Banyan Tree Lijiang

It was a wonderful stay at the Banyan Tree in Lijiang. The villa was spacious, beds comfortable (but pillows could have been firmer, was rather floppy and soft), and all the bathroom amenities were great. My kids loved the netted playground area and we hung out there 3 times during our stay, despite the cold temperatures. The view of Yulong snow mountain from the villa was amazing. We loved the biscuits and fruit that were given during the turn down service. We ate at the Chinese restaurant twice and the food was very good. We liked that the hotel is so closely located to Shuhe Guzhen where we could shop and have our meals. It's amazing that there are craft coffee joints in all the old towns we visited. Between the hotel and Shuhe Guzhen are also many mini markets and also a fruit shop where we stopped by to get fruit twice. There was a wide selection of fruit, some we had not tried before. What made the experience an even warmer one was William, who helped us with our airport transfers, picking us up from the airport and sending us off. We left very early the morning of our departure, and he made arrangements to have pastries, fruit and yoghurt packed for us on the ride to the airport. He also took us on 2 day trips, one to the Yu Long Snow mountains and one to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. He brought us around and even thought of things that my 2 kids would like to do on top of our planned excursion. He took us to one of the wetlands to feed seagulls and the kids absolutely loved it. On the day we watched the Lijiang Impressions show, it was snowing and hailing, and William made sure we were properly covered in the rain coats before he left us to watch the show. So thank you to the Banyan Tree Lijiang and William for making our stay such a memorable one.

Better pillows please.

the villa was nice and spacious compound greenery is excellent, good view of snowdragon mountain, excellent staff service

the food was very very average , not up to the star rating standard, also limited menu items and no western food in the evening, very disappointing

Cleanliness, great view, comfortable rooms, jet pool in the villa

Breakfast area is too small, hard to find tables, breakfast taste, quality and variety can be improved

This is a beautiful resort with an incredible view of the mountain. I would like to give a special thank you to Anna, who went out of our way to make sure that our family had an amazing stay.

the room and the view are beautiful. the breakfast is good too. nice services from all staff.

The room is a bit cold at night.

High end villa and service

None

I liked the concept and layout of the resort which was quite pretty. I had a spa garden suite which was lovely in many ways- but had some difficulties. The garden and villa idea is really lovely and private. The breakfast was good. The Chinese restaurant was very good. I like the Nespresso coffee maker in the room and the fresh fruit, decorations, fragrant oils and incense were a nice touch. Once I figured out the outdoor whirlpool it was lovely at night time to look at the stars and relax. When my friend complained about some issues, the manager did step up to do her best to ensure our requests were met and treated us to a lovely dinner. There are some lovely shops.

I visited in June, pre-summer season. Firstly, the villa smelled strongly of camphor (moth balls) which even after airing was noticeble. My room was lovely, but there was no information for English guests for operating the television or for room service. There were no complimentary items which in less expensive hotels were provided. There was also no information about how the outdoor whirlpool spa operated. The first night I was woken up a few times by what I think was maintenance on the whirlpool. After I complained the second night was very quiet and you could hear the birds chirpping. I had a difficult time explaining my needs- had to rely on my Chinese friend to explain. My overall feeling was that I had big expectations for this hotel (it should have been a 10) and the polish I expected was not quite there.

Facilities and staff were great

The first bed we had was extremely uncomfortable and poor quality. Given the cost of the hotel this was disappointing. However, the team tried to make up for the experience and were very receptive to our disappointment.

The mountains

A bit run down. Needs to change curtains, carpets, sockets that did not work. The air conditioning systems which makes a lot of noise. Plus a neighbour quarrelling loudly into midnight for 2 consecutive nights.

The view is memorable.

Logistic is poor that we got a room under cleanliness. Asked to change, but there is no view in the new room, so all we can do is wait. After settling down, other guests knocked our door due to booking arrangement mistake... In the end, water is not hot enough for a bath and the air-con is too noisy at night.