After finishing our trip to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, we headed to Xishuangbanna. The style of Xishuangbanna is completely different from that of Lijiang. Located at the southwestern tip of Yunnan Province and bordering Myanmar and Laos, the entire region has a strong tropical vibe, making it feel as if you’ve arrived in Southeast Asia.
The InterContinental Xishuangbanna is massive, with over 500 rooms nestled amidst rubber tree forests. The main lobby features a Thai Royal Palace architectural style, and the hotel grounds include free-roaming peacocks, a vast plaza, and terraced fields. Like the InterContinental Lijiang, this property was also upgraded from a Crowne Plaza; interestingly, the current Crowne Plaza in Xishuangbanna used to be a Holiday Inn…
For this stay, we used a Double 11 package deal, so we received no membership benefits whatsoever. Moreover, since it was New Year’s Day, the hotel was fully booked, meaning no upgrades were available either. Although breakfast was included in the package, we had an extremely early departure on the third morning and hadn’t arranged for a packed breakfast in advance, effectively wasting one day’s breakfast..
Upon entering the hotel, you’re immediately immersed in a rich Thai atmosphere, with the reception desk backdrop featuring a gigantic peacock motif.
The entire public space of the hotel feels like being inside a massive park.
There is a wall covered with murals depicting Buddhist stories.
There are terraced fields on the property, and they are actually cultivated by real farmers..
The outdoor swimming pool is also very spacious.
The room was indeed showing its age somewhat—even the light on the doorbell was broken. Since our room was on the ground floor, there wasn’t any view to speak of. There was a door leading directly outside to a small private courtyard, but naturally, for security reasons, we couldn’t actually use that exit… Plus, given the potential presence of mosquitoes, we didn’t dare open that door anyway. Nevertheless, the room itself was still quite spacious, measuring well over 60 square meters, complete with an oversized round bathtub and dual vanities.
The hotel has three restaurants in total, but due to the New Year holiday, the Western restaurant only offered a buffet, and the Thai restaurant only served set menus for two. Only the Chinese restaurant allowed à la carte ordering, and both the food quality and service there were quite good. The coffee at the Lobby Lounge was also excellent, exceeding expectations.
That evening happened to be New Year’s Eve, and we even encountered a Michelin-hosted New Year’s celebration taking place right here.
This hotel is probably the best choice when visiting Xishuangbanna, though it’s advisable to avoid peak travel seasons if possible. When the hotel is completely full, it becomes evident that staffing levels and facilities are somewhat stretched thin. Additionally, the hotel is very close to the airport—about a 15-minute drive—and offers complimentary professional airport pickup services as well as a free shuttle bus to the airport.
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