When "the karst from your balcony" and "high-end service"are part of the experience
Guilin's luxury splits into two clearly different groups. The first is the luxury resorts out in the Yangshuo karst country — something the city hotels can't match. Alila Yangshuo (阳朔糖舍) was converted from a 1960s sugar mill, keeping the old stone walls and adding contemporary architecture that's talked about in design circles worldwide. Banyan Tree Yangshuo (阳朔悦榕庄) is a riverside resort of southern-Chinese-village-style villas. Both sit among limestone peaks you see the moment you open the curtains — a view that simply can't be replicated.
The second group is the in-city 5-star hotels in Guilin, which are much more reachable on price. Shangri-La Guilin and Sheraton Guilin (around ¥520/night) sit on the Li River in the centre, within reach of the sights, while Lijiang Waterfall Hotel has a man-made waterfall down its facade that has become a local landmark. This group gives you 5-star service, a pool, a spa and city convenience for several times less than the Yangshuo resorts.
The honest consideration: the Yangshuo resorts start around ¥1,400–2,000/night (~฿7,000–10,000) and sit about 65 km from the city of Guilin — ideal if you're here mainly to relax in Yangshuo, not to use it as a base for the city. The in-city 5-star is better value for location, but you don't get the karst view from your room — it's a different experience entirely.
The Yangshuo resorts and in-city 5-starpeople talk about most in Guilin
Sleep in a room built from a 1960s sugar mill, looking out over the limestone peaks lining the Li River; slip into the infinity pool and look up at the cliffs right in front of you. It's a design resort the whole architecture world talks about, and the highest score in the group we tracked. If you want "a karst-country resort that's a work of art in itself," this is the answer.
Read full review →Southern-Chinese-village-style villas stretch along the Li River, ringed by limestone peaks, with generous space, real privacy and the signature Banyan Tree spa. Wake up to tea on the terrace as the mist drifts over the karst. For travellers coming to Yangshuo to truly unwind without rushing, who want a private riverside villa, this is the main pick.
Read full review →A 5-star on the Li River in central Guilin, with broad gardens and rooms facing the river or the peaks, and the dependable Shangri-La standard, a pool and a spa. Being in the city, the main sights are a short walk or drive away. If you want a genuine 5-star at several times less than the Yangshuo resorts while still using the city as a convenient base, this fits nicely.
Read full review →A 5-star on the Li River with a great location — a short walk to Elephant Trunk Hill and the Two Rivers Four Lakes waterside. River-view rooms open to the peaks and the water, with the international Sheraton standard. For a 5-star in the centre, within walking distance of the city's headline sight at a sensible price, this is the one people pass on.
Read full review →As for Lijiang Waterfall Hotel (9.1 · a 5-star in the city on Shan Lake with a man-made waterfall down its facade in the evenings that's become a local landmark, from ¥350 / ~฿1,750), it's another good-value in-city 5-star — a walk to the Zhengyang pedestrian street and the lakeside, ideal if you want a big city-centre hotel at a light price. See them all in the luxury roundup, and it's worth checking rates and availability well ahead in high season.
