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HI - Xi'an - Bell Tower YH Hostel

Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China

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Arrival Date:   Nights:  People: 
Address
No. 1 Beida Street, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710003, Xi'an   Map
Price
35RMB--90RMB/Person Check Current Prices by Date Here
Location/Contact
Details
Their Description

Features

  • Lockers
  • Bar
  • Nightclub
  • Gameroom
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Pool Table
  • Food/Restaurant
  • TV
  • Movie Library/Rental
  • Book Collection/Exchange
  • Washing Machine (laundry)
  • Clothes Dryer
  • Travel information provided
  • Bike Rental
  • 24 Hour Free Hot Showers
  • Phones (public or in room)
  • Air Conditioning
  • Elevator/Lift
 
The Hostelz.com Review
The Bell Tower hostel is aptly named, as it has an amazing view of the old Ming style Bell Tower towering over the chaotic streets below. Geographically this tower and hostel are in the centre of the old town, but this area is extremely modern with shopping malls and McDonald's crowding the wide streets. It is very close to the Muslim Quarter, which is great for shopping. The hostel is very easy to find because of the landmark and it is on the intersection of many bus routes.

The large hostel has many dormitory rooms, privates and doubles. The eight-bed dorms are spacious and secure as each person has their own key to the room. You can also get quite cozy here as they have heating, individual lamps & side tables to make life easy. Though it is a big hostel, there is more than enough room in the social areas, which have been divided into two parts. There is the cozy lounge with soft couches to lounge and gaze at the Bell Tower and there is the restaurant area attached to the bar for drinking and chatting, and it has the same great view.

There is no kitchen for guest use, but they have a restaurant with good reasonably priced food. They will also give you hot water if you ask. The bathrooms are sufficient for the number of people and are very clean. The twenty-four-hour, piping hot water is a bonus. The English speaking staff offer a wealth of information and can organise almost anything for you.

This hostel is great to escape the chaos outside and is sociable if you want it to be, quiet and secluded if you prefer. The resident lazy cat who acts as the reception paperweight adds to that homey feel.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review


Your Comments
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Comment by CRayW, American
January 2008
Well located and decent place to stay
The hostel is on the NE corner from the Bell Tower, near everything in town. Plenty to do and lots of friendly people. Many nationalities and the staff speak English and can help get train tickets -- though the train ticket stall is about five hundred meters north on the east side of the street (well marked). This is a business so some hostel prices are U.S.A. Good pricey food, nice rooms, and dorms cleaned upon request. In Xian it's 40 rmb now to walk the city wall. used to be 5 in 1997. Tours are tours -- make reservations anywhere but when the bus shows up full and you have to ride in the mini van, you have been screwed and will be re-brokered off to the lowest bidder (to allow for first tour guides profits). Best go to the first pick up point to assure you make the first load -- we were in the "back-up" van and were taken to the east wall hub and re-brokered for an hour and then left to fend for ourselves on the way back from the Huashan mts. The tour to Terra Cotta Warriers works much the same. Not a reflection on this hostel but they are small and won't fill up a bus. Go west to the huge hotel on the south side of the main road and get your tour ticket(s) there. the bus starts from there. other locations are catch as catch can. The small hostel had little power to intervene for us on getting a ride back to Xian that evening. the people who came from the huge hotel got on the bus. we were left on the curb just outside Huashan. several obvious photos of the bus id's, tags, registration, the tour guide, and her permit (up close) got us a fifth rate ride back to Xian. Great mountains but a hell of a ride.
Comment by Amanda, Australian
November 2007
Amazing
Clean, Friendly, Excellent service and food. People were great and a great place to go. I was comfortable and it was cosy. The people there was so nice and when I go back I will have no choice but to go there again.
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