The 9 Best Hotels in Lijiang — Dayan Old Town to the Snow Mountain
9 Stays Real Guests Rate 8.8–9.4

If you want a modern, good-value stay where you can roll your bag a short way and step into the Old Town — Atour Hotel Lijiang Ancient Town is a 4-star lifestyle hotel on Minzhu Road, about 50 m from the Dayan Old Town North Gate plaza, with Atour's signature library lobby. It scores 9.4/10 on Trip.com — the top score here — from around 2,598 real reviews. The draw is a spot just a few steps from the big waterwheel and Sifang Street, a breakfast guests rate as hearty, and comfortable 30–80 sqm rooms with soft beds, some with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain views. Guests like the cleanliness, the newness, and an Old-Town location you don't have to drag a bag through cobbled lanes to reach. The thing to know: it's a midscale hotel, so there's no five-star resort pool or spa, and it's on the Old Town edge rather than in the cobbled lanes inside, so for a true Naxi courtyard feel you'll want a stay inside the Old Town — but for value plus an Old-Town-edge location, this is the standout of the group.

If this trip to Lijiang is about the atmosphere — waking up in a Naxi timber courtyard in the heart of the Old Town — Blossom Hill Inn (花间堂) is a boutique inn set in a traditional Naxi courtyard house inside Dayan Old Town, in the car-free zone, with carved-timber balconies around the central courtyard and a walk over the cobbled lanes to Sifang Street. It scores 9.3/10 on Trip.com from around 1,860 real reviews. The draw is an atmosphere a tower hotel can't give you — a real Naxi courtyard, canal-side cobbled lanes, and a privacy that suits couples and honeymooners — with many rooms looking onto the courtyard or the Old-Town roofs and hills. Guests praise the atmosphere, the décor and the warm service. The thing to know: it's an inn in the car-free Old Town, so you roll your bag in over the cobbles (they can collect it for you), some rooms in the old timber buildings don't sound-proof like a new tower, and it costs more than a midscale chain — but if you've come for the Old-Town atmosphere and the romance, this is the standout Naxi courtyard of the article.

If you want a dependable chain at a light rate that still walks into the Old Town — JI Hotel Lijiang Ancient Town is a Huazhu midscale hotel on Minzhu Road, on the Old Town edge, near the big North Gate waterwheel, with a walk into Dayan Old Town. It scores 9.2/10 on Trip.com from around 1,744 real reviews. The draw is clean, modern JI-style rooms with soft beds, 22–32 sqm, a chain standard where you know what you'll get, and a ¥420 starting rate that's far below the five-star resorts. Guests like the cleanliness, the value and a location you can walk into the Old Town from. The thing to know: it's a midscale hotel with entry rooms around 22 sqm, not large, no pool or spa, and an Old-Town/mountain outlook only in some rooms (the Deluxe King), so for a Naxi courtyard feel you'll want a stay inside the Old Town — but for clean, dependable value next to the Old Town, this is the value pick of the group.

If you want a luxury five-star resort you can walk into the Old Town gate from — InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town is a five-star resort in Naxi-courtyard architecture at the Dayan Old Town South Gate, with gardens and streams running through it, a spa, an indoor pool and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain–view rooms. It scores 9.0/10 on Trip.com from around 3,200 real reviews, across ~267 rooms and suites. The draw is a location that gives you both the resort luxury and a walk into the Old Town in a few minutes, Naxi architecture in dark timber and woven textiles, and rooms that open onto Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on a clear day. Guests praise the resort atmosphere, the by-the-Old-Town location and the service. The thing to know: the garden-view rooms (the entry rate) miss the snow mountain, so ask for a Snow Mountain View to open the curtains onto the peak, and the mountain depends on the weather — on a cloudy day you may not see the summit — but for a luxury resort that walks into the Old Town, this is the best-located five-star of the article.

If you want a five-star resort with a snow-mountain view in a quieter district than Dayan — Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa is an Accor resort by the Shuhe (束河) Old Town entrance, with low Naxi blocks around courtyards and canals, a spa, a pool, big gardens and villas with a private courtyard — almost every room has a Jade Dragon Snow Mountain view. It scores 9.0/10 on Trip.com from around 3,300 real reviews. The draw is the snow-mountain view you open the curtains onto from nearly every room, a spacious resort feel by Shuhe Old Town that's mellower than Dayan, and ~42 sqm Deluxe rooms with underfloor heating. Guests like the view, the space and the calm. The thing to know: Shuhe is a drive from Dayan Old Town, so you'll take a car in to visit Dayan, it's a stay for resort relaxing by the mountain more than walking Dayan every day, and the mountain depends on the weather — on a cloudy day you may not see the summit — but for a quiet resort with a mountain view, this is the standout on the Shuhe side.

If you're on honeymoon or want the most privacy, with a pool in your own villa — Banyan Tree Lijiang is an all-villa, Naxi-style resort out by Shuhe at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with 123 villas and suites, many with a private pool and garden, and full-frame snow-mountain views and a Banyan Tree spa. It scores 9.0/10 on Trip.com from around 3,541 real reviews, the most among the five-stars here. The draw is a private villa with its own pool, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain filling the windows, and brand-level spa service that suits honeymooners. Guests like the privacy, the view and the spacious villas. The thing to know: this is the most expensive pick in the article, from ¥2,200 and rising into the tens of thousands for a mountain-view pool villa, its location is out by Shuhe at the foot of the mountain so you'll take a car to Dayan Old Town, and the mountain depends on the weather — but if the budget's there and you've come for a full honeymoon, this is Lijiang's top luxury villa pick.

If you want to save as much as you can on the room but still be a short walk from the Old Town gate — Hanting Hotel Lijiang Ancient Town is a Huazhu budget chain on Minzhu Road, on the Old Town edge, about 180 m from the Dayan Old Town North Gate plaza, a walk to the waterwheel and Sifang Street. It scores 9.0/10 on Trip.com from around 1,252 real reviews. The draw is the ¥260 starting rate — the cheapest here — small but clean and simple rooms of 15–25 sqm, and a spot where a few steps gets you into the Old Town. Guests like the value, the cleanliness and an Old-Town-edge location at a budget-chain rate. The thing to know: it's a budget hotel with entry rooms around 15 sqm, small, no pool or spa, and no special view — but if the goal is to save on the room to spend on the snow mountain or Lugu Lake while still sleeping by the Old Town, this is the best value in the article.

If you want a good-value chain on the new-town side, with rooms roomier than the cheapest tier and a short ride into the Old Town — Vienna Hotel Lijiang is a dependable midscale chain on Yuxue Avenue in the new-town district, near Xianghe Square, with clean ~22–35 sqm rooms and soft beds. It scores 8.9/10 on Trip.com from around 1,604 real reviews. The draw is a chain standard where you know what you'll get, rooms roomier than a budget hotel at a ¥320 starting rate, and a new-town location that's handy for food and supplies. Guests like the value, the clean rooms and the space. The thing to know: it's on the new-town side, not by the Old Town, so you take a short taxi/DiDi into Dayan, its 8.9 is the lowest score in the article, there's no pool or spa, and it doesn't have the Old-Town feel — but for roomier value on the new-town side, this is the budget pick with more comfortable rooms than the cheapest tier.

We close the article with a pick for those who want to sleep in some history — Wangfu Hotel Lijiang is a 4-star heritage hotel on the site of the Mu-family residence, by the Dayan Old Town South Gate, with a Naxi central courtyard ringed by carved-timber pavilions and a walk to the Mu Palace and Sifang Street. It scores 8.8/10 on Trip.com from around 1,600 real reviews, across ~92 rooms set around a quiet central courtyard. The draw is the heritage atmosphere in the Old Town, courtyard-view rooms that open straight onto the central courtyard, and a South-Gate location within walking distance of the Mu Palace. Guests like the atmosphere, the location and the calm of the central courtyard. The thing to know: it's a heritage hotel, so parts of the old timber pavilions don't sound-proof like a new tower, its 8.8 sits at the foot of the table as the room standard isn't quite a new chain's, and it's in the walk-only Old Town so you roll your bag in — but if you've come for a heritage atmosphere in a Naxi courtyard by the South Gate, this is a good-value pick on character.