Tie Shan

The Tieshan Hotel in Wuhu is built in a wonderful parkland at the foot of a hill with a pagoda at its top, which makes the hotel unique in my experience of hotels in China or elsewhere. The hotel is split into a number of buildings, each with its own character. I understand that it was originally an official government hotel, but these days it operates commercially too. It has a sense of old fashioned Chinse luxury about it. The rooms are very well appointed, with a desktop computer provided, but there is also free Wifi too. The hotel is not aimed at non-Chinese speakers, so don't expect much English, but that is part of its charm. The staff are very welcoming and will try their best to accommodate your needs, but there is no in room dining menu. The hotel restaurant is an all Chinese experience, but the food is delicious.

The Tieshan is an extensive complex, encompassing several buildings. The front desk always had at least one person who was fluent in English. It was one of the few hotels that accepted credit cards. The rooms were very Western-style, well appointed and very comfortable. The breakfast buffet is Chinese and quite elaborate. The major issue we had was that the hotel was highly booked with large convention groups. Commonly, many of the rooms were left wide open for visitation between rooms. With a high percentage of smokers in China, our rooms tended to fill with second-hand smoke.