10 Best Xi'an Hotels — Bell Tower & Terracotta Warriors 2026

We open the Xi'an list with the stay that impressed us most — Eastern House Boutique Hotel. Xi'an's sightseeing heart sits inside the Ming city wall, around the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, and this 5-star boutique has the best address for it: about 300 metres off Nan Dajie street, a 6-7 minute walk to both towers, and within walking distance of the Muslim Quarter. The building runs 13 floors and 154 rooms, designed in an East Asian style with a tasteful modern edge. Rooms are clean, wide and comfortable, with a fridge, minibar and free Wi-Fi. There's a large Chinese restaurant serving Cantonese, Sichuan and Shaanxi dishes, a gym, and a free airport shuttle. More than 6,000 reviews praise the location and the attentive service. We'd point couples and families here to start a Xi'an trip on design and position, with a real-guest score near 9.4 and rates from about $70 a night.

Our #2 pick is the easiest 5-star in town if you arrive by train: Grand Soluxe International Hotel Xi'an sits inside the old city walls, just 350 metres — under a 5-minute walk — from Xi'an Railway Station, which is also where you catch the bus to the Terracotta Army. The building leans European-classic, with crystal chandeliers and a marble staircase, and the rooms are large and clean with split air-con and double-glazed soundproof glass. Inside you get a Cantonese restaurant known for Peking duck and dim sum, a 24-hour Western restaurant, a cafe, two bars, a gym, and the part reviewers love most — a spa with sauna and traditional Chinese massage. From the airport it's roughly a 40-minute drive. Real-guest scores land around 9.4, rooms start near $74 a night, and it suits business travelers and families who want some polish next to the rails.

Our #3 is the highest-scoring big-brand hotel on the list — Hilton Xi'an. It sits at 199 Dongxin Street, inside the Ming city wall in the Dongmutoushi pocket, which runs a touch quieter than the Bell Tower side while still putting everything in walking range. The Bell Tower is a 12-minute walk (about 1 km), the Drum Tower and Muslim Quarter sit just beyond, and the south gate where you climb the wall is 10 minutes away. It's a full-service tower — a 25-metre indoor pool, a 24-hour gym, the eforea spa, and two restaurants. What pushed it up our ranking is the consistency Hilton is known for, plus a real guest score of around 9.6 — the highest in this article. Rates start near $91 a night. We'd send couples and business travelers here.

If you want to open the curtains and find the Bell Tower staring back at you, this is the room. The Bell Tower Hotel Xi'an is a 4-star at 110 Nan Dajie, sitting directly across the intersection from the Bell Tower (Zhonglou) built in 1384. It is an easy walk to the city wall, the Muslim Quarter, the main shopping street and the metro, and the Bell Tower metro station on Lines 1 and 2 is about 300 m away. Rooms are roomy, clean and comfortable, and many of them look straight at the tower when it lights up gold from 19:00 to 22:00 — a view worth paying for. There are Western and Chinese restaurants, plus a spa and sauna with massage. With 3,000+ reviews and a guest score near 8.9, it is a strong pick for couples who want a dead-central spot. Rates start around $57 a night.

Our #5 is the boutique pick we keep wanting to recommend — Manxin Hotel Xi'an Bell Tower South Gate, a lifestyle property under the Manxin brand (part of Huazhu Group, China's largest hotel company). It sits at 32 Nan Dajie, about a 2-minute walk to the South Gate (Yongningmen) of the city wall and roughly 7 minutes to the Bell and Drum Towers, with the Muslim Quarter walkable nearby. The 8-storey building holds 120 rooms done in jade green and dark wood, handmade Chinese lanterns and bare-cement walls. There are two restaurants with a breakfast buffet, a gym, two parking areas, free luggage storage, a free airport shuttle, and a small service robot that ferries coffee to your door. Real guest scores land around 9.5, and rooms start near $51 a night.

Number 6 is the budget pick we trust most for its location — the Ibis Hotel Xi'an Bell and Drum Tower Guangji Street Metro Station, an ibis-brand hotel in the Accor group that opened in 2022 with 94 rooms. It sits at 36 Yandian Street, inside the city wall and right next to the Muslim Quarter and the Drum Tower, so you can walk out and find food immediately. It's a 3-minute walk to Guangjijie metro station on line 6, and about 10 minutes to the Bell Tower station on line 2. You get the dependable ibis standard: a 24-hour front desk, a breakfast buffet and a book nook in the lobby. Real guests score it around 9.6, and rates start near $31 a night. We'd send budget travelers and shoppers here who want to be inside the wall. Note: the original number-6 hotel, Chenggong International, no longer has a reachable booking page, so this listing stands in for this comparable ibis.

Our #7 pick is a Xi'an institution: Han Tang Inn Hostel has been welcoming travelers for nearly 20 years and has hosted more than 400,000 backpackers. It sits at No. 7 Nanchang Lane inside the old city wall, a 5-minute walk to the Bell Tower metro and about 11 minutes from the Muslim Quarter. The 4-floor building blends timberwork with a Chinese courtyard, so rooms look onto a planted courtyard, and there's a rooftop garden plus a tea room. Common areas include a cafe, a bar and a 24-hour Western kitchen, and every evening brings free activities, free welcome drinks and a free breakfast. Staff speak good English, reviews praise the cleanliness and the friendly vibe, and the real-guest score runs as high as 9.6. Rooms start around $20 a night — our pick for solo travelers and backpackers who want company.

Ranking 8 is the stay that sells you on atmosphere — Gucheng Hotel Xi'an North Street Metro Station (formerly the Ancient City International Youth Hostel). It is a budget property decorated top to bottom in an ancient-China theme, made for people who want the room itself to be part of the cultural experience. You will find it at 4 Lianhu Road, inside the city wall, a 3-minute walk from Beidajie metro station on lines 1 and 2, and about 15 minutes on foot from the Muslim Quarter. There are 20 rooms with air-con and a TV, plus a hairdryer and towels. Downstairs sits a restaurant serving continental breakfast, a lounge bar, a pool table and a shared lounge. The metro takes you into the centre and out to Xi'an North Railway Station, and the front desk books Terracotta Army tours. Real guest scores sit around 8.6, with rooms from roughly $23 a night — our pick for budget travellers who like a themed base.

Our number 9 has arguably the best location of any budget pick here — Desti Youth Park Hostel Xi'an Bell Tower, which replaces the old Xi'an See Tang Hostel after that one lost its working booking page. This is a flashpacker spot built for travelers who actually want to meet people: a common area over 500 square metres stocked with local craft beer, drip coffee, a big movie screen, a pool table and board games, with a buzzing social feel. What earns it the list is the location — you're inside the city wall, about 9 minutes on foot to the Drum Tower, with the Bell Tower close by. Its location category on Trip.com scores a remarkable 9.8, and the overall guest score sits around 9.5. Rates start near $20 a night, which makes it a strong shout for backpackers and solo travelers who want a central base without the central price.

We close the list with a youth-travel hotel that actually has character — Heye Youth Travel Hotel Xi'an Bell Tower Metro Station. It sits at 28 Nanxin Street, inside the Ming city wall, a 5-minute, 400-metre walk from Zhonglou (Bell Tower) metro station on Lines 1 and 2. From there it is 7 minutes on foot to the Bell Tower itself and another 8 minutes to the Muslim Quarter. Rooms are comfortable and come with universal sockets, a coffee maker and a mini-fridge, and some have a small in-room workout corner. Reviewers praise the location, the atmosphere and the friendly staff, with a real-guest score around 9.1 and rates from about $26 a night. We replaced the previous #10 here — Xi'an Qixian 7 Sages Youth Hostel — because its Trip.com score fell below the bar, and this is a stronger pick in the same neighbourhood.