Best hotels and hostels in Shandong

Hidden down a fascinating maze of historic residential alleyways – known collectively as Spring Alley (泉巷, Quán Xiàng) – this welcoming guesthouse with English-speaking staff is housed in a restyled old church...

In a quiet enclave of oceanside villas, this modern, wonderfully located 15-room hotel is a great choice for seaside seekers. You'll have to stump up at least ¥1000 for a sea view, but even without one No 3 Beach...

This spacious, sociable, friendly and helpful hostel in a historic church at the junction of Sifang Lu and Jining Lu has a lively congregation. They come to worship in the slick ground-floor bar and restaurant,...

This welcoming hostel at the north end of Gulou Beijie has particularly clean rooms and very comfortable beds. The twin rooms are better value than the doubles as they are much larger, but the same price. The...

This sharp and sassy new hotel, close to the beach, has helpful, English-speaking staff and modern rooms that are comfortable despite being small. The cheapest doubles are Japanese-style tatami rooms with...

This lovely Old Town hostel is in a beautiful, restored pīcháiyuàn, the courtyard apartments of 1920s Qingdao, and within a 10-minute walk of the train station. Rooms are spotless with nostalgic details and...

This impressive top-end hotel has a superb location, overlooking the sea and backing onto the park. Rooms are bright and well maintained, staff are pleasant, and the 1st-floor 'Sunshine Garden' catches a lovely...

The excellent former Hongmen International Youth Hostel – housed within the charming courtyards of an old guild hall once attached to Guandi Temple – was being renovated by new owners at the time of research, but...

This attractive hotel beside Dai Temple’s north gate, and within the temple's outer walls, was purposely kept to two storeys out of respect for its revered neighbour. Rooms are dotted around the grounds in...

With a ground-floor coffee shop and an international ticketing office on the premises, staff here know how to cater to non-Mandarin-speaking guests. The Asian-decor rooms have nicer details (wooden soaking tubs)...

This earthy choice has clean, simple, spacious rooms in a courtyard house with chickens roaming the yard. The friendly Zhang family running the place also cook up delicious meals (dishes ¥10 to ¥40). It's at the...

This large youth hostel has clean, spacious rooms with pine furnishings and nice firm beds. Staff are very helpful and the location is ideal. Free laundry and a chilled-out ground-floor common area, where you can...

Rooms are tiny at this budget chain hotel, but they're very clean and tidy, and come with TV, kettle and a small desk. This is also one of the few cheapies that's happy to accept foreigners. The pool table in the...

Located in a peaceful, tree-lined neighbourhood with plenty of cheap, locals restaurants nearby, this slightly run-down but very friendly hostel has tatty rooms off a small open-air central courtyard.

This dignified five-storey hotel benefits from a superb seafront location overlooking Zhan Bridge and Qingdao Bay. Little touches like complimentary snacks put it leagues ahead of its neighbours.

This elegant branch of the dependable Jinjiang Inn brood has a calming lobby area leading to smart rooms, some of which look out over the small, central, bamboo courtyard.

Smack-bang in the middle of the old town, this attractive, traditional-style but brand-new hotel has large, bright, modern rooms with comfy beds and friendly staff.

This five-star hotel in the commercial district is an excellent option, with immaculate rooms, attentive staff and a 49th-floor revolving restaurant.

This 30-year-old traditional-style hotel is the fanciest place to stay inside the old-town walls. Staff are courteous and friendly and some speak English, while rooms are stylish, albeit with very small...

The Shangri-La brand is a reliable symbol of excellence throughout China, and particularly so in this outstanding hotel. We could point to the stylish and comfortable rooms, the dazzling 25m swimming pool or the...