqing with some 30 million inhabitants is officially China’s largest city and few people outside of the country have even heard of it.)
Even on a recent trip, most overseas visitors we met had travelled from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam and Western tourists were very thin on the ground. While this is a very broad generalisation, most local and Southeast Asian tourists’ accommodation of choice consists of large, international-style, modern hotels. We say international-style but some of these huge concrete blocks only offered Asian-style buffet breakfasts and in the case of one 5 star establishment we stayed in, not a single staff member at reception spoke a word of English. (Sure, we don’t speak any Mandarin either but these places do claim to be high-end international hotels.)
Downtown Kunming – tricky finding a small, boutique hotel in all that lot. (But we did.) Note also that Chinese hotel categories are often rather optimistic and while the 5 star one in question was certainly comfortable and well-appointed, it wouldn’t pass for 5 star in say Bangkok, Phuket or Hanoi.
However, things have changed and the Chinese government appears to have taken steps to broaden the tourism base with excellent initiatives such as visa free entry for passport holders of most European nations and so the accommodation options have correspondingly widened to cater to Western preferences. Sure, plenty of Brits or North Americans also like to stay in upmarket, anonymous concrete blocks when on holiday but some are more discerning and that, obviously, doesn’t fit the All Points East style.
So, in line with our other small group tours, we were looking for smaller establishments with more character that are either family-run or fit the boutique catchword. (Boutique has become something of a vague, marketing term but it does at least give an indication of the hotel’s intentions and aspirations.)
Huawowo Inn on the left. Despite progress, they are still somewhat thin on the ground plus, in choosing such smaller establishments, we always need to ensure we have a plan B in case of availability issues. While destinations such as Lijiang or Dali still don’t offer anything like the range of say Luang Prabang or Hoi An, we did find some excellent addresses so here’s a brief destination by destination rundown of what to expect in terms of our Yunnan small group tour hotels. We’ll list first choices for now, although if they weren’t available we wouldn’t be too concerned as, in most cases, it was really a toss-up between 1st, 2nd and even on some occasions, our 3rd choices.
Finally, an additional issue in destinations such as Jianshui, Dali and Lijiang – where a larger town contains a well-preserved old central core – is access, as large areas are off limits to motor vehicles. While overall this is a great initiative it can make getting to hotels with your luggage tricky. (For example, all cars, vans and buses are strictly prohibited from entering the entirety of Lijiang old town.) Hotels will indicate the closest dropping off point and once the group has arrived will send porters with a kind of cart or trolley to collect the bags. However, on occasions this can be quite a hike and indeed one of the best looking lodges we came across missed out on being 1st choice since it was a 20 minute walk, including a lot of steps, from the nearest road. (No problem if it’s a one-off but if you’re staying their more than 1 night, with several comings and goings, it’s not great.)
(Note also that unfortunately and for reasons best known to themselves, very few Chinese hotels come with dedicated websites – which explains the limited number of links we can include.)
Pool with a view at 12 Manors Inn, although with a generally mild climate, pools are an extra frill rather than a necessity. Yuanyang
The old Yunti Hotel in Xinjie is getting very tired so we were delighted to come across a clutch of excellent, new family-run, boutique-style lodges agreeably situated in some of the outlying villages. 12 Manors, Jacky’s Guesthouse and Huawowo Inn were all so good we had problems deciding. Views at the latter were simply spectacular but access did come with a lot of steps so we went for the former, (see featured image), situated on the edge of a small Hani village, and offering more stunning views over the surrounding rice terraces.
Jianshui
Even among local tourists, Jianshui is somewhat off-the-beaten-track and its historic cobbled lanes, ancient temples and clan mansions see surprisingly few visitors. The beautifully converted, family-run Lin An Inn featured on our earlier Yunnan tours so we were delighted to learn it’s still going strong. It’s a tiny place with rooms set around a central courtyard accessed by a moon gate. All very traditional and all very feng shui but we needed a second address.
Lin An In, Jianshui Hanlinyuan Boutique Hotel fitted the bill with an old town location and its own convenient carpark – a rarity in these parts. It’s got more rooms than Lin An, so easier so book during busy months and this was another destination where we couldn’t separate the two. (Note Lin An Inn is not to be confused with the large, concrete Lin An Hotel. Lin An is the old name for Jianshui.)
Kunming
Despite being the provincial capital, Kunming has been tricky accommodation-wise since the popular Camellia Hotel closed down some time ago so many thanks to local guide and Yunnan expert Bernard for his suggestion of the relatively recently established Cachet Boutique Hotel. Great spot with well-appointed rooms, helpful English speaking staff, a particularly good breakfast buffet and above all a perfect location. It has a central, downtown position but is set in a small courtyard off the main road and is a short walk from the night market plus myriad restaurants, coffee shops and bars.
The lobby at Cachet Boutique Hotel, Kunming Dali
The old Landscape Hotel is still going strong and still popular with both local and foreign visitors but it can get very busy during high season so we had a look around for a quieter location and came up with the charming Dali Zhuangyuan.
Another beautifully converted old ethnic Bai-style, wooden mansion comprising rooms around a series of courtyards located just inside the old town area but very close to the North gate so convenient for access. It comes with a cosy restaurant, tea shop and even a ‘chess room’ and the help yourself espresso machine in the lobby was a nice touch.
Dali Zhuangyuan Hotel – not a bad spot for your morning coffee or end of day cold one! Lijiang/Shuhe
For Lijiang we opted for Shuhe – a much less hectic but still UNESCO World Heritage-listed village around 5 kilometres outside of Lijiang Town. The Bivou was a shoo-in for our Yunnan small group tour hotels list and unusually for these parts, even comes with its own very tastefully designed website. Super-friendly staff, great, central but quiet, location and we’re looking forward to staying there again.
Tiger Leaping Gorge
No change in Tiger Leaping Gorge as we were happy to see the excellent Sean’s Spring Guesthouse is still going strong and while Sean himself has apparently taken a back seat these days, one of his daughters is now running the place so, no concerns there. Hope their tasty Tibetan style porridge is still on the breakfast menu, (it can get pretty nippy up there in the mornings.)
Long-standing and popular Sean’s first opened up decades ago so they were able to nab what has to be one of the best viewpoints in the gorge and their terrace is one of the few spots we’ve seen that literally does take your breath away.
The terrace at Sean’s Spring Guesthouse, Tiger Leaping Gorge Shangri La
We ran out of time on our recent recce so we’re sticking with our Chinese friend, Bernard’s recommendation of Khimtsang Hotel or the superbly named 5th Meteorite Light Year Hotel. We’ve stayed at the former before and its Tibetan chic decor and central location fit our Yunnan tour hotels list and, while we don’t know the latter, it comes with similar decor and old town position plus the name is promising.
A legend recounts how, in the distant past, 5 meteorites fell on the town with 4 of them being claimed by local families while the 5th remained buried. The first 4 were said to represent courage, wisdom, love and health while the 5th – said to be somewhere underground in the vicinity of the hotel – corresponds to luck. (The hotel also claims to possess its own oxygen generating system which is lucky for anyone struggling with Shangri La’s 10,000 foot altitude.)
Many thanks to Tony Deng for facilitating the trip as well as for his excellent company; Merry for her behind the scenes organisation, Wang for his fine driving and constant good humour and to Bernard for his local knowledge, suggestions and recommendations.
