Holiday Inn Express Xi'an High-tech Zone by IHG

During my last visit to Xi'an with my family, with pretty much no prior notice, I was glad to find this reasonably priced hotel and secure their last two rooms. Although I did not have high expectations even as a Spire member, I was very much surprised by how well the hotel treated their guests. When I called and made the reservation I mentioned that we were a family of 5 and wanted two beds in each room if possible. When I arrived - lo and behold - we were upgraded to two two-bedroom suites for our whole stay! Not only that, because we were a family, instead of an apple and a banana, we got a cart-load of "welcome fruit" which my family appreciated very much. The suites themselves, although not as spacious, were very well equipped with premium kitchen and bathroom appliances. We (the entire family mind you) were also granted access to happy hour upstairs on the top floor, which is very generous of the hotel as normally this benefit only applies to the member and 1 guest max. We also used their parking facilities, which was free of charge and easy to navigate, although we didn't need to use our car as the hotel was located close to public transit and local restaurants. Some cons - the hotel seemed brand new, which is good, but it also smelled new, which is not so good. The smell was not overwhelming at all, but very noticeable nonetheless. Also I found the windows a bit noisy as well. They didn't seem like typical noise-insulation hotel windows to me, but rather regular 2-panel windows. All in all, even with the little things I noticed as well as the hotel being a bit far away from main attractions in Xi'an, I am still extremely happy with my overall experience - this is definitely not a typical Holiday Inn that you're used to!