Holiday Inn Express Gulou hotel
Central location
Three star Holiday Inn Express Gulou Hotel is located in the center of Chengdu. It’s a 10-minute walk to the nearest subway station and 15 minutes to the central Tianfu Square and shopping street Chunxi Road. Taxi’s are standing in front of the hotel but most times they refuse to drive short rides (within 3km). In the street are small groceries, restaurants and bakeries.
What we liked about the hotel was that it’s a clean property in the city centre for a reasonable price. Sometimes the hotel is advertised with a low rate but that is exluding the service fee(15%. We paid on average 420 Yuan a night. In the weekend the price is lower than during working days. The customers of Holiday Inn Gulou are mainly a mix of Chinese tourists and Asian business people.
Breakfast
The modern breakfast room is on the ground floor near the reception. The food is Chinese. There is little western food; only tosti and coffee. Tables in the breakfast room are cleaned fast. Between 8.00-8.45 it can be busy. Because many customers travel alone it’s common that tables are shared with other people. The biggest disadvantages for me was the small doublebed (140-150cm) but customers can also choose for a twin room. Booking page: Holiday Inn Express Gulou Hotel Chengdu
We also stayed in the Tibet Hotel Chengdu. This hotel is less than 5 minutes walking from the subway. The breakfast of the Tibet Hotel is much better and their rate was in october 2015 cheaper than the Gulou Hotel. The Tibet Hotel door men can stop a taxi on the street for customers or call one. Disadvantage of the Tibet Hotel is that is more far away from the city centre.