Yangshuo Yingman Hotel 4*: Deer, Peacocks and Mountains by the River in Yangshuo

I stayed at several guesthouses in Yangshuo at the same price point, and this one was the worst. 1. The room had a terrible smell, a strong, musty odor. Even after changing rooms and using air freshener, the smell returned after a while. People sensitive to smells will suffer. 2. The staff's service was the worst in its price range. They were completely unenthusiastic and had a pervasive sense of indifference. Taking orders for afternoon tea was especially difficult; they acted like they owed money. 3. The outdoor lawn was okay overall, but not the best for its price. I recommend comparing it with other guesthouses. It didn't live up to its reputation. For this price, you should expect what you get, but this is the worst I could hope for.

We arrived with high expectations for our vacation, and the 2600 RMB room rate wasn't cheap, but the overall experience was severely below expectations. The value for money was completely mismatched; only the scenery and small animals were acceptable. I wouldn't recommend this hotel for families with children. 1. Check-in and parking services were terrible. We arrived at the hotel by car and couldn't check in on time. We were told that the previous guests hadn't checked out, and the room hadn't been cleaned yet. The package included afternoon tea, but the hotel is small and also sells afternoon tea to individual guests, so its capacity was completely inadequate. The lobby was packed with afternoon tea guests, so we couldn't go to our room to rest or enjoy our tea properly. There were only two public restrooms, and during peak hours, it was difficult to even use one. We were already tired from our journey and in the hot weather, and arriving without being able to check in, eat, or even use the restroom made for a terrible start. 2. Upon arrival, the butler said they could help with valet parking and told us to leave our car running and wait. We waited in the blazing sun for a long time, but no one came to help us. Without prior notice or taking our car keys, they moved the vehicle. I only found it gone when I went to look for it. After entering the car, staff members tampered with the air conditioning and other interior settings, completely disrupting the original configuration. The valet parking service was extremely unprofessional. 3. The room and hotel hygiene were appalling, causing great unease. In the two-bedroom room, there were numerous hair and debris on the bed that didn't belong to us, strongly suggesting the sheets hadn't been thoroughly changed. The next day, both children and adults experienced varying degrees of skin itching. There were also items and trash left by the previous guest in the sofa crevices, which were pulled out by playing children, creating a very unpleasant impression. The complimentary bedtime dessert soup was sticky on the lid and sides, with dessert residue that hadn't been properly cleaned; it was completely inedible. In the bedroom next to the bathroom, the air conditioning emitted a strong odor from toilet backflow, which bothered us all night. The air conditioning was also inconsistent, fluctuating between hot and cold, making the stay very uncomfortable. 4. Deer frequently urinate in the garden's water features. Cleaning staff use mops to chase the deer away, splashing water and urine onto guests – a disgusting and unpleasant experience. 5. Hardware safety hazards, unfriendly to children: The outdoor balcony is entirely enclosed by glass with no safety warning signs. The black iron railing along the small river near the entrance is deformed and loose, posing a significant safety risk to children running and playing nearby. 6. Stingy and inflexible catering and service, poor service attitude: Breakfast was served extremely slowly, not in a first-come, first-served order. After finishing our noodles, subsequent orders were delayed, and we ultimately didn't get to eat them. The provided chopsticks were two-sectioned twigs, very difficult to use. When our child asked for carrots to feed the animals, we were repeatedly asked to confirm our room number, and a second time we were told there was only one bag left. For a high-priced room, the basic animal feed was extremely stingy. We were two families staying in a two-bedroom room, and upon check-out, we were only given a small gift – a few plums and two bottles of water. When we asked for more, we were refused. The female butler, especially the one wearing glasses, was curt and indifferent. She didn't greet guests in the lobby, didn't smile, and appeared aloof and arrogant. She didn't even offer basic services like pouring water; I felt no sincerity in her hospitality throughout the stay. In summary: The scenery and small animals are some of the few highlights of this hotel, but there are many areas that need improvement in terms of cleanliness, service, and facility management. The high room rate for such a stay makes it very poor value for money; choose carefully.

Breakfasts are very small and lack variety, and there's no buffet. If you're looking for something to eat, you won't find it in Yangshuo, and the hotel doesn't serve it either. It's best to bring your own and stay for a maximum of one day.

This is my first negative review. The hotel's facilities are excellent, and the scenery is picturesque, but the check-in experience genuinely infuriated me. It seems there's no proper regulation for tourism or hotel management in Yangshuo. During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the hotel outsourced its facilities to a company for team-building activities without prior notice. They claimed the team building would only start the next day and wouldn't affect my stay. However, construction began on my check-in day. They erected two four or five-story high scaffolding structures, connected by a zipline – I'm not sure if it was for a stage or a film shoot. Throughout the afternoon, I saw workers on the iron frames at the same height as our room, and they could directly see everything inside our room. Three oversized trucks occupied the hotel entrance and parking lot. Despite this, the staff at check-in told me that the activities would start tomorrow and wouldn't affect us. What exactly constitutes an 'impact'? Would a collapsing scaffold causing fatalities be the only 'impact'? I endured this for an entire afternoon. At 7 PM, I reported to the hotel, asking why the construction hadn't stopped. They said they would follow up, but it had no practical effect. The construction continued until 7:40 PM. I then tried to seek intervention from relevant management agencies. I called 12345, the government hotline, reporting that someone was doing construction and building a large stage on a public holiday until after 7 PM, questioning if there were proper permits. They replied they couldn't answer or verify this and only asked for my demands and if I wanted a refund. With no other option, I called 110. They asked if it was affecting me. Eventually, the police station had to call the hotel to stop the work. Throughout this entire process, I couldn't find any relevant management or permits. Everyone kept asking what my demands were and how it was affecting me. It truly felt like they were solving the person, not the problem. It's like if I reported illegal parking on the street one day; does that mean I must be seeking something in return? Can't it be for public safety and order? Yes, there was no construction noise, and I could draw the curtains to prevent them from seeing in, but I paid over 2000 yuan to see the scenery and relax. Should I have to inconvenience myself? Isn't this an infringement on my rights? If this happened in Shenzhen, with people working outside my window at nearly 8 PM, I could report it, and it could even lead to legal consequences. Why, in Guilin, am I considered the troublemaker with too many demands? I genuinely want to ask the local culture and tourism bureau and the public security department: why is such an obvious illegal construction (at least the construction time was illegal, I'm unsure about permits and safety management) being brushed off with personal interests? I genuinely didn't want compensation, but the hotel and 12345 kept guiding me towards that. Compensation means they don't have to solve the problem, or worry about safety or compliance. It's truly disheartening and painful. Finally, regarding the hotel itself: objectively, if it weren't for the unpleasant experience, I could understand why there are many good reviews. The hotel rooms and scenery are absolutely fine. However, their management seems to prioritize making money, carelessly outsourcing venues, and not taking responsibility for guests. The afternoon tea area is also open to the public, with internet celebrities hogging seats (they don't need to put any personal items down; a simple 'someone is here' from their companion is enough for them to take photos outside for ages before returning to sit down). This forced us to have afternoon tea in the lobby, where kids were throwing paper planes around unsupervised. One day before check-in, the hotel added me on WeChat to send me directions. I followed the navigation directly, which led me down an incredibly narrow country road. When I asked them, they casually mentioned there was a wider main road, without any prior notice. What was the point of adding me on WeChat then? The deposit also required me to follow up after check-out to get it back. Normally, I wouldn't leave a bad review for these issues, at most just no review, but this time I couldn't tolerate it. In summary, aside from the team-building issue, it's objectively a hotel great for Instagram-worthy photos, with a beautiful environment, but the overall experience is poor. Excellent for photos, but not for a relaxing holiday.

The air conditioning in the room smelled awful. There was animal waste all over the lawn, and the animals themselves were covered in flies. It was a terrible experience, and there wasn't even hand soap in the room.

I don't understand how this hotel got a 4.9 rating. The breakfast was incredibly perfunctory. The room lighting was ridiculously dim. There were almost no amenities. The photos were all misleading. It's completely not worth the price.

I've stayed in quite a few hotels, and I understand the need to cut costs during the off-season, but I've never had such a perfunctory breakfast in years. For two people, we only got two small plates of food plus a salad, plus a serving of rice noodles. We ordered toast and waited 20 minutes. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer and asked if they had stir-fried vegetables, only to receive a few pieces of blanched lettuce. Even a business hotel breakfast around 400 RMB has a much more substantial breakfast; at least it's a buffet with some fruits and vegetables. Last night, the bathroom ventilation fan was very noisy, I don't know if it turned on automatically or what, so I closed the door to sleep. This morning I couldn't open it, and when I called the housekeeper, I was told I had locked it from the inside. How could I have locked it from the inside just by closing the door from the outside?