Grand Mercure Hotel Xian On Renmin Square — Hotel in Xi'an

I share some tips on making the most of your stay here. Most of the reviews mention the calm of this place as compared with the noise of downtown which is a definite plus.| My flight landed at 12.30 am and I picked the hotel as it seemed reasonably close to one of the stops of the airport shuttle night bus 5. This is the Bell tower stop and the hotel is a landmark of sorts.| This bus leaves at 1.30 am and can get quite crowded even at that time. The journey to reach Bell Tower will take about an hour as they let off passengers along the way. Yes, there are taxis even at that hour - 2.30 am and in winter! After that it's a 10 minute journey. In total it's about 1/5 the cost of a ride from the airport. I figure the taxi will take half the time, your choice!| As for public transport the Wulukou metro (exit F) is quite near and that takes you to most places of interest. Near the station is the Mingleyuan, a food street and the Wanda plaza, a shopping center. Along the way there, food choices are abundant as well as pharmacies, convenience stores - without the crowds downtown. |However you need to exit via the staff entrance to Shangde Rd then into Xisan Rd . Not so grand, but functional.| Bus 603 brings you to Bell Tower easily and cheaply, from the entrance along Dongxin...

On arrival the building looks impressive, but when we arrived by taxi late at night 12.45 pm the night porter was on his phone And DID NOT come down from his seat untill we got almost the top of the stairs, he did open the door but did not offer to help with luggage🤔🤔 |The lobby reception desk is smaller than expected, but it is an old building, 1 lift 🤔 |Got told the wrong floor for our room by the staff, so had to come back down to reception ( when coming in late at night is not good) The room was ok clean and had a very big bed but couldn’t connect to the internet, also had a old feal very dated, and did NOT. Like the lighting system at all , operated from one side of the bed ONLY Stupid 🤔😡internet bad so had to change rooms. It was no better 😡😡 so we had to just use normal signal ( using up valuable data)|Breakfast was ok nice omelettes but the breakfast was not as good or impressive as other places of 4 * hotels, staff was pleasant and trying to be helpful.|The swimming pool as advertised was NOT in the hotel but in the Sofitel hotel which was ((very impressive hotel) but 5* which is 2 minutes walk away🤔 |I think in its day the hotel was a grand place to stay with opulent decor, but if you like more modern it’s not the...

TLDR: Extremely affordable hotel for everything it has to offer. Great service, location, and amenities.

Service: The front desk staff that was working on January 19th were amazing. They upgraded me for free. The receptionist went out of her way to show me the different tourist sites within the neighborhood. Her English skills were also great. Cleaners were very kind when I accidentally got locked out.

Location: Hotel is located in a very safe gated neighborhood. 15 minutes walk from the Bell Tower/Drum Tower/Muslim Quarters/ City Wall 30 minutes walk from Daming Palace / Xian Railway Station Around 7 minutes walk to the nearest subway station Never had trouble finding a taxi or calling a DiDi

Hotel: The lobby is small but you won't be spending much time here. The room decor is on the older side but everything worked well and the ambience felt homey. The gym and swimming pool is accessed through their sister hotel, Sofitel. There's a few Accor branded hotels in this gated community all 2-3 minute walk from each other. They offer room service, restaurant, bar, and...