Big Goose Pagoda Holoday Inn — Hotel in Xi'an

Hotel is in a good location just half hour walk from the Big Goose Pagoda. It's about a 45min drive from Xi'an North Train Station. Traffic can make this longer as you have to drive from north straight through the city to the south. ||On check in the staff didn't seem to speak English so my guide helped me sort my room. I did ask for a quiet room and was put on the 7th floor away from the lifts. I was on a relatively low floor though so there was a lot of street noise, mainly from screaming kids and beeping horns until later in the evening. The floor also absolutely stank of cigarettes, luckily it didn't get into the room I was in or I'd have had to have asked to move. ||The room was okay, big comfy bed, powerful shower, basic amenities, but in need of a refurb. No idea on the WiFi because it didn't work on my international devices. There was tea and coffee making facilities, iron and ironing board, hair dryer and it looks like they also offer a laundry service. The room doesn't have any USB charger sockets but luckily I had an international adapter with me so not a problem.||There was a decent looking fitness centre on the 6th floor but when I tried to use this it was heaving with people, it looked like it was used by a lot of locals. Literally everything was being used so I walked straight out and didn't get to train. I noticed they also have a swimming pool on the basement floor, I didn't go to this but when walking past the hotel outside indefinitely smelt it. Overwhelming smell of clorine. ||The breakfast was fine, lots of choice both Chinese and Western options. The restaurant staff were very nice although again they had very limited English. My Chinese is non existent though so this is by no means a complaint.||All in all a good choice in a great location, it just...

This was our first time in Xi’an and the staff were great fun and very helpful, the breakfast team were particularly brilliant and made for a good start to the day.

However we were disappointed with our overall stay.

Upon checking in we were allocated a room that smelt heavily of cigarettes, nonetheless the reception immediately and without hesitation reallocated us a new room on the executive floor; thank you.

With regards the bar as advertised on the website it was limited in its opening and when it was open there was neither beer or a wine to be had. This was very disappointing when the website promotes the bar as a place to drink and relax.

Finally we did want to eat in the restaurant on our first night only to find the ‘casual all day restaurant’ was only open for breakfast. We did eventually track down the Chinese restaurant which was deserted albeit the staff who spoke very little English were fantastic and we eventually managed to understand each other, the food was excellent although no wine again.

Would I stay here again? No. For a HI I expect much better and one can only assume it was a very quiet week and management must have decided to close down the facilities

This is not what I expect when booking a IHG hotel irrespective of its location

As already mentioned the one saving grace was the excellent team who were a credit to the...

Stayed in a deluxe room booked through an agent. Large hotel, big rooms.||||Each room has tea and coffee making facilities, shampoo, shower gel and conditioner in dispensable bottles attached to the wall, also moisturiser lotion next to sink. Also comes with complimentary tooth brush, tooth paste the usual stuff, slippers and robes, iron and ironing board.||||Cons: the window in our room did not close properly so could be noisy for others, think it was 1620. Unfortunately the temperature is fixed in the rooms so you cannot switch the aircon on or have it lower and so we kept our windows open. luckily it wasn’t extremely hot and we could bear it but the other room we had with the children needed to request a room fan. ||||Breakfast - was good, varied chinese and Western - would say more catered for Chinese taste but still good! still has fried eggs, bacon and baked beans!! ||||staff are friendly and welcoming. ||||Location is close to a supermarket about 5 mins around the corner, there is also a good bbq restaurant there too, walk about 15 mins more and there are tons of eateries close by. We were about 45 mins from high speed main station and about 1 hour to the airport.||||Can’t say how close we were||to any attraction as we had booked a...