We spent 4 nights with our two young children. We stayed in the new building (Haiyu). The hotel is a big complex made of various buildings, some villas, and it is beside a park; overall it is very nice. We had breakfast in the open air beside the garden/park every morning, dined twice in two different restaurants (once the buffet in the Haiyu building, once in the Chinese restaurant). Overall a perfect stay; very committed and helpful staff, almost all fluent in English. They helped us with multiple things we had to do/wanted to visit and listened to our comments/feedback. Perfect cleaning and attention to details in our room. The main building is brand new, decorated with taste. The buffet breakfast is amazing, definitely satisfying from Asian to European tastes. Buffet dinner was also excellent as well as the Chinese restaurant in another building. The price/quality ratio was excellent as well (we booked via internet). Drawback: it is very convenient from the airport but it takes 15-20 minutes to go downtown and taxis are not always ready at the door. Considering that taxis are cheap it is not a big deal if you are not in a hurry. We tried the swimming pool which was in a nice setting but unfortunately the water was too cold (warming was due to start a couple of days later).

I stayed 5 nights at the Xiamen Mandarin Hotel on a business trip. The room was very spacious, very modern and really comfortable with a large bed and a huge bathroom. The location of the hotel is outside the city and it takes a long time - 25-30 minute drive - to get to the city centre. But don't count on the hotel's culinary skills - the food is quite a bad experience and most of it - except for the breakfast - tastes a little hidden...

My partner and I booked a four night stay at the Mandarin Hotel in Xiamen for ourselves and his family - eight people in four rooms. I used a Chinese web agent and decided on the Mandarin as it was a reasonably priced five star option and included breakfast.

The hotel was quite a way out of the town but the rooms were comfortable, clean and well fitted. On checking in we were advised that breakfast was served from another building in the grounds - this was a bit of a pain, but transport was supplied.

After a good night's sleep we all met in the foyer for transport to breakfast but was advised that they didn't have a driver to take us to the other building! After fifteen minutes and a bit of a fuss, they did find someone.

When we arrived for breakfast we were advised that the restaurant was at the top of a long flight of stairs. When we explained that two of the group were well into their eighties and couldn't climb the stairs, they simply kept pointing to the stairs. After another fuss, they showed us to the lift that went to the restaurant - why this took so long we will never know.

When we arrived in the restaurant we were asked for our room numbers, which we gave and proceeded to the buffet. The selection was quite good - a bit strange - but, generally, ok. We then started selecting our food when we noticed that we were being followed by a waitress who was watching us suspiciously. After a few minutes she went off to get a young man in a suit who started jabbering at us in a torrent of Mandarin and waving his hands about. When we managed to get him to speak English he aggressively demanded our room numbers again . We explained that we had given these to the waitress when we took our table, but he just kept demanding them in a loud and exitable manner.

After a right barney, we managed to understand that he was accusing us of trying to 'steal' four breakfasts. I explained that our rooms incleded breakfasts but he wouldn't stop shouting! Finally we managed to understand that he was saying that only 'one' breakfast was supplied per room and the second had to be paid for! As I had gone to so much trouble to ensure that breakfasts were included, I explained that this was not correct and refused to sign for four breakfasts.

The drama continued with the young man and the waitress pursuing us to the outside of the building where we took our transport back to the other building and the argument continued at the reception desk. I explained that five star hotels either supplied breakfast with a room for both occupants, or didn't supply any at all. Logic and common sense got me nowhere and, finally, I advised them we were checking-out after our pre-arranged meeting in town.

When we returned at noon, I was pursued for over twenty minutes by rather sweet a Front Office Manager who kept promising 'surprises and presents' if we stayed. After being pursued up to our room with more pleadings, we managed to pack our bags and went down to pay.

Then they stated that one room had a 'broken soap box' and another had a 'seal broken on bottle of mineral water' which they demanded payment for! I explained that after all their promises of surprises and presents, this final drama was totally misplaced! Eventually they dropped their claims!

Finally we got away and left the rather bizarre Mandarin to its own devices!

The Xiamen Mandarin Hotel is a conference hotel located in the business / industrial section of town, about 20 minutes from the coast (10 minutes from the airport). We spent 3 nights for a combination business meeting / sightseeing visit in Xiamen. The facilities are well-kept and modern, and the English-speaking staff was very helpful coordinating taxi trips to various locations - none of which are more than 15 to 25 minutes away (less than US$5 each way). If you need to be in Xiamen (business) as opposed to Gulong Yu (pleasure), this hotel would seem a reliable choice and the staff will make it easy.