ibis Lanzhou Zhangye Road 3 stars

I have traveled quite extensively throughout mainland China and this was one of the most unpleasant hotel experiences I have had thus far. From the beginning, booking a twin bed room through Booking.com proved to be difficult, as I received an automated confirmation email through Booking and assumed it was complete. When I called the property to ask if COVID-19 tests were needed to stay, the staff informed me that they had not received my reservation, and urged me to contact Booking.com citing a failure in their system. I canceled the reservation out of frustration, but ultimately made a second attempt at booking because the location for our one night stay in Lanzhou was convenient. This time, the property finally contacted me to confirm my booking details. The troubles continued when our flight was delayed by four hours on the Friday night we intended to travel. I called the hotel before our flight took off and after we landed in Lanzhou to let them know that we were still on our way. When we arrived, however, the woman at the front desk tried offering us a room with a queen bed instead of double beds. This, after a full day of traveling, a delayed flight, and a 3AM arrival, was unacceptable. Her excuse? She had given our room away to other guests who arrived earlier because the property couldn't contact us as they had tried calling while were on the plane. Instead, we could take a queen room or a double twin room without air conditioning. Had I not been proactive in contacting the property to let them know about our arrival plans, I would have relented and accepted the queen room. From the onset, however, communication with this property was inefficient and frustrating, and I refused, especially given our late arrival. I explained that this was not acceptable until she finally agreed to give us the double twin room of two guests who had not yet arrived yet, but not without making us feel guilty for taking "their room" even though it was the property's fault to begin with. To make matters worse, my friend and I were verbally harassed by a drunk Chinese man (not a hotel guest) who wandered into the lobby. I am fluent in Chinese, so I could understand him when he asked which country we were from. I responded with the US, at which point he launchd into a verbal tirade, threatening us, asking why we still were in China, and saying he would call the police to have us deported even though we were simply checking in at the hotel. At first I did not blame the hotel, but looking around, I saw the one security guard sleeping on a couch in the corner. No guest at any point should be harassed for any reason at a hotel for which they have paid. This man should have been removed from the lobby at once and the hotel should have compensated us for this experience. When my friend and I returned to Lanzhou for the two final nights of our trip, we made sure NOT to stay at the Ibis in Lanzhou, and I will not be staying at any Ibis location again in the future. Shame on the hotel for inefficient communication, rude and unprofessional staff, and for not taking greater measures to ensure that guests are treated with basic respect and dignity.

It’s a room, with a bed, running water and air conditioning, for an affordable price. Next to a cool pedestrian street. Near a metro stop. Walking distance to cool things. The non-smoking room smelled like cigarettes- either from a prior patron or a neighbor. The walls were thin.

I disagreed with most viewers here, this hotel, depsite it is located in the middle of the city, it is hard to find. It is in the middle of a massive apartment blocks with a small opening to the side street., taxis do not go there. Buses stops are 800m walk away. Our taxi driver could not find it, and without a good GPS, its difficult to locate this place. The hotel itself offer the usual Ibis experience. The rooms are small but clean, its bright, comfortable, staffs are OK but breakfast is bad, they serve cornflakes with hot milk ! Remember Lanzhou is a big city, and the cost of living here is cheap. Bus for $1RMB; The famus Lanzhou Noodle only cost $7, BBQ kebab $2, Ice cream cone $2.You can eat well and live well here, hence the 300$RMB of Ibis do not offer the best value.

We stayed here twice, once in one of the smaller double rooms and then in a bigger one. Both times we found the rooms clean and comfortable. Definitely no frills but a kettle and good wifi. They provide paper cups but as we were traveling with our own mugs it wasn't a problem for us. No one at reception spoke English, but they were hapy to use their phones to communicate and we found them helpful. We didn't have breakfast, preferring to buy street food. Location is great, we walked 5 minutes to catch taxis to the bus or train stations. A big night market is very close by. The hotel is tricky for taxis to get to because it is in a pedestrian area, the second time we stopped our taxi and walked the last 5 minutes. The pedestrian bridge across the Yellow River is also walking distance.

A good, clean workable hotel that is conveniently located. Rooms are a bit small for a 2 adults, 1 kid stay. There is breakfast available which is ok, not as bad as other reviews have stated (what do you expect anyway???). If you don’t like hotel breakfast, there are plenty of options available nearby. For the price, this is a workable clean hotel.