I stayed here for three days so I could visit the warriors and the muslim quarter. When I arrived the sales manager greeted me by name and offered me a dribk in the bar. They upgraded my room and couldnt do enough to make the stay comfortable. The restaurants were excellent and the service (thanks Seth, Zach at the front desk and Isabel in the restaurant for really making my stay memorable! This is my second trip to Xian and this hotel really went out of the way to make me feel at home. Only negative, if you hire a guide to take you to the warriors or other sites be very specific what you want. The guide on the first day seemed to repeat info found on wikipedia. spent most of her time on a cell phone talking to her daughter and friends and virtually no time talking to me. I fired her and on the second day they found a new guide who seemed to have a genuine interest in the history and culture of the area and made the day really interesting....The hotel arranged the guide and they were very aplogetic and made the change without any questions. Overall, great room, first rate service, super location and very guest oriented....I definitely would urge you to give it a try

I decided to pay a little bit more in this trip after staying at Shangri-la Golden Flower previously. And I was not disappointed. Sofitel was, in my opinion, better value for money. The rooms were comfortable and of good size, albeit a bit on the dark side. The service was good, as was the food at the breakfast buffet (cheese, croissants, and decent coffee!). Sofitel is located within the city wall, making it a great base for sightseeing around there. The traffic getting in and out of the city wall could be bad, however. So it may require careful time-budgeting if you are on a business trip.

The hotel is either French-owned or a joint French-Chinese venture. The food has all the benefits of French cuisine but is delivered by Chinese expertise. It is delicious, with fresh croissants for breakfast as good as any in Paris. There is an a la carte menu as well as a buffet and the buffet holds a variety of western and Chinese dishes. You can eat a complete Chinese meal or a French meal or a mixture, and the same seems to apply at breakfast or in the evening. Try the Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon.

There is a pool and a spa area. The pool is surrounded by loungers with towels provided and in the summer must be a delightful sun trap. It still functions in the winter until late at night so you can have a swim before dinner or before breakfast.

The staff are efficient and polite. There is an ATM machine in the lobby downstairs and there are various bars and restaurants on site. The whole building was once the seat of provincial government and accommodation is in two wings connected by an underground tunnel that is an art gallery with a jewelry counter.

Do we have any gripes? Not really. The TV channels are a bit grainy and the room lights are on more than one circuit, which is unnecessary. If you go at the time of the Chinese New Year (which moves according to the lunar calendar), you will find many Chinese are away visiting family. This works to the advantage of tourists by thinning the crowds. Go and enjoy!

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this hotel, even though was only one night.

Arrived by train at 9am from Beijing and walked to the hotel (about 20 minutes). Was pleasantly surprised to be given immediate access to a room and was upgraded to a suite. This room was enormous and exactly what we needed after a long night on the train.

The staff were exceedingly helpful and would go out of their way to offer assistance and provide information.

The breakfast was excellent with a wide variety of choice.

Only complaint was the heating - nice when you immediately enter from the cold but quickly becomes too hot and uncomfortable for sleeping.

Otherwise was an excellent choice for our stay.