I had heard about Yuzi Paradise from an article in an airline magazine, and the photos looked amazing. Their website is also a great sales tool, so I booked directly with them.
The hotel is set in a modern art park and beautiful surroundings. The setting is definitely stunning and unlike anything else I have seen in China (or anywhere else for that matter) The art park is definitely worth the visit, but I dont think I would have paid RMB80 to go in it, if I wasn't staying at the hotel. I wished they would have labeled the individual pieces, but it was fun to ride around the park anyway. Entrance to the park is free if you are a guest of the hotel, but that's where anything free ends. Even to use one of their (disappointing) bicycles to ride around the park, they charged RMB10 per hour (for comparison, bikes in Yangshou rent out for RMB 20 for the full day and for that price you get a pretty decent mountain bike, versus the wobbly rusty fold-able type bike at Yuzi)
We were very disappointed by the service. They do try hard, but most staff's English was so poor and they had no concept of international standard service that I was really left wondering who they cater to. I can only imagine it is the bus loads of unsuspecting tour tourists. While we didnt see any on our stay, the huge bus-parking lot right outside the hotel made me think this is what keeps the hotel going.
There is a common saying in China: The "hardware" is great, but the "software" leaves a lot to be desired. And that definitely applies to Yuzi. Great architecture, wonderful modern art inside the hotel and in the park, but service not up to what one would expect from a Relais-Chateau classified hotel.
However, if you are not demanding on service (or a little more patient than my husband was!) I would recommend staying for one night and day. Don't make this hotel your stop for visiting Yangshou and the Li River area because it is remote. If you are flying in to Guilin, stay overnight to enjoy the art park, the spa (we didnt have time to experience it, but it did look quite good) and the beautiful surroundings, but then head out to stay closer to Yangshou itself for the rest of your stay.
Avoid trying to book anything with the hotel. Their rates are outrageous and they are completely incompetent. I wished I had known about the local tour operators in Yangshou itself that could have organized activities without the 50% surcharge that Yuzi charges. Trying to get tickets to the nightshow was a disaster. After three different requests to the hotel to organize the tickets (and their assurances that they had), we left empty handed for Yangshou. I had to convince the hotel driver to take us to the ticket booth directly. And even then, he refused to let us pay the face value, insisting we pay him the hotel surcharge (on orders from someone from the hotel who he was on the phone with). Luckily the nice ticket booth lady was on my side to say that, since the hotel had not bought the tickets themselves, we should not be subject to any ridiculous surcharge.
Also, because they are so remote, you may be stuck paying the RMB 600 for a hotel car to get you to the hotel and back out again. Given that we paid RMB 900 for the standard room, the transportation fees felt a little outrageous, but then again, you are a captive guest!!
The free WIFI is a plus, and while the rooms were Ikea-ish, they were entirely adequate.
Yangshou was a delight. Head into town and definitely get yourself a guide for the day. They will approach you as you hit West Street. Dont pay more than RMB 80 for a day's tour and dont be surprised if, after negotiating with the fluent speaking tour guide that approaches you, she introduces you to her "sister" and says she will be your actual guide! Rent bikes and follow your guide for a tour of the countryside, including rafting downstream with bikes on the back of a bamboo raft. It was really the highlight of our stay in the Guilin-Yangshou area. The Impression Sanjie Liu night show (the one we had such a challenge getting tickets for) in Yangshou is a must - it is the most amazing light show I have ever seen, and gave us a good taste of what to expect from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics (same director).

Granted, this hotel is amazing. Rooms are beautiful. The whole setting looks like a movie, the spa is ok. The Arts Hotel of Barcelona in China. But that where the good things stop. We stayed there in mid-August '07, planned to stay for 6 days but cut it short.
They have lots of staff – all of whom smile a lot but are unhelpful and clueless. Service was so bad that we just got very, very frustrated and left.
If you are not in a tour but an independent traveller, this is not the place for you. Unless you have a car or plenty of money to hire a driver, there is no way out of this hotel. The so-called shuttle to Guilin is nothing but dilapidated and dirty local buses, and you have to pay for them; going to nearby Yangshuo for excursions can be dangerous.
Then, there is only one restaurant and half of the dishes there are not available. The Chinese restaurant within the park is only open until 9pm and is a total disappointment. Other things as laundry do not work (they gave me back the clothes after 2 days, without ironing them and charged $50). There is no manager onsite to complain.
So after wrestling with the staff so many days, we just left.
Only go there if you are on a tour or just plan to spend your days without going out - even then, be very patient.

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.