The Westin Xian

“Nice Hotel in Xian”

We stayed at this hotel for 2 nights as part of a china tour group. As others have mentioned, this hotel is very centrally located with lots of things to do. There is a big mall across the street so easy to find foodstuffs on the bottom floor. There is also a big, long street mall across the str… more

We stayed at this hotel for 2 nights as part of a china tour group. As others have mentioned, this hotel is very centrally located with lots of things to do. There is a big mall across the street so easy to find foodstuffs on the bottom floor. There is also a big, long street mall across the street with lots of stores and eateries. On the street mall in the evening they also have a show that depicts the terracotta warriors. On the negative side the hotel is vastly stretched out so may be a long walk from your room to the front of the hotel. Hotel service was excellent except many workers did not speak english so had to use translate or ask another worker for assistance. Breakfast was excellent with a good selection of food, desserts, fruits and drinks.

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“Classy, comfortable and good value.”

Western visitors will find this hotel great value. It has classy, large, rooms with very comfortable beds. The staff were all helpful and most spoke English. They happily arranged a transfer from the airport on arrival and to the train station on departure. Paying extra for club lounge access is w… more

Western visitors will find this hotel great value. It has classy, large, rooms with very comfortable beds. The staff were all helpful and most spoke English. They happily arranged a transfer from the airport on arrival and to the train station on departure. Paying extra for club lounge access is worthwhile (or, if you have it through status, it’s a great bonus). It serves breakfast (with eggs available as made to order), afternoon tea, a two-hour snack buffet service between 1730 and 1930, and complementary alcohol between 1730 and 2030. The hotel is located in a pleasant area, south of the city centre, near the Big Goose Pagoda and a short walk from a metro station from where you can reach the city centre in about half an hour. Downsides: there is no pool, the sunken garden was undergoing maintenance when we were there, and the two a la carte restaurants were a bit soulless. But I would recommend to anyone looking for a base from which to explore Xi’an and the surrounding area.

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“Wonderful Westin in Xi'an”

The location of the Westin Xi’an is hard to beat. It sits right next to the expansive Joy City mall and is within easy walking distance of both the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and the Everbright City pedestrian avenue. We split our stay in Xi’an—spending a few nights near the city wall before moving to… more

The location of the Westin Xi’an is hard to beat. It sits right next to the expansive Joy City mall and is within easy walking distance of both the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and the Everbright City pedestrian avenue. We split our stay in Xi’an—spending a few nights near the city wall before moving to the Westin—and it turned out to be an excellent decision. The hotel is integrated with an art gallery, and guests are given complimentary tickets to visit the exhibitions. This thoughtful detail explains the hotel’s refined aesthetics and calm, gallery-like ambience throughout the property. My only real criticism lies in the layout: the hotel is very horizontal, with just five floors but a sprawling footprint. Rooms are spread over a wide area, so navigating the corridors can feel labyrinthine. Depending on your room location, the walk to the single lift lobby serving guest floors can be surprisingly long, which becomes tiring after a few trips in and out. That aside, our family thoroughly enjoyed the stay. As Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members, our status was recognised and the applicable privileges were honoured. The front desk went above and beyond, extending breakfast to the entire booking. Requests were consistently met with “we’ll do our best”—and, importantly, they actually delivered. After investing years in a loyalty programme, being met with flexibility and a willingness to help, rather than a flat “no,” makes a real difference. One final highlight worth mentioning: the Westin easily had the best Wi-Fi of our entire China trip. For those of us who were still working while travelling, this alone was a major plus and set the hotel apart from many others.

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“A nice 5 star hotel, but with one major flaw.”

Initially everything was as expected from a nice 5 star hotel like The Westin. Rooms meticulous and lining soft and clean. Food was good at breakfast and dinner. The staff were friendly and helpful at all times. What more could one ask for? If you use the gym, swimming pool, sauna and/or steam ro… more

Initially everything was as expected from a nice 5 star hotel like The Westin. Rooms meticulous and lining soft and clean. Food was good at breakfast and dinner. The staff were friendly and helpful at all times. What more could one ask for? If you use the gym, swimming pool, sauna and/or steam room, then you’re going to quickly enter a sort of house of horrors. First you must go to the lower level and walk through a labyrinth of 2 fairly short dark tunnels to get to the pool, lockers or gym. I don’t know why the lights were out. The steam rooms in both the men’s and woman’s locker room were non-functional indefinitely. The sauna in the men’s room had an area near the end that exhibited a large hole with the wood falling apart. Also, it was not hot at all. The attendant showed me that one must pour water over the rocks to heat it up, but that only works if the rock are hot enough to sizzle, which these were not. I never even broke a sweat. Also, the jacuzzi’s were non-functional as well. The gym was small but the machines were packed together like sardines in a can. The machines were functioning. It was sort of like being in a dungeon! Almost comical. Again, I want to point out that all the staff I encountered were very courteous and upbeat. If you are the type that never uses the gym, pool, steam or sauna rooms, then you’ll be disappointed. That’s the main reason I had to assign 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Hopefully, they’ll spend some $ and do a full scale renovation of the sports facilities. The rooms are quite dated as well, but they are maintaining the tiles and walls well. Howard S.

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