3 Best Hotels in Lanzhou, The Silk Road

Located close to the Gansu International Convention and Exhibition Center, this modern hotel is a little removed from the city center but offers solid service and good views of the neighboring Yellow River. The breakfast spread offers enough options, among them Chinese, Indian, and Continental, to please Western guests. With little to do come nightfall, the hotel's spa and indoor pool make for pleasant distraction.

From the marble floors in the lobby to the plush furnishings, this 25-story tower houses one of Lanzhou's top hotels. On the west side, the upper floors have sweeping views of the mountains and the sunshine pours in, heating up the rooms.

Built in 1956, this concrete behemoth's Sino-Stalinist exterior hides a modern if drab interior. Pleasant service and clean, standard-size rooms make this hotel's main building a good value; the older east and west wings house shabbier but still acceptable rooms for half the price. Beds are hard. The hotel's Chinese restaurant, Zhong Hua Yuan, cooks up great local cuisine.