I highly recommend E-Wang Hotel on the corner of Xichang Lu and Kunshi Lu (昆明鹰王E捷酒店 ／ 云南省昆明市昆师路2号 ／ +86-871-63957000). No need to book ahead. Currently 179元 @ VIP rate (ask!), circa 200 otherwise. 24 hours. Very good location with 3 minute walk to Green Lake but not affected by the annoying one-way street traffic problem around it. At the quiet end of a major night time barbeque street food market, great for meeting people and practising your Chinese. Very easy to get taxis about town and in walking distance to major foreign restaurants and nightlife locations. Nice rooms with aircon. Two free bottles of water per day - ideal for alcoholics.
I had a very bad experience with Lost Garden and would strongly recommend avoiding it. I used to run a hotel reservation network across China and having signed contracts with over 3000 hotels around the country feel it's fair to say that in general hostels are not useful in China unless you really want to save money and are in a major tourism center... you are better off with a private room for a few extra yuan, especially as security is one of your priorities. The cheaper/smaller/odder places tend to all have weird annoying issues and/or eccentric management.
Get a registered taxi from the airport - I can't remember what the toll is these days, probably something between 60-150元 roughly. Meters are fair and drivers are honest in Kunming, so don't worry about being ripped off. It helps to have your destination written down in Chinese. The new airport is a long way out of town.
What would an alcoholic do with water?
Mute or proactively demote their hangover.
if jesus can turn water to wine, imagine what an alcoholic could do with water.
@walter
Lost Garden is a relatively new business - so I'm sure they had some serious growing pains - probably mostly related to a lack of training, service, etc.
When Lost Garden first opened, I spent the better part of two hours searching for it - to have lunch. When I finally arrived after 2pm - they blithely informed me they'd already shut down the ovens - I'm S outta luck (SOL). That seriously torqued me - but I eventually had a recent opportunity to pass time in the restaurant again - the food was quite nice, service, quite good - albeit I was there at lunch and dinner time as opposed to the "in-between" time.
If you're inclined and have the opportunity - give it another twirl - as they're apparently packed - can't be all that bad these days?
I see.
Most hotels in Kunming and China provide free bottles of water and air conditioning, though. Nothing special about that.
I also second what @laotou said, definitely give Lost Garden a second chance. You won't regret it.
@laotou: I used to eat there and recommend it, however the experience of staying there was so bad I ceased doing so.
Thank you everyone for all the info, unfortunately the hotels mentioned seem to be booked for the dates I am looking for.
I have narrowed it down to three and would anyone recommend or avoid any of the following hotels for a few nights:
Hanting Hotel Kunming Green Lake Branch.
Kunming Lang Mei Youth Hotel
Grand Park Kunming (pricey but would be last resort)
Hanting is a standard business commuter hotel. Beware your valuables!
Grand Park is managed by a foreign (Singapore? Thailand?) company - the hotel is pricey and a bit aged - not REALLY a five star hotel - but good service and pleasant, nevertheless. Also - Grand Park is NO SMOKING inside most common places - like the lobby.
