I write this from the Golden Gulf. Shantou is of the normal tourist track so this is a hotel which was opulent in 1992 when it was built but is now somewhat in need of refurbisment the carpets can be less than clean in some areas. There are several restaurants some of which serve Western food others local and an extensive daily buffet. The staff try hard some do speak reasonable English but most do not. The location is central Wal Mart is 200 mts away as are other shops. Overall I was happy enough it isn't 5* any longer but could be again but the price isn't 5* either! Based on price , service etc 7/10 Would use again but would look at Regency and Meritus as well before deciding.

I stayed here for a business trip for a few days. My room was very nice and clean, nice decor, with everything in good working order. The problems I had were that, compared to other hotels in China that i had stayed in (4 + 5 star), it lacked in some areas. I found it very difficult to communicate with staff as no one had good English - so it was a little frustrating when trying to order room service or get laundry done. For such essential things it can be frustrating and upsetting when you can't get them. Of course you cannot expect all staff to have good english everywhere you go, but as a 5 star hotel that caters for business I did expect more (which i did get in the other hotels in China!) Also the 'western' food selection was very limited - again this is in comparison to other China hotels.

There may be better hotels in ShanTou but this one is good value. I stayed there only once but really enjoyed my stay. It's a real pleasure to sit in the lobby drinking coffee and listening to the musician playing the piano. My room was clean and spacious and I was brought fresh fruits every day, very nice. The hotel is quite close to the airport -- you can go to ShanTou by road or train but it is really far from GuangZhou, so taking the plane is the best way to get there. Just like her better known sister ShenZhen ShanTou is a Special Economic Zone and therefore relatively prosperous. It also has a different kind of cuisine from the rest of GuangDong Province ("ChaoZhou food"). And a different dialect as well.. The only negative point: there was a power failure during my stay, so one morning I had to go down the stairs from my 21st floor room. Fortunately the power had been restored when I returned to the hotel later on in the day.