Inner Mongolia is grassland that runs to the horizon in one direction and pale sand dunes rising out of nowhere in the other. It's the kind of place where the sky looks bigger than it does back home, the wind never really stops, and a couple of hours in a car can swap green steppe for desert without much warning.

Pick your base by what you want most out of the trip. Hohhot gives you real city comfort and a proper food scene. Hailar puts you closest to a night under canvas on the grassland. Ordos is the easiest launchpad for the dunes. There's a stay here to match however you want to see the region.

Where to stay in Inner Mongolia

• Hohhot: the regional capital, with the best food scene, direct flights in, and the Inner Mongolia Museum if you want a look at the grassland's natural history and dinosaur fossils before you see it in person.
• Baotou: a Yellow River city that works as the practical base if you're day-tripping out to the Xiangshawan dunes.
• Ordos: wide streets and new towers on the edge of the Kubuqi Desert, the closest overnight base to the Xiangshawan dunes and the blue-domed halls of the Genghis Khan Mausoleum complex, worth a look for the architecture alone.
• Hailar: forests, lakes, and the jump-off point for the Hulunbuir grassland, the spot to base yourself for a night in a yurt and a morning on horseback.
• Manzhouli: a border town right on the edge of Russia, known for its onion-domed buildings and a town square built around a giant matryoshka doll.

How much is Inner Mongolia accommodation?

A comfortable room across the region averages out to roughly AU$50 to AU$70 a night, though it swings a fair bit between a hostel dorm in Hohhot and a five-star tower on the Ordos skyline.

• Backpackers/Hostels: from AU$7 per night. A dorm bed and a shared bathroom, the cheapest way to base yourself between grassland trips.
• Budget hotels/Guesthouses: from AU$20 per night. A private room with the basics covered, usually an easy walk from the train station.
• Mid-range/Business hotels: from AU$45 per night. Reliable international names like Holiday Inn Express, decent Wi-Fi, and breakfast thrown in.
• Boutique/Upscale: from AU$90 per night. Bigger rooms, better bedding, usually right in the middle of town.
• Luxury/Resorts: from AU$150 per night. Five-star names like Shangri-La, Sheraton, and Marriott, with a pool and spa included.

Top-rated hotels in Inner Mongolia

• Shangri-La Hotel, Hohhot: full-service five-star in the capital, with a proper spa and an indoor pool for when the wind outside gets too much.
• Baotou Marriott Hotel: a reliable high-rise base by the Yellow River, handy if you're heading out to the dunes the next morning.
• Sheraton Hohhot Hotel: central and comfortable, with rooms big enough to actually unpack in after a long grassland drive.
• Hilton Garden Inn Hulunbuir Hailar: modern comfort in a town that's otherwise mostly guesthouses, the easiest reset before or after a night in a yurt on the steppe.
• Shangri-La Hotel, Manzhouli: a polished stay in a genuinely odd little border town, worth it just for the view of the onion domes from your window.

Grassland cooking here is happily heavy. Hand-pulled lamb, boiled plain and served with a simple dipping sauce, is the dish everyone comes back for, and salty milk tea and milk tofu round out most meals. You'll find it on menus in Hohhot and Baotou, and it's usually part of the deal if you're staying at a yurt camp out on the steppe near Hailar.

Tips for finding the perfect accommodation in Inner Mongolia

• Distances here are huge. Hohhot to Hailar is a two-hour flight, not a day trip, so pick one or two bases rather than trying to see the whole region from one hotel.
• Grassland yurt stays fill up fast in summer. If a night on the steppe near Hailar is the main reason for the trip, lock in your dates before your flights.
• Base yourself in Ordos or Baotou for the Xiangshawan dunes, and in Hailar or Manzhouli for the grasslands. Trying to day-trip between the two isn't realistic.
• Pack layers no matter the season. Steppe and desert temperatures drop hard once the sun goes down, even in summer.
• Winter stays are worth paying a little more for reliable heating. Temperatures regularly sit well below zero from November through March.

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