We were looking for a hotel in Guilin or Yangshuo, the 2 most convenient bases for a trip on the Li River. The other hotels didn't seem very inspiring, being either boring chain type hotels or low end backpacker hostels. Thanks to Trip Advisor we discovered the Hotel of Modern Art, inside Yuzi Paradise - a park full of modern art. It's set in a remote rural location about 30 mins drive from both Yangshuo and Guilin.

The HOMA attracted me because having seen their website it looked like nothing I had ever seen before! I had to stay here. I was not disappointed! We arrived late at night, after an hour's drive from Guilin airport. The next morning we were delighted to wake up and find ourselves right in the middle of the most stunning scenery. So much nicer than staying in the middle of Guilin city itself which is an unattractive, medium sized Chinese city.

There are actually two hotels within Yuzi paradise, HOMA 1 and HOMA 2. I'm not entirely sure which one we stayed in, the other pyramid shaped one was closed for refurb (it also has a pool). Although from the outside our hotel doesn't look particularly interesting it's stunning on the inside with modern art everywhere and well designed, comfortable rooms.

Double rooms start at 1080RMB (+15%) and go up to a deluxe suite at 2080RMB per night. There also 2 stunning executive suites at 4080 and 5080RMB per night.

Staying in the middle of the Chinese countryside in a luxury hotel was surreal! Perhaps due to the Chinese management and the remote location the staff, whilst very attentive and hard working were somewhat inexperienced and mystified at dealing with Western customers. For example, they had bizarrely separated the breakfast areas into two different rooms for "Western Breakfast" and "Chinese Breakfast". In the Western Breakfast area we were served a combined continental and cooked breakfast in a strict order. First came juice, then a tiny portion of cereal, then fruit, then cooked breakfast, then bread, then coffee! At first we were bemused, then we learned just to speak up and take charge - and took breakfast in the order we wanted to eat it! I would have much preferred a combined buffet style breakfast with a wide choice of Chinese and Western options, but someone clearly thought "No, this is how foreign devils want to have their breakfast"! No matter... it added to the unique atmosphere.

Whilst the service was somewhat unorthodox the quality of the food was superlative. I enjoyed every meal, and there was a good choice of "Western" dishes and Asian dishes. It was all very good indeed. The prices were also ridiculously low.

Other facilities in the hotel included free wireless internet access, very low priced Spa with massages and other treatments available. Also, you can ask to take lunch or dinner as a picnic in the middle of the remote wilderness part of the park - and you will be taken there by golf cart. You can also ask just for a tour of the remote areas on golf buggy too, which might include a *private* tour of caves - the largest and most impressive I've seen. There was no charge made for these tours, neither for the guided tour of the adjacent art-park!

I would have no hesitation in recommending this unique hotel to anyone - for a memorable few days in the Chinese countryside I don't think you'll find anything better.

Just fabulous....my experience was wonderful for an art lover like me..everything in this hotel is ART...very modern hotel basically sitting right in the middle of nowhere..what a surprise....the grounds were just stunning.....this hotel sits in Yuzi Park, which is a 160 acres or so of a park filled with scupltures of modern art from artists all over the world...the service is great ...English with some of the staff was little bit of a problem but no sweat....we had a room with a beautiful bathroom and free wireless internet...used computer with no problem....but the spa was just to die for....the price for the treatments were incredible....2 hours of a massage for $40.00usd are a gift...the herbal baths with the flower petals and your own sauna...wow...paid $50.00...at whatever time...I used to go to Guilin and do a massage at 1130PM...never in my life...great experience...if in Guilin stay at the Moma at the Yuzi a little "out in the boondocks" but well worth it...

PS. Take Li River Cruise and book the most incredible River Light Show ever. you will be impressed. don't miss it.

We stayed in the new hotel building. The old one was being renovated. I found the room to be adequate but somewhat poorly designed and shabbily constructed. The room itself is spacious but the bathroom is tiny. So small that an attempt was made to make it seem larger by making one of the walls glass, with curtains provided in case guests ever need privacy. Some noise or smell from the bathroom will slip pass the gaps around the sliding glass door to the rest of the room. Thank goodness we didn't get a stomach bug during our stay. Also a result of the smallness of the bathroom is that the electrical receptacles are so close to the shower I was afraid I'd be electrocuted. While one doesn't go to Guilin or Yangshuo to watch TV, I find the 17" flat screen too small to see from the bed, and the awkward cabinet around it makes it even harder to see and difficult for the remote control signal to reach. I was also disappointed that the room faces a parking lot and doesn't have a view of the park.

That said, the rest of the building is great and, since construction wasn't finished, will probably only improve. The whimsical sculptures and artwork do its name justice. The spa area is especially well done and I would encourage guests to at least get a foot massage. There is a full day spa package on offer that we were tempted to try but, sadly, didn't have time for.

I find the staff service friendly and efficient. There is always at least one english speaker at the front desk and one at the restaurant. There is a tour guide/tourist agent on staff who can arrange activities for guests although prices offered are not as competitive as those offered in Yangshuo. We arranged all of our activities, which includes a spectacular hot air balloon ride, through the Panda agency off West Street and found the prices to be lower and the service just as good.

Much has been said about the grounds around the hotel and I can only concur. There is a playground that, I think, appeals to kids of any age (even ones in their 30s like us). The hotel is, however, very inconveniently located. It's about halfway between Guilin and Yangshuo. It took us 45 minutes to get to and from Yangshuo. Yuzi Paradise is great for a couple of relaxing days strolling among sculptures and being pampered, but it's not a place one can stagger back to after a half day of exhausting rock climbing or a night of drunken debauchery on West Street.

I will never forget YUZI PARADISE (also known as the Hotel of Modern Art - [--] - be patient; it takes a while to load; click on the screen until you see HOTEL; click on that). One month before we were set to leave for China, Departures Magazine published an entire issue on China, and devoted a page to HOMA. The pictures were breathtaking - the rugged karsts of Guilin in the background surrounding a very modern hotel with many enormous modern sculptures. I cancelled our intown hotel reservations and reserved a room at HOMA. The drive from the airport took 40 long minutes, as my husband - tired and out of sorts - was sure we should have stayed in town and let me know this. Until we arrived, when he was silenced by the beauty of the grounds. Beautiful as the pictures were, they dull in comparison to the actual compound. We were warmly greeted and given a large room (which looked like it could have been assembled at IKEA- comfortable, but nothing to write home about). The food, however, was wonderful, even though we had arrived too late for a regular dinner. The next morning I got up early, and had breakfast outside with an official contingent from Taiwan. There was a buffet - delicious and beautiful, but similar to that in any first class hotel - and the waitresses who had served us the night before greeted me. We took the Li River cruise (which disappointed me because there is a parade of boats which proceeds up the Li River, making the trip seem very touristy; if I were to take the trip again, I would look for a more private way to go), then rushed back to the hotel for dinner before going to an ethnic minority show in town. The staff had asked if we would like to go on a "picnic" because we were special guests (I thought this might be because we were the only guests at this point and they didn't want to open the dining room just for us; the hotel hadn't been open long, and not many people knew about it). That evening, as the sun was setting, a go-cart took us outside the compound (the hotel grounds do have a gate) and onto a seemingly endless swath of land, the karsts in the background glowing in the setting sun and nobody to be seen for miles - so very rare in China). We felt as though we had wandered into a movie; we had never experienced this sense of privacy, not even on safari in South Africa. As we rounded a turn, we saw a table set in the distance, white linen waving in the wind. I thought it must be for the owners of the property, until we pulled up and our waitresses greeted us. The table was adorned with white roses, fruit drinks and Mongolian hotpots. Our waitresses offered us a choice of white wine or Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. My husband and I agreed that it didn't matter how much it cost, we were having the Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. As the sun set behind us, we drank the entire bottle of wine. The go-cart arrived as though by magic, and took us back to the hotel. When we pulled up we heard haunting music; bathed in colorful lights were a singer and musician standing on a bridge over the pond. Our driver stopped to show us the neighboring bathroom, which was built like a cave, with organic shapes mimicking stalactites and stalagmites. We had to rush to make the show. We only wished that we could have had more time at the hotel; they rent bikes and you can ride around the immense grounds. The next morning we paid our bill and left - our "picnic" was under $100 - expensive in China, but well worth it. I almost didn't write this review because I hate to share this secret, but I have learned so much from TripAdvisor and wanted everyone to have this special experience. And, oh yes, we're going back in October, so please come after that!