The Camellia Hotel has two branches the normal hotel and a youth hostel, I stayed in the youth hostel half but reception is the same and the staff are shared so this review may be helpful for anyone looking at saying at the Camellia. The staff have a very low level of spoken English, even the reception staff which can be quite annoying if you want a pillow, directions or anything else. The hotel is reasonably clean but my room was not great, not sure if that was just a one off mistake or a regular occurence (didn't go back to check). It's not in the centre of town nor is it close to tourist attractions so you'll have to get cabs everywhere which does add up or work out the local bus system. As a Youth Hostel it is not value for money, it's a cheaper to stay at the Hump or Cloudland not to mention the staff are friendlier and there's a lot more atmosphere. It seems mainly to be a hotel for local tourists and is mainly catered towards the chinese market and not to foreign tourists. Everyone foreign I bumped into was there to get a Lao Visa (the embassy is downstairs). If your planning on heading to Laos it not a bad place to stay for a night to get a visa (I would rush the visa rather than leave the passport there for a week) but otherwise I wouldn't bother.

The newly redecorated rooms on floors 1 and 2 are very attractive. The staff is extremely helpful and most are English speaking. Ask for a quiet room in the back away from the restaurant and elevator. Our first room was on the second floor by the restaurant and elevator, the noise from the diners was very loud. The next day there was a very loud "hum" that gave us headaches and we had to ask to be moved to another room. Cheap prices for laundry service.

Excellent service, room comfortable. Extra big and delicious buffet breakfast. When I'll back in Kunming I'll certainly try to get again a room in Camellia

We were a bit concerned about staying in this hotel due to some of the reports we had read on trip advisor but we booked on the basis of a recommendation we had received. The accommodation is actually divided into two buildings; a hotel and a hostel. We stayed in the hotel.

Our first impressions weren’t good. Some of the carpets in the communal area by the lift were quite old but the hotel was carrying out renovation work to the ground and first floors so these may be replaced soon.

The room itself did not have much character but was large, comfortable and clean with a settee for relaxing, ample storage space, a TV and free wi-fi (although this may not be accessible in all rooms). After staying in more atmospheric rooms over the past few weeks it was really nice for a change to stay somewhere that had some familiar home comforts. The hotel is also in a good location as there are plenty of restaurants and shops nearby. The only negative was the included breakfast. Although there was a relatively large selection from the buffet, most dishes were Asian while the Western dishes and the drinks were pretty tasteless.

Overall Camellia Hotel is a relaxing place to stay and good value for somewhere near to the centre of Kunming and a ten minute taxi ride (depending on traffic) to the existing airport.