10 Guilin Hotels That Actually Slap — Yangshuo & Xingping Picks 2026

Shangri-La Guilin was the city's first international 5-star hotel, open since 1988 and last given a major renovation in 2014. It sits on the Li River in the city center, on more than 9 acres of green garden that looks straight across at a wall of karst peaks. The hotel splits into two wings — the River Wing for full river views and the Garden Wing for garden views — adding up to 450 rooms and suites, many of the riverside ones with a private balcony for the morning mountain air. You can walk to Elephant Trunk Hill in about 10 minutes and to the Two Rivers and Four Lakes in about 15 minutes. The big draws are the well-known CHI Spa, an indoor and an outdoor pool, the Horizon Club lounge, and several in-house restaurants. Real guests agree on the views, the cleanliness and the staff. It scores 8.9/10, with rooms from about $137 a night — strong value for a riverside 5-star in the middle of a major tourist city.

Banyan Tree Yangshuo is a 5-star resort on the Li River in the ancient town of Fuli, about 30 minutes by car from Yangshuo's West Street and ringed by the karst peaks that earned Guilin its World Heritage status. The resort runs to 142 villas and suites, built as low Yunnan-Chinese houses faced with local karst stone, and many villa types come with a private pool or an indoor jacuzzi in the style Banyan Tree is known for worldwide. The headline draw is the Banyan Tree Spa, which many guests name as their main reason to come. Karst views reach almost every corner, the sunrise mist over the river turns up again and again in reviews, and the quiet is rare for a tourist town this popular. Rates start around $240 a night; the overall score is 9.1/10, best for honeymooning couples and luxury travelers who want to soak in nature away from the crowds.

Yangshuo Sugar House is a 117-room resort built inside a 1960s sugar mill on the banks of the Li River, deep in Yangshuo's karst valley. It opened as Alila Yangshuo before the rename. The celebrated conversion by Beijing's Vector Architects kept the old mill's bare concrete frame and arches, then grafted new buildings on in the same earth-toned concrete language so the whole thing reads as one piece against the peaks. The detail design magazines keep coming back to is the outdoor pool that slips under a concrete arch from the old factory and surfaces to a full wall of karst. The main restaurant made the Michelin Guide 2026, and the cocktail bar is cited by several Chinese outlets as one of the country's best. Rooms start around $263 a night; some have a private soaking tub and a wide balcony over the valley. Guests on Agoda (9.4) and Booking (9.6) agree on the architecture, the attentive service, and the quiet. Overall 9.4/10 — built for couples and design lovers who want nature with a luxury edge.

Yangshuo Mountain Retreat is a 22-room boutique on the Yulong River that foreign travelers regularly call the prettiest spot in Yangshuo. It sits in Wangjiazhuang village, about 8 km from Yangshuo town and roughly 90 minutes from Guilin Liangjiang Airport (KWL). The American-Chinese owners have run it for over 20 years, and the place is built to feel less like a room for the night than a home for travelers who actually want to understand rural southern China. Rooms are finished in local wood and stone in warm earth tones, starting around $110 a night and topping out near $215 for the Riverside Suite, whose balcony opens straight onto a wall of limestone peaks. What reviewers agree on: the owner-led bike rides through the rice fields, the early-morning bamboo-raft trips, and the Guangxi cooking workshops in the open kitchen — all run by the owners, daily. A 9.3 on Booking and 9.2 on Agoda tell you the atmosphere and care here punch above a small 4-star. Best for couples and nature lovers who want three quiet nights away from the crowds.

Li River Resort Yangshuo is a 4-star, 38-room boutique resort inside the ancient town of Xingping, an 8-minute walk from the famous 20-yuan banknote viewpoint. The buildings are stone, in the style of a southern Chinese village but with clean modern lines, wrapped around a central courtyard with a carp pond and a rooftop sunset deck. Every room opens onto a private balcony looking out at the Li River and the karst peaks stacked in layers like the postcards you've seen. Rooms start around $100 a night and run up to roughly $195 for a panorama-view room. The other draw is the owner — a local who runs every trip personally, from bamboo-raft cruises past cormorant fishermen to hikes up Laozhai peak and dinners of Yangshuo's famous beer fish. Reviews are strong: 9.8 on Booking and 9.5 on Agoda. It sits 25 km from Yangshuo town and 35 minutes from the high-speed rail station — built for couples and photographers who want the view the moment they pull the curtains.

Sheraton Guilin Hotel is a renowned 5-star Marriott Bonvoy property planted in the spot most foreign travelers want most — right on the Li River, about a 3-minute walk from Zhengyang Pedestrian Street and roughly 10 minutes from Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin's signature landmark. The hotel holds around 430 rooms and suites, many opening onto views of the river and the striking karst peaks, and its last major renovation in 2018 left the rooms and shared spaces feeling fresh. The headline space is a tall, light-flooded atrium lobby; there is a full slate of Chinese and Western dining, a much-praised international breakfast buffet, and the familiar Marriott service that travelers used to global standards will recognize. Rooms start around $91 a night and the overall score sits at 8.6/10. It suits first-time Guilin visitors, families who want convenience and usable English, and business travelers who want a brand they can trust in the heart of town.

Yangshuo Tea Cozy is a 12-room classic-Chinese boutique tucked into Jiuxian village, surrounded by rice fields along the Yulong River (locals call it the Dragon River) and about 20 minutes by car from the noise of West Street. The low-rise building uses timber and brick-stone in the old Guangxi country style, ringed by the oddly-shaped karst peaks Guilin is famous for. Rooms start around $86 a night, and the suites face the fields — some with a small balcony and a soaking tub. The point everyone agrees on in reviews is Richard, the fluent-English owner who runs sunset photo tours to the old town of Xingping and private bamboo-raft trips on the Yulong at hours when no other tourists are around. With Agoda 9.5 and Booking 9.7, it sits among the top-rated stays in rural Yangshuo — best for couples, photographers, and anyone who wants to soak up Guangxi country life rather than stay in town.

Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel is a small boutique of around 40 rooms hidden along the Yulong River in Yangshuo County, about 15 minutes by car from the busy town centre and West Street — the trade-off being a quiet you simply can't get in town. Terracotta-roofed houses in a traditional Chinese style line a garden planted with all kinds of flowering trees, and you find a good photo angle in every nook. At the centre sits an outdoor pool ringed by bamboo and little pavilions, while a small family-run spa keeps things simple rather than slick — warm, like walking into a friend's home. Most rooms open onto garden or karst mountain views, and a few have a private balcony that looks out along the river. It rates 9.0/10 (Agoda 9.0, Booking 9.2, Trip 4.5) and suits couples and easygoing travellers who want to dodge the crowds and unwind in nature without going far. Rates start around $80 a night.

This Old Place International Youth Hostel Xingping is a backpacker favorite set in an old Ming-Qing brick building right on the main market street of Xingping Ancient Town, Yangshuo County — about 1.5 hours from Guilin city. There are roughly 30 rooms spanning bunk-bed dorms and private doubles and twins, starting around $20 a night. The Li River pier is a 5-minute walk, and the 20 Yuan Note Viewpoint is about 25 minutes on foot or a bamboo-raft ride away, lining up those famous karst peaks. The ground floor is an all-day café and lobby pouring drip coffee and easygoing Western food, and the owner runs a sunset tour to photograph the cormorant fishermen — the highlight reviewers praise without exception. Agoda gives it 8.7 and Booking 8.9 out of 10. Best for backpackers, budget couples, and photographers who want the old-market rhythm over a modern hotel.

Lijiang Waterfall Hotel Guilin is the most eye-catching 5-star landmark in central Guilin: a 26-floor triangular tower on the edge of Shanhu Lake, with a 45-metre artificial waterfall that cascades off the rooftop as a free show every evening. It pulls both tourists and locals to the plaza to photograph it in groups. Inside are 651 rooms; lake-view rooms look straight at the Sun & Moon Pagoda, Guilin's icon gold-and-silver twin towers, while rooms on the other side face the city's odd-shaped karst peaks. It's a few minutes' walk to Zhengyang night market, the main pedestrian street, and an easy hop to the Li River cruise pier. Rates start around $74 a night, which is strong value given the location plus the waterfall. Overall 8.4/10, best for families and couples who want a central base with a genuinely unusual experience attached.