My sister and I stayed here for 2 nights and we though it was a decent option in Harbin. It is close to many eateries and is very close to the main shopping street. Easy to get taxis to and from the main sites.

The staff were excellent. Not only did they sort out a fight with a taxi driver (do not pay more than 120 yuan for the taxi to and from the airport) but the concierge arranged our day trip to the Yabuli ski resort and even got us a discount!

The room itself was adequate - clean and well-proportioned. It wasn't 5-star luxury but we didn't expect it to be. This hotel's location is better than the locations of the 5-star hotels which we drove past.

If you're going for the ice festival then it doesn't matter where you stay as it's not walking distance to any hotels. We went to the park with snow sculptures first and then there were vans waiting with deals including transport and tickets for reasonable prices to take us to the ice sculptures.

This hotel is NOT a short walk to the Ice Festival, as noted in this hotel's description. I have lived in Harbin for four years. I was looking for a hotel to book some friends in. I noticed that the main page of this hotel indicates it is a 5 minute walk from the Ice Festival in Zhaolin Park. That is a mini-festival, but NOT the one people come to Harbin for. The main festival is on the other side of the river, definitely not a walking distance from anything. However, it is a good hotel in a great location (better location than the Shangri La, even though the Shangri La is closer to the main Ice Festival)). A taxi to the main ice festival will be about 25 rmb from the Holiday Inn.

Reservations messed-up. Made reservations by Internet on Holiday Inn’s website for standard room with extra bed & breakfast for 3rd adult. Breakfast was supposed to be included for the 2nd adult too. On arrival, none of these reserved extras were ready. We were able to get the bed in for the 3rd adult but wound up having to pay extra for everything else. After a total of a couple hours of futility working with the front desk over the course of three days’ stay, I was resigned to work this out with Holiday Inn back in the United States. I did not arrive in Harbin to spend so much time haggling out a contract. By check-out on third day, none of the bill had yet been straightened out and the bill’s details all looked very confusing. Somehow the total balance worked out to what was expected.
As for having three adults in a standard room with the extra bed, the room was maybe a little too small. It was wall-to-wall bed on one side. Nobody could roll out of bed.
Extra bed is foldaway.
Room 902's window view is the stairway escape, half at foot level, the other half of concrete.

I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights from January 5 until 9 during the Harbin ice festival. Upon check in the hotel receptionist seemed confused at my passport and had problems finding my visa stamp. The problems didn't end there they requested to see my credit for deposit purposes..which is normal for any hotel but proceeded to CHARGE a 7,000 CNY deposit onto it. They then demanded that I actually sign off for that amount even though the receipt said "No refund" on it! This was outrageous because the total priority club confirmed room rate was only 3725 CNY for 4 nights and they wanted me to put twice the amount on my card and then sign off on it as well. I objected but they insisted that this was how they do things in Harbin. I reluctantly agreed to sign but only on the back of the receipt.

This complete lack of tact by the staff didn't end there. In the morning I went down to their cafe' to sit. I was immediately told by the wait staff in a very rude manner that I had to order or leave the cafe. There was no one else in the cafe at the time. I politely asked if I could read the newspaper before ordering and they told me again that I had to order right away or leave. I asked to see the manager and they refused. Instead they called the security guard instead who verbally THREATENED me in his poor english. I took out my camera and took a few photos of this security guard later and showed the assistant manager. She was apologetic and sent a fruit basket up to my room but nothing was resolved as I saw the same security guard later that day glaring at me.

This type of threatening environment and poor customer service treatment is ridiculous for a large name brand hotel like Holiday Inn. I have stayed at numerous holiday inn hotels worldwide and this was the first time I have been subject to this treatment.

If you are in Harbin I would suggest that you avoid Holiday Inn Harbin and look at the alternatives. The location and room (which is barely adequate) is just not worth the potential hassle.