Yangshuo River View Hotel — Hotel in Guilin

Was slightly concerned about noise levels reported here but had no issues with that, though room was on the second floor on the restaurant/street side of the building. Simple but appealing room with balcony. All the bathroom fixtures etc worked well. It's a nice guesthouse, not an urban 5-star establishment, so the 5 stars I have left for the facilities are with that proviso in mind; I don't think there was an elevator, for instance. Ate early at the hotel restaurant on the terrace just outside its entrance and very much enjoyed the food--good variety, cooked well. (Unexpectedly, the restaurant was booked full the next morning with a large tour group of some sort, so grabbed a bowl of mifen at a nearby breakfast place instead.)The real reason for leaving this review is to convey my pleasure with the helpfulness of the staff. The English-speaking women manning the reception desks were gone for the day when all power in the building cut out around 11pm. The night manager at the front desk informed me that the entire city was without power, and nothing of this nature had occurred in the past few years. (I went down to check because some hotels in China economize by turning AC off during the night, but it was clear that all power was out for the entire neighborhood at least.) He then kindly handled over a portable power bank for my phone when I mentioned it was running low. Back in bed in the dark I then got an unexpected text that my flight from Guilin to Shanghai the next night had been canceled. Wondering why, the front desk staff told me that heavy storms were expected. This would mean that all other flights would be cancelled too, and anyone like me who had to be elsewhere would be scrambling for any remaining seats the following day. At this point I was worried, as I had an international flight to catch. Remembering the train station not far outside Yangshuo, I asked about train options, and that was when a young woman who works at the hotel named Xiao Yang 小楊 came to my rescue. She pulled out her cell phone, checked the train schedules for me, gave me a couple options, recognized that only a handful of tickets remained on a high-speed rail train leaving from Guilin around midday and arriving in Shanghai before my canceled flight would have arrived. She used our passport info to book me two tickets on the train (fronting what must have been her monthly salary to do so, no questions asked, for which I immediately reimbursed her--download and validate Alipay before arriving in China folks, it's an essential tool). Took a car to the Guilin north rail station the next morning, made some fast friends in the waiting hall, and was then on the way to Shanghai before the storms hit. 小楊's willingness to drop everything and care about the travel woes of a random guest like me allowed me to totally avoid the nightmare of rebooking flights and hotels amid a scrum of other travelers to make it to Shanghai in time. Power came back on at 2am, I returned the power bank in the morning, and Xiao Yang was nowhere to be found. So thank you Xiao Yang, and thank you to the Riverview Hotel for employing people who care about...

HOW TO REACH: The local name of this hotel is “Wang Jiang” tower or building. This helps if you are traveling from Yangshuo Railway Station by taxi. I traveled with my friends – 3 families (with kids), and we are non-Chinese. Typically, several taxis are available at the exit of Yangshuo Railway station. Someone approached me who can speak English – so took a 10-seater. The cost is about RMB 2025/person & takes about 40 minutes. ROOM: Spacious, clean, and well-maintained. The balcony view helps, depending on which side the room is located on. I chose the front side view, which has both a river view and a mountain view. HOTEL: Although the hotel doesn’t have a lift, the staff delivered the luggage to the room. If you need help at the time of checkout, they may help. But I did it on my own at the time of check-out. It is conveniently located close to West Street (10 min walk).HOTEL-RESTAURANT: very good restaurant in 1F (vegetarian options as well!). It is very popular among the locals & we liked it too. But it gets very busy during the weekends. So, if the room is close to 1F, it will be loud till 22:00.HOTEL STAFF: All are very friendly and do their best to help foreigners. Many staff can speak English. In my case, YAWEN is worth mentioning, as she helped us a lot in planning our local trips. Even before arriving at the hotel, we had a plan. But our interactions with YAWEN (& her feedback) made it very convenient & time-effective for us. LOCAL ATTRACTIONS: It is possible to book tickets for the Ruyi scenic spot, Silver Cave, Hot air balloon, Li-river cruise (from Yangshuo), Xinping (hot air balloon), Bus-trip to Longji Ricefields, & many more...

The Riverview had always been very quick to reply to my emails when planning this trip, check in was easy we paid on our transferwise card, Room was stunning, views from two sides of karst river and a pagoda bridge, Free water in the room and a clothes airer on the terrace, super clean, the pillows were so comfortable. There is no lift we were on the third floor - 38 steps but it was easy and they took our luggage up for us. They have lots of tours on offer, we couldnt do the bamboo boat as mum was over 70 so we booked the big boat through them and also a cooking class and the romance park, all tours had pick up and clear instructions. They also organised tickets for the impression show. The restaurant downstiars had great food, their beer fish was yummy and superb breakfasts, staff are very friendly and helpful and spoke english. Location was superb, couple of mins walk to west street, close to dock and river. They do bike and scooter hire too....