A new five star hotel opened within the last year with a vast reception area and apparently nearly 1000 rooms. Desk staff are pleasant and speak some English as also in the dining room.

Décor is modern but that is where the similarity ends with a five star expectation. Build quality is quite poor and there is a complete lack of attention to detail with many snagging type problems in rooms and corridors not attended to.

In the rooms there is a hair dryer, safe and all the usual but the mini bar isn't stocked beyond a couple of beers and a coke. However, we asked for a non smoking room and unlike many Chinese hotels we did get what it said on the tin and our room smelt quite fresh.

We arrived at the hotel about 8:00pm and went straight to the CafeCafe restaurant only to find that over half the food on the menu was off. only Chinese wines were on the menu and we chose the 'best' which proved to be almost undrinkable. The food we did have was disappointing as well. You also can not put anything on your bill and must pay cash at your table.

The CafeCafe is also the location for the buffet breakfast. By even four star Chinese hotel standards the Western breakfast was poor, and if they ever do fill their 1000 rooms then I would suggest you breakfast elsewhere, as this restaurant is quite small.

Although we wouldn't rate the Hua Yang highly, we did go to the Peony Plaza for dinner on our second night and believe me that is far worse.

This hotel does have potential as the staff seem good and helpful and probably a management overhaul will sort it out. So don't write it off.

I stayed at this hotel in 2005 when it first opened, and had some bad experiances, but put it down to the fact it was new. Oct 2006 stayed again and actually it is worse, their are no one to speak English, they couldn't manually enter my credit card number, as the strip had a problem, the staff are always playing with each other and not serious. I wanted a Taxi from the front, there were 3 staff standing there, but all ignored me and I had to get my own. When I had other problems I asked to speak to the manager, and was told that there was not one!!! My advice Peony Hotel.

This is the only 5-star hotel in the area with well-decorated rooms, A/C, and internet access. The bathrooms are all in the Western style.

If you request the hotel to pick you up at the train station or the airport, I would recommend that you confirm it a day or two prior to your arrival. Having the hotel name and address written in Chinese characters would also be a plus. Be warned that arriving at night is not recommended as some taxicab drivers may try to overcharge you. Typically, the price of a cab ride from the train station to the hotel is between 20-30 yuan.

The food at the hotel is buffet style, and there are two spa facilities available on the premises. I highly recommend the foot bath and massage in the spa on the sixth floor.

The only person who could speak English in the entire hotel was the gracious front desk manager, Annie Li--but otherwise, speak slowly and bring a phrasebook along to get around. In general, the hotel staff were courteous and made our stay enjoyable. The hotel set up an excellent, private, English-speaking tour for us to see the Longmen Grottoes and the White Horse Temple, the day after we arrived. Both sites were incredible, and I highly suggest paying them a visit. Otherwise, there really is not much else to do in Luoyang.