Guangzhou Airport

We arrived early morning on both trips to and from Sydney. The toilets on both occasions were disgusting. They had no toilet paper were dirty and the sanitary bins had no lids. We were unable to get a drink as all areas were still closed and had to wait almost an hour. When we did eventually find a place open we bought the 5 most expensive bottles of water ever.

Guangzhou airport got off to a bad start when no-one was allowed to disembark the aircraft for about 20 minutes after landing because an immigration official hadn't shown up. Immigration was very quick (made Heathrow look like a third world airport) but customs clearance was a little confusing - international to domestic transit passengers on China Southern are parked in a waiting room presumably while their bags are found and checked and then told they can go. Facilities in the domestic departures area are limited and quite expensive but in my view not as excessive as some reviews suggest. I didn't see any of the rats mentioned by other reviewers but that could be a way to pass the time on my return transit. My 'yes' recommendation is borderline. Guangzhou could be a lot better but I have used far worse airports.

The worst airport I have visited. Was informed by my travel agent that if you spend over 12 hours here you don't need a Chinese visa to be transferred to a hotel outside the airport. I had a 18 hour layover so had a hotel organised and thought I would go directly there. When I arrived I was told I had to have a visa to leave and from then on all staff followed with the same 'rule' no one wanted to speak to me in English. Staff rude and inflexible. I had to spend the next 18 hours on the floor of a freezing cold bleak and miserable transit lounge. Cafes were ridiculously overpriced $10 for a cup of coffee. They only took local currency or US dollars and no ATM. No wifi. Nothing to do except pace a small corridor to keep warm with no access to my bags.

6 hour stopover in Guangzhou. Look. China Southern are cheap so I don't regret coming here but this airport could definitely be improved. There was no currency exchange in the airport so I was limited to one restaurant for food options. Quite nice food too. However biggest takeaway from this airport and China Southern in general is that English language skills really need to be improved. It's an international airport and they really need to improve in this area.

Shambolic transfer from incoming international flight to outgoing international flight two hours later. A real turn off! After an all night flight we had to stand in noisy hall in a slow moving queue for well over an hour to go through a totally pointless immigration check! Just to turn around and walk back to where we came from.

We had a 13 hour layover at Guangzhou on our journey to Delhi from Auckland. The seats are so uncomfortable the staff at restaurants were rude and prices exorbitant. The toilets were dirty. Avoid this airport.

The most disgusting restaurants I've visited - the food is inedible (even the tomato sandwich served with stale bread and rotten tomato for $12) the staff rude and the prices ridiculous. You get told there is free wifi then surprise after you order its broken. Certainly one of the worlds worst airports.

Guangzhou is a very strange airport. I was a China Southern business class passenger and had no trouble with their lounge which is OK. But the airport itself? I thought it was old but discovered it was built in 2004 - to a truly hideous design if one can call it that. It's basically several hangars bolted together with facilities dumped down inside which I can't comment on as I didn't try to buy anything though I did wander around the shops. No ATMs daft wifi very limited language skills though plenty of smiles (and misunderstandings). Why do international transit passengers have to go through immigration only to be left entirely to their own devices with no help after bizarre encounters with officials and much confusion? I was looked after by a China Southern lady so had a comparatively easy experience but I saw ghastly things in the other queues. The whole place is bleak and security-ridden. They have a huge hygiene problem outside the China Southern VIP lounge. In the meantime I feel a bit glum about facing Guangzhou again even though China Southern airlines are such good value for money.

Hands down the worst international airport I've ever flown through! The toilets are disgusting staff unhelpful and unwilling/unable to speak English. Uncomfortable seats overpriced junk even by an airports standard no ATM no free WiFi unless you have a Chinese sim card and very limited places to eat and drink. I'm currently half way through my 17 hour layover here. Avoid this airport at all costs I know I will be in the future!

Transited here on my trip from AMS to BKK and back. Arriving from Amsterdam early in the morning: we had to take an old looking bus to the terminal. Then had to pass transit-immigration (standard procedure for any international airport in mainland China). The queue was not that long but the immigration officer told me I have to get a new boarding pass to BKK first and then come back again. My computer printed pass was not sufficient. After obtaining a new pass went through immigration without waiting. Surprisingly enough there was no security screening before departure area nor at the gates. The international pier covers just 1/6 of the whole terminal but I found it spacious enough however food options are limited. Toilets were ok. Arrived from BKK late evening and expected to spend whole night at the airport. Same immigration procedure with little queuing. An immigration officer told me to go to transfer desk and fill in a "short-stay" form. After passing immigration was brought by airport staff to the arrival hall. Staff told me I could stay at a hotel near the airport because of long transfer. In the morning transferred by mini van back to airport. Didn't need to check in so went direct to security (no queues) and then immigration area. All in all - I liked the airport even it's not same league as Hong Kong or Changi.