We cannot recommend the Linden Centre highly enough. It was a perfect stay for our family, with three children 6, 4 and 22months. From the moment we checked in until we left, led by the amazing example of Brian and Jeannee, every single person on the staff were incredible friendly, welcoming and helpful. In just 4 days we got the sense that we were apart of the Linden Centre. One of the best aspects, which makes me describe it like a high-end family hostel experience, is that you start to know the other guests and share your travel experiences with each other - like we used to do back in our hosteling days.

During our stay we did all sorts of activities and relaxed each evening on the beautiful roof top terrace watching the sunset over the mountains. The kids favorite activity was the market trip, watching a woman make and cook Baba bread, buying vegetables, and then making dumplings. The architecture of the Centre is simply beautiful and we could have easily spent all day relaxing there but there is just too much beauty around you to stay put for too long. The food was great, especially the special New Year's Eve banquet that all staff and guests joined together in. The rooms are lovely and they had an extra bed and baby cot ready and waiting for us when we arrived. The only tiny complaint we can make is the the water pressure isn't great, but with everything else the Linden Center offers it really just doesn't matter. It's a truly special place and a holiday you won't forget. The children have been continually asking us when we are going back and we certainly will!

Great place to stay and appreciate the area. Everything well done.

Just go......words can not describe the experience you will have here. Wish I could offer a money back guarantee.

Imagine. You wake up buried under several layers of blankets, reluctant to visit the toilet because you know the tile floors will be icy cold. You do anyway because you will have to shower soon; the hot water runs only between the hours of 6 and 10am and then again between 7 and 11pm. After waiting a million years for the water to warm up, you shower quickly, then bundle up to go down to the dining room for breakfast hoping to get a table near the two propane lamps so you can take your gloves off to eat.

Is this boarding school, a youth hostel, or maybe even prison? No. It’s the best place we have stayed in over seven years living in Asia.

(BTW - Since the Linden Centre is a heritage property in Yunnan province, lack of indoor heat in the winter is a given, but fear not; the place is adequately equipped with portable heaters. And winter is a great time to visit. The hot water conservation is one of their sustainability efforts of which there are several. And they are happy to turn the “hot” on for a designated time period if you need it outside regular “hot” hours.)

My family and I have just spent our second Christmas with the Lindens, their staff, and their many friends in Dali and Xizhou village; all of which, incidentally, are now our friends as well. We spent a week there, and this is what we came home with:

•Souvenirs and local treasures from various shops in both Xizhou and Dali Old town.
•Just a few extra pounds instead of the usual five, because the goods from Bakery 88 and Chichi’s daily treats were offset by the wonderful array of fresh local vegetables offered for lunch and dinner.
•A stiff back from a picturesque hike along the mountain ridge from one mosque to another. (This is just a personal issue. The rest of our party of guests politely whizzed by me. I should have brought my hiking pole. I also should have brought a bathing suit for a visit to the hot springs about an hour’s drive from the Centre.)
•Hats, gloves, masks, and jackets all embedded with fake snow and “silly string” from the annual Dali Old town Christmas Eve Snow fight. We joined staff and friends to successfully defend the Centre’s honour in this event much anticipated by my two teenagers.
•An appreciation for just how much Mandarin our kids have learned in school, and could actually put to practical use. And an appreciation for the patience of all those who good-naturedly tried to understand them.
•Photos and email addresses and fond memories of all the great people we had the chance to meet, eat and drink with, play with, talk with, and hug.

A visit to the Linden Centre is the consummate cultural immersion. Moreover, with its charismatic and well-informed staff, eclectic and cosmopolitan guest roster, and a warm and welcoming local population, it offers a very gratifying human immersion as well.