Just stayed 3 nights at New Era Hotel- Friday July 8-Monday July 11.
Be aware that management TURN OFF the aircon at 3am and it does not come back on til later in the afternoon for a few hours.
The hotel website says rooms have aircon; that is true...what they don't say is that management knows best if we need aircon or not!!
The desk staff did offer us a fan!

We didn't move because one friend was ill and did not want the hassle of moving again.

That is rediculous for a not cheap hotel

Good grief, even cheap hotels don't do that. I bet they have thick duvets too, that's my bugbear with hotels, they use the same duvets in summer and winter (and not just in China)!

Surprising. Best to open window, life without A/C in Kunming isn't hard.

very true

Okay if you do not mind getting woke by honking horns at 6am. Dongfeng is busy late night and early morning.

Often opening the window is not enough. AC is rarely needed in Kunming, but sometimes it is.

Guests from hot climates in China like Shenzhen or Guangzhou are used to sleeping at temperatures AC provide. Windows and fans don't provide that same temperature. Anyways, it's not about AC itself, but the fact a nice pricy hotel decided to shut it off in the middle of the night which will wake up guests used to sleeping with AC probably after 30-45 min. So your awoken for no reason at 3:30am and have a hard time getting back to sleep since your room is no longer at the temperature you feel comfortable sleeping at, and still rising. See how your day goes after a night like that.

I don't have nights like that here, but you're right, turning off the AC in an expensive hotel is a cheap shot.

I know air con can be a massive part of the electric bill for anyone so I've got a tiny bit of sympathy with the hotel owners. A little, not a lot though.