Originally Posted by
RCyyz
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.
I thought the Sofitel was pretty good, but not without its flaws. The breakfast-in-the-other-building was a bit of a hassle (we were in East wing, Breakfast in West wing), as was having the pool in the other wing. I would advise asking for the West wing when you book to avoid this hassle (although apparently sometimes breakfast is in the East wing).
The taxi cards were also really hard to read--most hotels have them printed out in decent sized letters/characters, but the Sofitel's was graphics and really small. Our taxi driver couldn't read it (I'm not sure if he couldn't read or if he couldn't afford reading glasses).
Overall, the Sofitel seems like a pretty good bet, but it's not without its flaws.