we stayed there for one night (we wanted to stay longer, but our vacation was short...) and it proved that we made a right choice not to stay in the old town in Lijiang. Shuhe is much quieter that still has an old town charm. Maple Leaf Inn is right on the main street in Shuhe, very easy to find but you can still enjoy the serenity. Our room is clean with a super hot shower (very important during winter times!). The only thing missing is a bathmat, otherwise the room is excellent. The couple who run this hostel are so hospitable and helpful in many ways. They provided us with a map to navigate the old town and even helped us secure train tickets back to Kunming. We love their couryard and the banna bread they made. Will definitely recommend this cozy family-run hostel to travelers!

I went to Lijiang with a friend.
After searching for accommodations online, we found that a lot of travellers recommended this guesthouse, and when we arrived there, it didn't disappoint us.
The location was perfect!! It is located near the entrance of Shuhe old town, so we could find it easily.
The staff was also very kind. Even though we didn't have any ideas about attractions and activities in and around the city, we could enjoyed a lot thanks to the staff, who recommended nice places and arranged our trip. (Thanks, Jason)
The facilities of the guesthouse is nice too. The room was clean and the garden inside the guesthouse looked really good.
And, of course, the price was reasonable!!
I hope I can make my second trip to Shuhe soon, and if I can do it, I will stay Maple Leaf Inn again!!

we stayed here in July 2011 and are planning a return trip in December 2011!
Amazing care and service...they helped us get to restaurants, got us vans....all in all....were the best hosts!

I booked the Maple Leaf Inn because of all the good reviews I read here. I can definitely confirm some good experience:
- The owners Wil and Anna and their employee Jayson are very nice and helpful. Jayson took us to every restaurant so we won't get lost and even helped us order. Make sure you try the fried noodle place around the corner. Not the cleanest place, but you'll get some authentic Chinese fried noodles there. Wil even went shopping with us one afternoon and helped us on some bargaining.
- Rooms are clean and spacious. The bathrooms are normal hostel standard with no separated shower area, so the whole bathroom will be wet after you took a shower.
- the homemade banana bread is super-delicious and I think I got addicted to it :)
- Nice and quiet courtyard atmosphere
- Easy to get to Lijiang by Minivan from Shuhe Main Gate for 2 Yuan

Regarding the tours they offer, I have to say that I expected a bit more regarding tour information after reading all the reviews. I would have liked to get some more details on the tours before we booked them.
Don't get me wrong, both tours we did (Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge, Horse Riding and Boating at Baisha Lake) were really great. But for example driving to the TLG was around 3.5-4 hours, which we didn't know in advance and we were starting to wonder if we would ever arrive there. It would have been nice to know in advance how the tour will look like exactly.

Summing up, Maple Leaf Inn is very good value for money in the small town of Shuhe. Shuhe itself is touristic with all houses consisting of souvenir stands on the ground floor. But it is more quiet and smaller than Lijiang old town. So I would recommend staying in Shuhe instead of Lijiang.