asj.alt

I will be staying at the Fairmont Beijing (http://www.fairmont.com/beijing) during my March 2010 trip. The hotel is scheduled to open in early February and has a great opening offer (stay 2 and get 1 free).

Peter_N-H

There are many more interesting hotels in Beijing than the cookie-cutter Courtyard. Why not consider something with a distinctive local flavour, or at least of a more individual character?

And avoid private guides like the plague. They'll have their hands deep in your pockets, are exceedingly misled about their history, and you can very easily get about by yourself, better informed by materials you bring from overseas.

dhammer53

Rocket,

For our day trip to the Great Wall, we hired a car and driver for 600 Yuan
$90 (US$) 2 weeks ago. We didn't think that we needed a guide to see the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Sq. Looking back, a guide may have been helpful with whatever history they may have provided. Heck, even if it would have been wrong, it still would have been better than what we had in the guidebook. There are some guides, maybe I should say 'guides' hanging around the entrance to the Forbidden City.

As for hotels, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, West Beijing. It's 25 - 30 minutes by subway to the Tian'anmen station. Even if you stayed 'downtown', subway ride is about the same time. Subway cost is US 29 cents. Holiday Inns are much nicer out of the US. Heck, if you closed your eyes, you would have thought Hilton or Sheraton. We used our points for 3 nights, and paid US$58 for the 4th night. Breakfast not included.

I'd suggest researching Lonely Planet, Frommers, and/or Tripadvisor for additional information.

Have fun. The Chinese people are very friendly. ^

Peter_N-H

Just in passing, and only so no one thinks this much has to be spent, it is possible to get a taxi to most sections of Wall near Beijing for less than this, and indeed often considerably less, depending on the section chosen.


This is surely an argument for a better choice of guide book, not for paying too much money to someone who doesn't know what they are talking about, and if licensed who has been taught actively to mislead.


'Guides', indeed; who will not tell you more (except for material they invent) than can be found on signage within the palace, or on the audio guide you can rent for far less money, and that is typically more comprehensively inaccurate, but all singing from the same politically approved song sheet.

Rocket2511

Is this promo still on? I could not find anything about it on their website.

dhammer53

I know there was a lot of discussion about this topic. I was satisfied with the amount paid based on my research here, and on TripAdvisor. For the record, we didn't go to the part of the wall President Obama went to (closest to the city). We went to Muytanyu (sp), which is a little further away, and has less tourist.

Our trip to the wall was the highlight of our 14 day trip, with the exception of riding in C on OZ.

Peter_N-H

Equally just for the record, and setting aside that Trip Advisor is just about the worst source of accurate travel advice on China that you can imagine (other than sites run by Chinese travel companies), the difference in distance is negligible, and taxi drivers prefer Mutianyu to Badaling because highway tolls and parking charges are lower. It is common to pay a figure of not very much more than half that quoted for a trip to Mutianyu.

moondog

After our last thread on this topic died down (must have been about 6 months ago), I made a conscious decision to stop caring about what people pay for those trips (up to a $100 cap; the chaps that contemplate using hotel cars still need their lectures). By now, anyone who uses FT as a reference for their China travels is surely aware of your y350 figures and the y500 that others toss around.

dhammer53

Yes. That old thread was a good starting point for me; (very helpful) but after being on the ground in China, those low cost may have been for a guide only, not guide and driver. A friend of mine that has lived in Beijing for 5 years told me that my cost was reasonable. If he could have driven us, it would have been free.

I'm just saying...

Peter_N-H

I think it has been made quite clear that the costs mentioned are for car and driver, with not for a guide either individually or as part of a package. Your original posting says equally clearly that you paid ¥600 for a car and driver, with no mention of a guide. For the sake of those who follow you, I'm merely making the point that is it not necessary to pay that much.

If you are now saying that you took a guide as well (and really, a guide at the Great Wall is even more useless than at most other sites) then of course prices can and will go all over the place.

Unfortunately, and as is often demonstrated on this site, living in Beijing is not of itself a sufficient condition for having accurate information about all aspects of travel there. The most wildly arrant nonsense about accommodation, timing, eating, and particularly costs, appears here all the time (even more so on Trip Advisor) in amongst accurate and coherent reports based on genuine research (almost unheard of on TA).

Nor is having your own vehicle (if that is what is implied about your friend) likely to make you better informed about real-world results of bargaining with taxi drivers.

But no one wants to feel after the event that they paid more than they needed to. Unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that for a car and driver (without guide) much lower figures than that quoted may easily be obtained, and indeed for Mutianyu above other Wall destinations. Those who may follow need to know that.

Me, too.

asj.alt

Yes I can still see this promo on their website. The name of the offer is "Exclusive Opening Offer Stay 2 pay 1 night" and you can find it both on the website (if you do a search of room availability starting February 2010 which is when they are scheduled to open I believe) or if you can call their reservation #.

Hope this helps.

mntblue

Mutianyu GW is so much better than Badaling. I am glad that you enjoyed the sights there.

Rocket2511

Sorry, but I still cannot see anything about this promo on their website. Do you have a Promo code or something?

Chapel Hill Guy

There is nothing on the main page about this special rate.

On their site, enter your dates in the Check Availability box on the right and click Check Availability & Rates.

I put in arrive March 1, depart March 4 and one of the available room rates for those dates is:

Exclusive Opening Offer Stay 2 pay 1 night

dhammer53

Sorry if that wasn't clear. We had a car/driver and guide.

BTW, Peter, I found your threads very useful in planning my trip. Thanks to you and everyone else for sharing.

dh