I spent two weeks at the Somerset Riverside during a month long trip to China. Of the seven hotels that I stayed in over the course of that trip, it was definitely my favorite.

I stayed in one of the executive suites. The in-suite kitchen and laundry facilities were a welcomed luxury. The rooms were well appointed and very clean. The location was excellent. There were a number of shops and restaurants within walking distance. The staff was friendly.

There is a “wet market” (fresh noodles, produce, and meats) that makes a great place to pick up items for dinner and to get a look into the local culture. From the hotel, make a right, go past the elementary school and take another right. The market is on the left. There is also a Carrefour (French-based department store with a large supermarket inside) that is about 15 minutes away.

The hotel sits on the river that has walkways along both sides. It is a great place for an evening stroll. Ask for a riverfront room, the view of the city is spectacular.

For me, the only drawback was the absence of currency exchange inside the hotel, but there are a number of banks very close by. I would stay there again.

We stayed in one of the executive suites. room was large and had a small kitchen. Had a wonderful view of the city and river. Walking distance to most of everything, even though Chengdu is a big city. Staff were very helpful to me on some copying and printing of business documents. This is a residence style hotel and has a great gym and common areas. Also,breakfast is included which is one of the best I have had on this trip.

Highly recommend the Somerset Riverview if you are in Chengdu.

I stayed at the Somerset Riverview for 2 weeks in a 1BR this month when I attended the Cooking School at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine.

The location is really good. Carrefour is about a 15 minute walk, the subway is a 5 minute walk just over the bridge. If you exit the Somerset and head right, you'll find an excellent Sichuan restaurant called Gingko where the waiters speak English and if you keep going, you'll find the bar district. Head left and you'll find an HSBC branch where it take all foreign ATM cards and if you keep going, you'll hit the Jinli Ancient Street.

The staff is friendly and they were more than happy to make arrangements for cabs and restaurant reservations whenever I asked.

I am from HK, so the size of the 1BR to me is quite large. There is a new LG washer/dryer that I used regularly which worked very well and the kitchen is equipped with whatever you need to eat in except for food.

My stay included a complimentary breakfast. It's not bad but I'm not a breakfast person so I only went once. The gym is quite good. There are 4 treadmills, an elliptical machine, several stationary bikes, free weights and a number of nautilus like machines and they are quite new. Hardly anyone is in there so it was like having my own gym.

Internet access is free, you can use wifi or an ethernet connection. It's a bit unstable when skyping overseas but normally surfing is fine.

Overall, I thought the Somerset was very good especially for a second tier city in China. If I was in Chengdu again, I would definitely stay there again.

My only pet peeve with this place is the windows. There is one panel that you can open or close in the bedroom and living room. However, if you close it, you cannot lock it. So every now and then there is some wind and the window opens a bit and then slams shut. When I was sleeping the first night, it bothered me. But after a while I just got used to it.

My family and I, altogether 9 pax stay at the above mentioned hotel from 25 May - 27 May & 30 - 31 May. My entire family and I had a wonderful stay at the hotel. We booked 3 x one bedroom and it was very spacious with a beautiful view of the canal too. Everything in the hotel was well kept and superbly clean. Service from all staff were fantastic and they made us felt right at home. I will definitely recommend to my friends if they visit Chengdu.