“Everything is relative.....”2 of 5 starsReviewed January 10, 2012 NEW
Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa --Ranked #4 of 175 hotels in Lhasa
No.5 Section 1 Lin Kuo East, Lhasa 850000, China
Tibet Deluxe hotel booking: Situated in eastern part of Lhasa city, Four Points by Sheraton is on the Lhasa River and faces Jiangsu Avenue. It is about 15 minute walk from the Jokhang Temple, Barkhor square area and about ten minute drive from the Potala Palace.
Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa
Number of rooms: 102
Note: All above photos were taken by Mr. Tony (copyright by Tibet Ctrip Travel Service)
Tibet Traveler's Review from tripadvisor for your booking reference
Stayed here the last week of December 2011. For a Sheraton hotel, even if it's the more budget-conscious 4-points, it's below standard. Not sure how it is in the summer, but it is winter, and they do not heat the hall ways at all. On the one hand, I can understand energy conservation since the hotel is not swarming with tourists, but OTOH, it's really really cold for those of us who are guests in the winter season. The rooms are warm because the guests can adjust the temperature, but the room floors are not carpeted, so the floors are very cold, and it's uncomfortable to walk around in the room. The rooms are very no-frills, and not cozy and not comfortable for a relaxing night upon return in such a cold and dry climate. Toilet seat is very cold to use in the middle of the night. It being off season, when I turned on the bathroom sink water facet when I first arrived in the room, very rusty water came out.
I asked for a humidifier, which they promptly provided, but it's a cheap kind that makes the floor all wet if you turn it on max power. Overall, there's just no place in the hotel where you can get comfortable, not in the room, not in the lobby which is very small, not in the restaurant which is more like a canteen, and definitely not in the freezing hallways with draft of wind coming in from the windows.
There is only 1 restaurant. Food is so-so. Breakfast is mediocre. Dinner they serve a buffet with lots of seafood (clams, oysters, shrimps), but one doesn't come 4 miles above sea level to eat seafood. I'm a vegetarian and even i couldn't help thinking that the seafood was probably not that fresh to eat. One might eat here just for convenience and to not go hungry, but not a culinary experience for tourists.
But everything is relative. During our visit we saw lots of Tibetan nomads on their pilgrimage. These are true high plain farmers and nomads who live in places with very little access to water (so their clothes are not frequently washed and bathing is rare, and toilets are not common) and whose skins bear marks of extreme exposure to the sun and the elements. This is how people of this region live, and it seems very frivolous to complain about the poor quality of the hotel conditions, which may be unheard-of luxury to many of the native nomads and tribal people of this region. When the locals can make do with so little, it's hard to not feel like spoiled, sheltered jerk to talk about how the hotel facilities and amenities are not good enough. But there is no other way to pass on information about the inadequacy of the hotel conditions to people considering spending the money to stay here.