We stayed at the Mangolia hotel for 3 nights over the Easter weekend. 1night in a standard room and 2 nights in a deluxe room. In summary, for the price we paid the hotel was good value and met our requirements. The beds were hard (as usual for Chinese hotels), the room was clean and up to date, the bathrooms were decent (no baths, only showers) and the water was warm if you waited a few minutes. The standard room had two single bed and was located at the back of the hotel (the window offered a view of an alley and a brick wall!) - it was quite dark but as we didnt spend a great deal of time in the room it wasn't a problem. The deluxe room had a double bed and sofa and was located a the side of the hotel on a road linking to West Street (the main tourist drag in Yangshuo) - it also had a small balcony and two windows providing a decent view and making the room very light and airy. Unfortunately due to its location everyone could see into the room and it was quite possibly the noisest room i have ever stayed in (above a supermaket, near bars playing loud music until the early hours). Therefore if you want to stay in this room (or hotel) you shouldnt be a light sleeper or someone who has come for rest and relaxation. Ideally you should be out partying as the location is ideal. Couple of other points - staff at the reception speak very little english (hardly surprising given that its China!!) but Jessie is very helpful - get them to call her and she can arrange all tours, etc. Things you should do in Yangshuo - the light and theatre show is very impressive, hire bikes and tour the countryside (make sure they take you the back roads rather than on the main roads), the balloon trip is impressive but very hair-raising (definitely not western safety standards plus refuse to go if its too misty - they will try to convince you otherwise) and take a boat ride along the Li (we did the route between Guilin and Yangshuo which was impressive. Also the bamboo rafting is a nice relaxing trip - sit back, drink a beer and chill out!! The food in the tour is great (lots of western food but more importantly decent Chinese food) and there is plenty to kick you busy for a weekend. Also lots of things to buy (genuiue and fake!!).

All in all the hotel was ok, satisfied our needs for a great price. There is a lot of choice of hotels in the area so search around to find that really meets your needs.

We stayed at this hotel for three nights during a self-organized round-trip through southern China in spring 2007.

At first glance this hotel seems to be one of the few more upscale, non-backpacker-oriented hotels in Yangshuo. On the other hand, although the hotel seems to be ambitious with respect to style and atmosphere, it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to comfort and convenience: the rooms are nicely decorated but lack a wardrobe, are very cold underfoot and smallish. The A/C is located in an unfortunate place and therefore needs a long time to get the room warm.

There is no safe in the room, but the friendly and helpful staff stored our laptop computer in the hotel safe each time we left the hotel.

The bathroom is also nicely styled but you have to keep the water running for ten minutes until it gets hot, there is no heating in the bathroom, the used waste paper has to be thrown into a bin instead of into the toilet, the towels look worn and grey, there is no place to put the used towels after you have showered, and there is no hair dryer.

Although none of these details is a big deal, it's the sum of the problems that somewhat impaired our experience when staying in this hotel.

Breakfast is served in the China Cafe about two minutes away from the hotel. The breakfast consists of very good coffee (although only one cup is included) or Chinese tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, some kind of tasty hash browns, yoghurt, toast, and butter. Internet access at the China Cafe and at the hotel is free, but it did not work at the hotel during our entire stay.

We had a nice visit to Yanghsuo hotel over the last week. Here are some pros/cons

Pros:
1. Booked directly and had a good experience with Jessie being very well informed and helping us with all our local trips and travel.
2. Jessie also booked a private boat for us from Yangdi to Xingping and that was a wonderful experience.

Cons:
1. We worked with Jessie for all the hotel booking but she was not at the hotel and it seems like there was some disconnect with the front desk and they were not informed of all our requests.
2. It was raining the whole time we were there and the hotel stairs and the entire area was very slippery. But the staff seemed not to care and did not make any effort to fix this. My daughter slipped and fell a few times. After repeated requests, they put a few towels down and that was it.
3. Lily at the front desk was very rude - she gave us breakfast coupons and told us to go and eat at the Buffalo Bar. We went there and those folks had no problems with our coupons. But when we got back Lily told us we should have eaten at Cafe China and we spent more than our alloted coupons, etc. A very unprofessional attitude!

Just back from Yangshuo which we loved and stayed at the Magnolia hotel...which was fine if you book room 218 or similar out the back overlooking the river (not the cleanest but very atmospheric)
Really nice room , needed breakfast service /facilities,more reliable hot water a fridge and wardrobe to be perfect.
Yangshuo...sublime .I can't wait to go back....great food at 'Drifters' ,good guides , fun shopping if you bypass the mass produced China tourist tat ...wonderful river boating experiences,scenery ,old villages friendly people not quite tourist fatigued...yet... and biking ...for the first time in 20 years!!! more later