GGuest UserOur experience staying at Li An Lodge is truly unforgettable. We travelled to Guilin for 5 days and stayed two nights at Celadon room at Li An Lodge. The views from this boutique hotel are absolutely breathtaking and had previously been featured in National Geographic Traveller — beautiful rice terraces unobstructed by other buildings, mountains, the sky, the moon, the sound of crickets at night and the sound of water flowing in the fields — you feel a deep connection with the nature in this place. There are almost no people around as it is high up the mountain and you only meet local villagers, who keep the traditional way of life, dressing in beautiful traditional clothes, working the fields and enjoying a chat or a meal among themselves. The hotel itself is a masterpiece of traditional wooden architecture, built without a single nail, original wood carvings, traditional ethnic embroideries, antique jars and other pottery decorate the halls and rooms.
The hotel manager, who introduced himself as Aaron to us, showed impeccable hospitality, paying attention to the smallest details to make our stay as pleasant as possible. Aaron is fluent in English, easygoing and very pleasant to communicate with. We had been in touch over WeChat prior to our arrival to Li An Lodge, and he helped us organise transportation form the airport to the hotel, shared very useful information about local villages, sightseeing, food worth trying, he organized homemade dinner with the freshest local veggies and chicken the first evening we were there, it was a real feast — several delicious meals and drinks cooked there and then, for breakfast we had “Western breakfast” — good coffee (ground beens) , bacon and eggs, toast, local fresh fruit and we also tried the local specialty - mifen (rice noodles) which was really good. He recommended places to try other local foods and drink which left us very satisfied. The second day we were coming back from a hike in the neighbouring village and decided last minute that we wanted to stay in and have dinner at Li An Lodge instead of the restaurant where we initially planned to dine. We checked with Aaron where it was possible, since it was already after 6:30 pm, he told us he would call the chef and would start cooking. When we got there after a beautiful walk in the terrace fields, Aaron met us with beers to enjoy on the hotel’s terrace. We realised the chef was not there but Aaron was making the meals himself — turns out he is also an amazing chef! He cooked everything with the local freshest produce — several dishes — bamboo shoots and chicken, steamed loofah with tomatoes, pumpkin, eggplant, local rice, we are still dreaming about those freshest delicious meals. Thank you Aaron!
We ended our stay by watching two documentaries about LongJi Rice fields and Life of a Panda in the hotel’s bar/film viewing room and Aaron answered our many questions about the local customs, traditions, food and crafts. It was an amazing stay, and I would recommend this hotel to those interested in cultural immersion, nature, traditional cuisine, arts and those looking to connect with the nature and escape the busy city life.
Thanks Li An Lodge, we hope to come back again!
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