InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town — Walk From the Old Town Gate Into a Naxi Courtyard Resort Below the Snow Mountain, With Jade Dragon Views Right Beside Dayan
Picture stepping out of the cobblestone lanes of Dayan Old Town (大研古城), through the south gate, and into a world that shifts to a grey-tiled, Naxi-style resort with garden courtyards, little canals, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山) as the backdrop — that's the first impression for guests at the InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town Resort (丽江古城洲际度假酒店), the 5-star resort planted right at the south gate of Lijiang's old town, walkable into Sifang Street (四方街) at the heart of it. It spreads 267 rooms and suites across low Naxi-style buildings, with a spa, an indoor pool, and several restaurants. Score 9.0/10 from around 3,200 real guest reviews. Honestly, if you want a luxury resort that's still genuinely walkable into the old town — not stranded somewhere out of the centre — guests say with one voice that this is one of the best-fitting choices in Lijiang.
Here's the first thing guests tend to mention — the walk-to-old-town location. The resort sits right at the south gate of Dayan Old Town (大研古城), so within a few minutes you're into the stone lanes, the canals, and Sifang Street (四方街) at the centre of it. Many guests say they spend the day wandering the old town, sipping coffee by the water, then return at night to a resort that's quieter than the lanes themselves. The resort is built as a cluster of low, grey-tiled Naxi-style (纳西) buildings, with garden courtyards, small canals, and winding old-town-style paths, and with Lion Hill (狮子山) and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山) behind it, the atmosphere is a clear step away from an ordinary hotel tower.
One guest recalls: "The resort is beautiful — laid out as grey-tiled Naxi houses with garden courtyards and canals you can wander all day. Step out the gate and you're in the old town. The snow-mountain-view room let us pull back the curtains to Jade Dragon in the morning, and the staff looked after us really well. Breakfast was calm and uncrowded. It is a big resort, though — it's a fair walk from the room to the lobby and dining."
The heart of the place is the resort-in-the-old-town feeling. Even though it's right beside Dayan, it still feels private, with garden spaces, a paved courtyard with circular medallion patterns, and open-air pavilions to sit in. The snow-mountain-view rooms are what plenty of guests happily pay extra for — waking up and opening the curtains to a clear-day view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain peaks. The rooms are dressed in Naxi style with dark wood and local textiles, warm and in keeping with the town. For those who want to slow down, there's a spa and an indoor pool, plus a fitness centre, and several restaurants — Chinese, local Yunnan cooking, and a tea lounge. It suits travellers who want a resort they can happily spend time inside, with no rush to head out.
Another thing guests praise often is the InterContinental-level service. Many of the staff speak English and can arrange trips up to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the Blue Moon Valley (蓝月谷), or the quieter Shuhe Old Town (束河古镇), and there's an airport shuttle at certain times. Reviewers on honeymoon or settling in for a longer stay often say they get both the luxury and the quiet in one place. On the altitude — Lijiang sits at around 2,400 m above sea level, and quite a few guests feel tired easily and sleep poorly the first night. The resort keeps oxygen canisters and warm water on hand, so ease in on day one and don't head straight up the snow mountain the moment you arrive.
On getting around — Lijiang has no metro or subway, and Dayan Old Town is car-free, so vehicles can't drive in. If you arrive by taxi or DiDi, the car drops you near a gate and you walk the rest of the way (the resort sends staff with carts to help with luggage). Travellers flying in mostly land at Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG), about 28 km to the south, a 40–50 minute taxi or shuttle ride into town; or, by rail, you arrive at Lijiang Railway Station (丽江站), which has high-speed trains to Kunming (~3–3.5 hr), Dali (~2 hr), and Shangri-La (~1.3 hr), then a taxi into the old town. The hotel runs a shuttle at certain times — check with the front desk when you book.
A score of 9.0/10 from around 3,200 real reviews shows how consistently guests come away pleased. The recurring praise is for the walk-to-old-town location, the Naxi courtyard atmosphere, the snow-mountain-view rooms, the service, and the quiet. The criticisms are real and worth knowing first. The first: the resort is large and spread across several buildings, so it's a fair walk from the room to the lobby and dining — some guests feel it's a lot of walking, especially at this altitude where you tire more easily. The second: the price is on the high side, several times more than an inn or boutique in the old town. The third: although it's right by the old town, Dayan has a noisy bar street (酒吧街) at night, and a few rooms on the town-facing side may catch some of it, so ask for an inward-facing room when you book.
Standard rates start at around ~¥1,100 (฿5,500) per night, with a typical range of ฿5,500–11,000 depending on season and whether you land a garden-view or a snow-mountain-view room (the Jade Dragon rooms cost noticeably more). China's long holidays — Golden Week (October 1–7), Chinese New Year, and Labour Day (May 1–5) — plus the busy summer and spring travel seasons are when rates climb fast and rooms fill quickly, since Lijiang is a hugely popular and romantic destination for Chinese travellers, so book several weeks ahead and take a free-cancellation rate to be safe. On the whole, if you want a luxury Naxi-style resort that's still genuinely walkable into the old town, the InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town is the choice many guests rate the best in the old-town five-star bracket.
The honest summary, friend to friend: InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town is for travellers who want a 5-star Naxi-style resort that's still walkable into Dayan Old Town, with garden courtyards, canals, a spa, and a Jade Dragon Snow Mountain view. If you're on honeymoon, settling in for a longer stay, or you want luxury that still sits right by the old town, this fits beautifully. But if you're on a tighter budget, you'd rather sleep in the lanes at a warm Naxi inn, or you don't want long walks across a big resort, compare it against the Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa or a boutique inn inside Dayan in our list first.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Right at the south gate of Dayan Old Town — walkable into Sifang Street at the centre
- ✓ A Naxi-style courtyard resort with garden courtyards and canals, quieter than the lanes
- ✓ Snow-mountain-view rooms — open the curtains to the Jade Dragon peaks in the morning
- ✓ A spa, an indoor pool, and reliable InterContinental service with attentive staff
- ! A large resort spread across several buildings — a fair walk from room to lobby and dining
- ! On the high side for price, several times more than an old-town inn or boutique
- ✓ Genuinely walkable into Dayan Old Town — wander by day, return to a quiet stay at night
- ✓ A Naxi courtyard-resort atmosphere that photographs well from every angle
- ✓ Rooms in several styles, many with a Jade Dragon Snow Mountain or garden-courtyard view
- ✓ Helps arrange snow-mountain / Blue Moon Valley / Shuhe trips, plus an airport shuttle at times
- ! Lijiang sits at ~2,400 m — the first night you may tire easily or sleep poorly; ease in slowly
- ! The old town has a noisy bar street at night; town-facing rooms may catch some of it
- 💡If you'd rather not walk far across the property · The resort is large and spread across several buildings, so it's a fair walk from the room to the lobby and dining — and at ~2,400 m altitude, where you tire more easily, you'll feel it more · Fix → request a room near the lobby/dining when you book, use the resort's golf-cart shuttle to get around inside, or for a more compact stay look at a boutique inn in Dayan in our list
- 💡If you're worried about altitude and night noise · Lijiang sits at ~2,400 m, and many guests tire easily or sleep poorly the first night; plus Dayan Old Town has a noisy bar street (酒吧街) and town-facing rooms may catch some of it · Fix → ease in on day one, don't head straight up the snow mountain, use the oxygen canisters the resort provides, and ask for an inward-facing room away from the bar street when you book
- 💡If you're on a tighter budget, or want a full mountain-facing resort · Rates run ¥1,100+/night, on the high side, and climb higher over Golden Week / Chinese New Year / Labour Day, filling fast · Fix → book weeks ahead with a free-cancellation rate, or for a resort that faces the snow mountain head-on (though further from the old town) see the Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa in our Lijiang hotels list