Stay away folks. It is old, dirty, dark, smelly, over priced crappy hotel that does not deserve its 3 stars rating.

Found Guilin accomm hard to research as no properties really stood out or seemed like a good value proposition. Ended up booking this property on the run and was a pretty ordinary stay overall. Handy for the train station but not the lakes/centre square/river, but this is what I gather to be quite a traditional 3 star Chinese hotel. Very smoky (reception, lifts), toilet which did not flush properly (staff showed us how to remedy this by taking the lid off the cistern in which we saw a lemonade bottle was a critical element to the toilet's function!), mouldy shower curtain and air con which did not work (fan bought to the room), carpet tired, walls in corridor marked, noisy generator at night (operating the neon sign?). Probably should have moved hotels or at least requested a room with functioning amenities, but as the staff were quite pleasant and helpful so we stuck with it. Room was small but quite clean, bed ok. Condoms could be purchased in room if you're feeling frisky

I would recommend treating yourself to a nicer property in Guilin and paying a little extra

We booked for 2 nights in the New Plaza Hotel in Guilin because of the price and it looked quite reasonable on elong.net website. Thank god that the hotel didn't have any information about our booking because we checked out as soon as possible just after 10 hours of staying there (and went to the Shearton instead!).

We arrived off a late flight - and the lobby was dark and unimpressive. The service was quite rude and abrupt - they didn't have any information about our booking in a "VIP Queen Room" for 2 nights off elong.net and they only put us in a standard twin room at the same rate. They didn't want to use credit card for payment - but they were happy to take an imprint of the card anyway. We also had to pay an extortionate "key deposit" in cash. The hotel lobby toilet was one of the worst toilets I've encountered in China - it smelt like mouldy urine mixed with dead animals. This smell was also noticeable in the lobby and especially around the elevators. The hotel lobby toilet should have been a warning sign not to stay there.

Another warning sign was the prostitute going up the lift with us to our floor!! The hotel corridors were darker than the dark lobby and it didn't feel safe.

Although the room looks "modern" - it was completely unclean and smelly. The mould in the bathroom was beyond belief - and the smell of it was making us both sick.

My bed had complimentary hairs in it - and was completely uncomfortable (springs pushing into your spine). The TV was did not work.

It was one of the worst night sleeps I've had in a hotel - not only was I worried about the cleanliness but also the hotel security (the door locks were pretty inadequate).

Breakfast was included. Although it was only a Chinese breakfast - everything was at room temperature (tea, noodles, etc).

As soon as we could find an internet cafe (just 15 minute walk from the hotel down the main road) - we booked straight into the Sheraton for the rest of our time in Guilin. We would have been at the Guilin New Plaza Hotel for less than 12 hours.

This hotel is straight opposite the train station (which explains the seediness of the hotel and area) but probably a 20 minute walk to the main downtown area.

The pictures of this place on various travel websites does not do it any justice – although the rooms on websites look “modern” and OK - the smell, the lack of cleanliness, the impoliteness of the staff and the seedy nature of this hotel can’t be shown. Please don’t stay here – for the love of humanity!!