The Huaying Hotel is a little slice of peace and luxury in the dust and bustle of Urumqi. It is very difficult to find anything to criticize it about; my stay there was stress free and comfortable. This is definitely one of the top hotels in the city and recommended to other travellers, pretty much a 5-star by China standards.

The location is good, located in and around a bustling market place and modern shopping mall. There are lots of interesting things to see and loads of restaurants and shops in the area. Hongshan Park is only about a block away to the south, which offers some respite on a hot afternoon walk, or great for an early morning run. The central city is only a short taxi ride away, or about a 20min walk.

The rooms are very large and smartly furnished - king size bed, plasma TV, good lighting, and a great view over the city. The room was spotlessly clean and well-maintained, everything appeared to be relatively new. The computer desk even came with a computer and free internet, but unfortunately Xinjiang still has no access to the international internet, so not of much use for me. The bathroom was quite nice, with polished marble floors and walls, but be very careful, very slippery when wet!

I made use of the fitness center while I was there. Although small and sparsely equipped, it had just enough gear to have some decent weight workouts. There is a multi-gym, a few benches, plus a set of adjustable dumbbells up to about 20kg. For cardio there are 5 good-quality machines, including a couple of treadmills, rowing machine, stair-stepper, and bike. The friendly gym hostess serves you tea while you workout!

The service was well above normal for a Chinese hotel. Most of the front desk staff spoke reasonable English and were happy to help out when asked. Check-in and particularly check-out seemed to be overly complicated and took way too long. Although this is often the case in China, it seems to be slower in Xinjiang! It took me nearly 20 minutes to complete checkout.

Overall I had a great stay here at the Huaying. At a price of less than $90, it represents good value for a 5-star experience. I recommend this hotel to other travelers and I will stay here again on future trips to Urumqi.