Positioned in the old part of Guangzhou, this hotel is ideally suited for strolling through the adjacent pet and spices markets down to visit Shamian Island, going shopping for those annoying presents one is obliged to buy on holidays, and just relaxing at the great pool and fitness areas on the sixth floor above the shopping walkway after a day of business meetings. The antiques area is also 10 minutes stroll away, past some of the most interesting old architecture left in the city.
The hotel staff speak better English than most hotels I have stayed in and the breakfast and lunch buffets are spectacular, well priced and suit all travellers..
However, avoid in Trade fair season as the rates at this popular hotel skyrocket.

Great Hotel. Nice rooms and bathrooms. Everything seems pretty new. Good breakfast spread. They run a nice club lounge serving good snacks in the evening if eligible. KFC, Mac, Pizza H all walking distance. Lots of cheap shopping, Metro is 10 mins walking and 7RMB taxi (if they are willing to go). Very ethnic n/hood may not appeal to business travellers looking for a more international or downtown location.

It is hard to write a fair review seeing as I have only stayed in one hotel in China. The Holiday Inn, Shifu might be really great - according to standards in China.. But for me, it was not great. If you do not speak Chinese you might struggle communicating with the staff as most do not really speak or understand English. BIG difference from Hong Kong.

Let me begin with the area of Guangzhou - the Holiday Inn does not seem to be situated in a very nice part of town. The street is packed with people and very dirty. There is an alley full of stinky cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and goldfish in one direction that leads to Sharma Island (possibly a nicer place to stay.. the island does not seem as packed full of people and the streets are a little bit cleaner) - The other streets outside the hotel lead to shopping centers and residential areas. I think the word filthy pretty much sums the area of town. The smell that hits you when you step outside the door can at times take your breath away.

This was my first trip to China. I was not prepared for the smell of the water. The hotel gave two free bottles of water in the bathroom for brushing teeth. As I lie in bed at night, I could smell when my neighbors came in in the evening. The water had such a pungent smell that I could actually smell it as they took showers in the evening.

The breakfast was a mix of English and Chinese. You can have an omelette made to order, they have french toast, fried eggs, fruit, cereal, yogurt... The Chinese side was dumplings and fried rice, veggies .. interesting combination. I stayed for two weeks and the breakfast got a little old by the end, but they do offer a lot of variety.

The room was cleaned every day and the housekeeper was very friendly and helpful. The bed is SO VERY hard. The hotel does offer an array of pillows for your comfort. The bedding was always clean and though there was a sign warning of bugs, I did not see any.

The gym on the top is small and old but useful I suppose. There was never really anyone in there so I had the run of the place to myself. The rooftop pool STINKS. I would not swim in it as the smell is quite offensive.

China still allows smoking in doors so make sure you take that in consideration when you chose the floor your room is on.

After being at the hotel for two weeks I learned the area and felt comfortable. Upon checking in I felt unsafe and a little freaked out by the area. There is a lot to explore and investigate, if you are traveling alone and just want to wander around and take in the culture this might be a good hotel.. I think there are nicer hotels in the area though so if I were returning I would look around.

At first arrival it seems like a bad part of town, but then the fun began there is a bunch of shopping outside, lots of things to see and do. We went to the garden hotel and lots of places, but this place had all the flavor, they have like a small Beijing street out in front of the place, so there is plenty of shopping to be had, same stuff as in all the other shopping placed.

After a few days of thinking to change, coming home to shifu was AWESOME, every night, a chilling cession at the lobby bar and then a bit of shopping. We found some cool stuff. The more we stayed the cooler the hotel was. The service was pretty good, and I live in a hotel pretty much, I like decent places. This place offered all of that and a bit more. We had a super enjoyable time at this hotel. super place for a first timer.

English is always an issue at every place, we even tested the shangri la.

This place offers a super value. I stayed at a place not near the size in Singapore and it was much more expensive. This was 70 bucks a night and was nicer than my holiday in in Sing (190 a night), both places were great. This was no exception. Really a decent hotel.

Give it a shot, you wont be dissapointed. After 4 days we were hooked on it, when I go back, I will stay there again. Really enjoyed having all the parts about China like right outside the front door, easy to shop and go, go back to the hotel relax a bit. NOt much bar scene out front of it, but it was worth the money and we had some fun with it.

Check it out!!!