We did not know what to expect from this hotel, not knowing anything about Xi'an, but what a beautiful hotel. We booked 2 rooms for us and our 2 teenage boys, and was amazed by the quality and service we received. The decor in this hotel is exquisite, the staff well trained, friendly and helpful, our family thrives on our first cup of morning coffee, this is not the way the chinese do it, but every morning when we requested coffee, we received! We arranged a tour guide, which I would strongly recomend, getting around with public transport is non existing, and the Terracotta Warriors is about and hour away from the city centre.

We arrived very late at night and they still greeted us warmly in the very cold Xian. Check in went very smooth and fast and we really liked the room since it was warm inside. The room is big enough and very clean with Tang dynasty picture hanging on the wall. The bathroom has bathup and shower. The breakfast is one of the best breakfast we had during our tour in China. The combination of local food, western food and dimsum choice. Location wise is inside the city wall but a bit far from Bell and Drum tower. If it wasn't cold we don't mind to walk around. We stayed during Christmas Eve and we saw choir singing in the lobby, it brought the feels of Christmas in Xian. Overall we satisfied with our choice staying in Hilton Xian.

We stayed here 4 nights after Christmas time 2012/2013.

Check-in experience,
We came from airport that takes around 1 hour, normal taxi would cost 150-180 RMB. (we took private tour that I also recommend you save time as they pick you from luggage claim area and have typically better car. It costs around 200-250RMB). Train station is few kilometers away just next to the north part of the city wall and private pickup cost 90 RMB taxi would cost less than 10 RMB.
We experienced quite smooth and fast typical check-in procedures. Lobby is quite nicely decorated and huge as well as hotel building. All staff speak well English and quite welcoming.

Lounge,
HHonors members or via upgrade you can also enjoy the Lounge at 8th floor. It offers evening snacks between 18:00 to 20:00. That includes but not limited, good red wine and cheese. It was not crowded at all during our stay and we also enjoyed a lot the ambience. (There are daily newspapers, big flat screen and PCs for your usage just like typical lounges) Food is in general delicious. The only problem, There is no breakfast offering in the lounge.

Hotel / Room,
Hotel is recently opened (late 2011) and has a lean design and architecture. I like it very much. Rooms are decent size and furniture is tastefully selected, nice big size bathroom. Good mattress. TV offers typical channels (HBO, CNN etc.). Not noisy. Air condition is working well. By the time, when we visit it was -15 in Xi’an. There is one problem tough, the room(5th floor) has quite much kitchen smell. From 5 in the morning, it began with some bread etc. and evening time dinner smell, that was annoying. I found in general the hotel quite clean and well maintained.

Transport
East gate and city wall is few minutes walking distance. The rest per bus (public transport) or taxi. I recommend bus as taxi asks typically quite high prices. (e.g. To Drum tower, it should be 8-9RMB bur asked price is around 100 RMB. Bus cost 1 or 2 RMB depending on the bus.) We took 32 that goes to Bell/drum tower in 10 minutes, follow shortest route and costs 1 RMB/person.

Location,
It is within city walls but not really walking distance to Pagodas or Bell tower, Muslim quarter. Across the road there is a very good Muslim restaurant that I strongly recommend. Quite clean, big and prestigious. (you cannot miss it just opposite of the main gate of the hotel). In the evening there is also a night market where you can eat primarily the seafood. This is also famous in Xi’an and always crowded after 21:00 until 23:00.

As I don't know any other hotels in Xi’an, I cannot compare it with others but it is a good 5 star hotel and one of most prestigious and expensive choice in Xi’an.

Many of the reviews mention how convenient the location of the hotel is, within walking distance to the bell tower, city wall, etc. But when we were there 2 weeks ago, it wasn't convenient for us.. at all. Perhaps its due to the cold (it was -10C when we were there), hard to find any taxi, and hard to find good place to eat (within walking distance from the hotel), or perhaps its just the fact that Xi'an is a crappy city?

Anyway, I have no complaints on the hotel itself. Its new, the room is comfortable, and good service. As a gold HHonors was immediately ushered to the Executive lounge for check-in. The staffs can speak a bit of English and were very helpful in assisting us to arrange for day trip to see the Terracotta museum.

We had dined at all of their onsite restaurants and quality was ok. Overall, good value for money.