Originally Posted by
jiejie
Stay outside the town center of Yangshuo. Transport isn't a problem with your kind of funding--you'll be able to have the hotel arrange a driver when needed; they aren't that expensive in that area. You won't be spending that much time in the town center anyway. Try something like Yangshuo Mountain Retreat or Yangshuo Tea Cosy. Any YS guesthouse can prearrange a Guilin airport pickup for you and as I said upthread, that is the most preferable of the options.
I will never stay in town again during a holiday period (that was complete hell), but I can't bring myself to advise TOMFORD to dismiss the option in the absence of further research on his part.
Off hand, the pros of staying in town are:
-food options (at least some of which, are better than those at any given retreat)
-night life (not everybody wants to pass out at 10)
-better positioning for many excursions (e.g. rock climbing groups typically assemble in town)