Lijiang YueTing Aerial Scenery Terrace Hotel

The hotel is conveniently located in the old town. We were welcomed with tea and the staff really helped us with organizing our further trip.

I had a fantastic stay at this hotel, perfectly situated near major sightseeing spots in Lijiang Ancient City. Its elevated location offers breathtaking views, allowing you to see almost the entire ancient city from the property—absolutely stunning, especially at sunset! The free breakfast was a delightful surprise, offering a great variety of delicious options to start the day. The staff went above and beyond, assisting with carrying our luggage from the taxi drop-off point, which is a few hundred meters away, making check-in a breeze. The owner was incredibly hospitable, providing helpful tips about local attractions and navigating the area, which enhanced our experience. The warm service and prime location make this hotel a gem. Highly recommend for anyone visiting Lijiang!

Our experience at Joyful Hotel in the old town of Lijiang is best described as “Over promise, under deliver”. We only occasionally write reviews, but this one is important as ones expectations of the accommodation is central to the experience of that accommodation, and often the place one is visiting more broadly. Where expectations align, the experience is positive. Where they diverge, the experience can be negative, especially when high expectations are met with poor quality and performance in reality. Firstly, the reviews which say that the accommodation is very easy to find could NOT BE MORE FALSE. The “hotel” (so called), being in the old city, is accessible only on foot. Carrying luggage across cobblestone paths in the rain (the rain was not the hotel’s fault 😊) was extremely difficult. The hotel was at the top of a steep set of stairs. And when you finally arrived, there were still more stairs to get to one’s room. The address itself was difficult to locate (as they can be in China when you’re relying on Google maps) as no one in the vicinity seemed to have heard of the place, and we had asked 4 different people! So something in the reviews that prepared us for the difficultly we were likely to experience finding the hotel would have helped deal with the difficulty of the situation. The hotel itself was not in fact a hotel at all. It turns out the hotel was actually a hostel, but we only discovered this in passing as we were leaving! Had we known it was a hostel, our expectations of the quality of the rooms and the location would have been quite different. In terms of location, the Joyful Hotel (so called) was surround by a series of taverns where live music played from 10.30 am to midnight most days. The same songs played on rotation and you could not avoid hearing them when relaxing in your room. This most likely accounts for the numerous packets of ear plugs in the drawer. Again. Expectations and actuality. If we had know that this accommodation was in a busy entertainment area, we would have made our decision accordingly. If, knowing it’s noisy location, had still decided to stay there, then any discomfort would be on us. Finally, the hotel seems to be rated by users as 5 Star. It was so far below 5 star that it was laughable. It was clearly in dire need of maintenance. There was no bathroom door, just an old curtain. The furniture had long seen better days. The mould in the bathroom needed a good scrub. And the electricals seemed like they were done by a home handyman who was learning on the job. It was more like one or two star than 5 Star. Pictures below demonstrate our point. Overall, the “hotel” was worth closer to $30 night than the $79 we paid. To their credit, they gave us back the payment we made for the second night when we decided we couldn’t stay on, despite having paid in advance under “no refund” conditions. I guess they were hoping for a good review. But as we said, it is important for fellow travellers to tell the truth to one another, so expectations meet actuality. When there is such a large disparity, it does feel like you’ve been duped. And that never feels good. The previous reviews were so extraordinarily positive and unlike the place we visited, that we felt the record needed to be corrected. But more importantly, as a traveller, your enjoyment of any particular hostel, homestay or hotel depends almost entirely to the travellers expectations about the place.

We reach Lijiang old city at 830am after midnight flight from Malaysia. The inn keeper was there to meet us and take our bags.. Being a ancient city, it's all full of stones stairs and winding small lanes. Need to have a good shoes and grip. After settling down, Xiao Fen, the inn manager recommended us some nice food to eat while the room was being prepared for us. At 11am, our room wa ready and we took a nap before heading for more food. Xiao Fen recommend to us the do and don't, to escape tourist traps. She is so sincere. The room view was excellent, overlooking the old city as its location was slightly uphill area. To get a taxi, it's so easy, just a 5mins walk uphill. This area only Green local taxi are allowed to pick and send customer uphill. And before I end the review, the breakfast was excellent. The noodles was great and lots of other variety of food, like corn, pumpkin porridge, sweet potatoes, yogurt, steamed bao, milk, soya bean drink..

Love the traditional and how they keep the aesthetic of the hotel. It's a bit small but you definitely not coming here to sleep only. The hotel view is a priceless view, it's in the centre ancient city and breakfast is amazing! They very helpful to carry your luggage upon check in and check out, super friendly and helpful as well. Will defnitely be coming here again coz I love seeing how welcoming are they. The room is soooooo comfy and cozy, it looks exactly like in the picture.

The room is slightly small. A little place left to walk when luggages are open. Breakfast is amazing, location is just 100m away from the most happening street, though the stairs are a nightmare haha!! The beef hotpot recommended by the hotel is amazing, we had it for 2 nights straight.