Mirage Hotel

We had a large room with a very comfortable bed. Nice furnishings. Refrigerator was OK but not very cold. Safe and hair dryers in room. Good bathroom with a very nice shower with plenty of hot water. Air conditioning does not appear to work but windows are openable for cool night air. Large flat screen TV with a couple of English channels. There is a computer in the room which we did not use. There is WIFI in the room but you must download a Chinese APT(no thanks). Good buffet breakfast, and the Chinese restaurant in the hotel is excellent!! Our group ate there two nights. Good location in the main part of the City.

Located in the centre of Urumqi, the large and luxurious Mirage Hotel has in-room computers in many of its rooms (rooms may differ from one floor to another; my room was on the 22nd floor), along with stunning views of the city from its upper floors. The breakfast buffet is, as one would expect, excellent; and the in-room TVs are easy to operate (unlike those in many hotels in China). The flavour is international.The only difficulty--as long as you aren't looking for local atmosphere--is the lack of any parking area in which to pull up while your car/van/bus is being unloaded or loaded.

Yes, the beds are hard as rocks and the internet is slow to non-existent in the room, but those are the only two bad features. The room was outfitted with every possible amenity, fluffy towels, bottled water, a hot pot, etc. The staff was helpful, once the language barrier was overcome. They see very few English speaking people here, and it can be tough to get your point across. And if they do find someone, the chances are their English is fractured and you'll have difficulty understanding the answer. Gestures work wonders and a translator app is great! The breakfast buffet is huge and stocked with western and Chinese delights. I stayed mostly with the Chinese stuff and it was grand. But, if bacon and eggs are your thing, they have that too. The street is busy and noisy, and there aren't a lot of restaurants in the same block, but as you move around you'll find everything from a hole-in-the-wall Uyger place, to McDonalds. I'd stay here again and just not worry about the internet.