I was just in Xian last week - my second time there. I'm an SPG guy but both times in Xian I've stayed at the Sofitel on Renmin Square. In terms of location, it's tough to beat the Sofitel. It's just over 1km to the Bell Tower and surrounding shopping areas; it's walkable and definitely an easy cab ride away. I always get a card ("namecard") from the hotel which has hotel name & address in Chinese. This makes it easier to get back in a taxi.

The Sofitel is luxurious and quite comparable to a Westin. Bathroom amenities are L'Occitane en Provence and turndown service features small dark chocolate squares along with refreshing of towels etc. The room itself includes the usual Asian amenities of slippers, bathrobe, kettle, tea, comb, toothbrush etc. Wired internet in the room is free and I think there's wifi as well; I use my own wireless router so I'm not sure what the wifi was like.

The Sofitel has 2 wings (East & West). Oddly, breakfast on day 1 was in one wing but the other wing on day 2. The breakfast buffet is your typical affair of western choices along with the standard Asian choices as well. The Sofitel does offer a very welcome better-than-average bread selection which is reflective of their French heritage. I also noticed a pancake and waffle station with real maple syrup though I didn't indulge.

The Warriors out of town are of course a must-see. But Xian (inside the wall) is actually quite a nice town and it's worth taking time to wander around. The Shanxi Art Museum is large and (when I was there) quite crowded but nonetheless very interesting and again, worth a visit. Also outside the wall was the Big Wild Goose Pagoda which was a rather nice area to see. In town, I rather enjoyed the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show which at 500 RMB per pax is expensive by Chinese standards, but I enjoyed the tasty and plentiful food and the show of course, is one of those things that only the Chinese can do.