Located on the opposite side of the Li River from "downtown" Guilin, near Seven Star Park and the new convention center, the Guilin Plaza is an acceptable 3-star hotel, billed as 4-star by our travel agency. Our rooms were on the concierge level, which may account for the 4-star billing. They were average in size and clean, with two beds, a dresser and desk. There were two closets, one with a room safe. BBC News was the only English-language television station (I’m a news junkie, so that was OK by me); my friend was able to hook a portable DVD player up to his TV so we could check out the movies we bought (there are several shops in Guilin selling DVDs; both legal and illegal copies). The thin glazing of the window meant that the pile drivers at a nearby construction site provided a dependable 6:45 am wake-up call. It was OK, though. We were there to see Guilin, not to sleep!The bathrooms were functional, with minimal amenities; shampoo/conditioner combo and bars of soap were about it. Bottled water was not provided; we picked up our own at a grocery store in town.
Breakfast was included in our room rate. It was the standard mix of eastern and western dishes; the quality was OK and we were more interested in breakfast as fuel for a day of sightseeing than haute cuisine anyway. We would usually grab a piece of fruit or two for a snack later in the day.
A "special rice noodle dinner" was also included with our package, and it was eaten at a restaurant in the hotel. We should have guessed by the forks that this would be "dumbed down" Chinese food; the steamed white rice served with the entrée confirmed our suspicions. We wouldn’t have eaten there given a choice.
There were two gift shops in the lobby, selling everything from clothing to exotic Chinese liquors. Our exploration of the rest of the hotel turned up a regular bar, a karaoke bar, several private "entertainment" rooms, a gym with some ancient weights and a treadmill, and best of all, a place to get massages. We had an awesome foot massage; we’d grown addicted to them in Thailand and were disappointed when we realized that Chinese foot massage involves more stewing of feet in hot water than actual massaging. Maybe that’s true in Beijing, but the Guilin foot massage was great. It lasted about an hour and included a brief back and shoulder rub as well. If you’re staying in the hotel, I’d definitely recommend it!
Overall, we got what we wanted from the hotel: a clean, safe place to sleep. We weren’t in our rooms much anyway, so why pay for down pillows and 24 hour room service?