Hilton Beijing Wangfujing {CHN}

Old Sep 30, 2008, 7:24 pm
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Hilton Beijing Wangfujing

Has anyone stayed here recently, and if so, could you share your observations/experiences.
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Old Oct 2, 2008, 7:47 pm
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Newest Beijing Hilton?

Anyone stayed at the new Hilton Beijing Wangfujing? We're headed there for four nights in November on an award stay. Looking for some feedback on the property. Thanks
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Old Oct 12, 2008, 8:46 am
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Hilton Beijing Wangfujing {CHN}

Stayed there recently and it shows that the soft-opening is very much so soft.

Pros -
- Very good location. 15 minute walk to Tian'an Men & Forbidden City. Right next to Wangfujing and a decent mall.
- The rooms are huge.
- Bathroom is nice, separate shower & tub. Rainfall shower heads in addition to regular shower heads
- Close to the subway station (both the Wangfujing and Dong Dan station)

Negatives:
- A lot of trainees at the checkin desk. Had a mix reward / paid stay. Took a long time for them to check me in and check me out cause they couldnt figure it out. Made me re-checkin after the reward stay ended and checkin for the paid portion. It can't be that hard.
- Construction is flimsy -- slidings doors broken, leaks between the shower and toilet area
- Concierge service mixed -- asked them to make a reservation at Made In China. Never called back to confirm reservation. Had to call them again.. when I got to the restaurant, my reservation wasnt there.
- Construction is still going on. So if you plan to be in the hotel between 9-5, there will be construction noise.

I would say in a few months, this can be a really good hotel in Beijing with an excellent location for a lot of tourist sites.

-jr
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Old Oct 23, 2008, 5:40 pm
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Hilton Beijing Wangfujing

I visited this new property in July just as it was preparing to open but since it was under construction and smelled of glue I did not stay there, but rather at the so so Novotel Peace Hotel across the street which is much much less expensive but has a great restuarant that will not bankrupt you.

Has anyone stayed at this Hilton property since it opened and what is it like?

It has a hard/cold design and is a great property but rather pricey in my opinion. I must go to Beijing (twice in fact) soon so I am wondering about a stay there but not if the glue smell is still in all the rooms! Also what do Diamond members get there?
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Old Nov 14, 2008, 6:19 pm
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I'll be staying there the last week in November and will let you know my impressions of this new property.
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Old Nov 14, 2008, 7:26 pm
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I'll be in there in December
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Old Dec 1, 2008, 5:12 pm
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Not yet ready for full operation

I stayed at the Hilton Wangfujing for five nights during the week of US Thanksgiving. The first bad sign was the giant construction board that surrounds the Hotel/Macau Center at street level, because the mall isn't open yet. Part of the entrance to the hotel is open, while the other half is blocked off for construction. Across the street is another farther-behind construction site.

Check-in was fine, but my "upgrade" to the executive floor meant a downgrade to a smaller room than what I had reserved (deluxe plus). The front desk staff didn't understand and I was too jetlagged to want to argue. In hindsight I doubt that they had any of my reserved rooms fitted out yet.

I had a nice welcome note and gifts from the GM in my room, which while not as big as I had hoped, was new and well designed. It was quiet too from street noise, but there was a problem with the ventilation that other guests also reported that made it hot in the rooms no matter how low one set the thermostat. Best bet was to leave it off and open the window for awhile before going to bed.

The pool was not open yet (which I knew from the website) and the gym is in a temporary small room on that floor which is still under construction. Many of the guest floors appeared to be under construction too and there is noise from this work during the day as they note on the website. I ate dinner at the Chinese restaurant and breakfast at the Macau/Western restaurant, and in each case I was the only party in the restaurant. So it's still a bit dead.

The lounge was smallish, but the food was quite good. On Thanksgiving they even had turkey and stuffing during cocktail service. Service in general was ok and probably still in training. They are planning for a March 2009 grand opening which would probably be a better time to assess this hotel. It's very convenient for some as it's less than half a block from Wangfujing shopping street. There's some stiff competition in that part of Beijing though with the Regent, Peninsula, Grand Hyatt and other hotels within walking distance.
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Old Dec 2, 2008, 3:40 pm
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Thanks for the very detailed report. I have a (prepaid) reservation for December 18th. I can't remember when I made the reservation that they had the construction disclaimer on the web site like they do now.
Do you happen to have an email address for them so I can check into what to expect in terms of construction. I don't care much about the hotel food except for breakfast since there are plenty of options in this area and my wife speaks Mandarin.

I am Diamond with Hilton if that matters.

If the construction is pretty bad I would consider changing to a different hotel. How bad was the noise outside the mentioned hours ?
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Old Dec 2, 2008, 9:22 pm
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The UK Hilton site has e-mail addresses for most, if not all, the Hilton properties.

www.hilton.co.uk


Originally Posted by German Expat
<snip>
Do you happen to have an email address for them so I can check into what to expect in terms of construction. I don't care much about the hotel food except for breakfast since there are plenty of options in this area and my wife speaks Mandarin.

<snip>
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Old Dec 3, 2008, 9:19 am
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Thanks a lot JDiver, found the email on the UK website.
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Old Dec 3, 2008, 8:11 pm
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Originally Posted by German Expat

If the construction is pretty bad I would consider changing to a different hotel. How bad was the noise outside the mentioned hours ?
I didn't hear any noise from construction outside of working hours. In fact, one nice thing about my room on the 15th floor was how quiet it was.
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Old Jan 1, 2009, 7:07 am
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Hilton Wangfujing

Originally Posted by NeverStill
I've stayed at both in the last 2 months. Beijing Hilton is one of the long standing 5 star hotels, but it's in the northeast of Beijing on the 3rd ring road. The new executive lounge and rooms in the round wing are quite nice, but a bit noisier than tower rooms. The tower rooms that have been refurbished are also nice, but smaller. Service I've found in this hotel is great, and there's enough going on that there's a buzz to the place.

The new Hilton Wangfujing has a VERY soft opening now and probably won't have a grand opening until March. I've written a review on the thread for it. It's centrally located for shopping, Forbidden City, etc, but it's dead. There's nobody in the restaurants or the small lounge in the lobby. The rooms are nice, but the lobby is small and everything is still under construction, including the entrance steps and spa/pool.

So it really comes down to where do you need to be in Beijing? By mid April the Wangfujing hotel should be completely ready to open.

Just spent 6 days at the Hilton Wangfujing. A very nice property. Beautiful rooms. Well located to shopping (Wangfujing) and a 10-15 min. walk to the Forbidden City. Service staff is very attentive, but then again, hotel was almost empty. Staff's command of English was very good. Still some construction going on internally as well as across the street. Make sure you aren't on that side, since construction will often start early and go through the night. Only ate in the hotel twice...breakfast buffet at Vasco's is execellent, but pricey. Consider going to Food Emporium on the 6th floor of the APM Mall next door. A 'point and eat' place, but good value for very tasty food. If you're really adventerous, go to the Night Market for street food, such as noodles, satays, or even scorpions on a stick! Have a great trip!!

Last edited by flying chef; Jan 1, 2009 at 7:08 am Reason: mistake
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Old Jan 2, 2009, 5:50 pm
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I visited the Hilton Wafujing in late July just before it officially opened and I was even offered a room to stay there but the smell of glue from the carpets and paint was too much for me. It actually opened at the time of the Olympics but was clearly not ready for it.

I also paid another visit there in December and it was in much better shape.

Its location could not be better, but it is a pricey hotel with stark and cold designs. There are less expensive options nearby like the Crown Plaza, Novotel Peace Hotel, Beijing Hotel, and many others.
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Old Jan 2, 2009, 6:49 pm
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I stayed twice at this hotel in December (total of 3 nights). Here is a short summary of the stays :

1. Location is very good, right off the main road but in a side road which still confuses taxi drivers how to get there. It also confused my brother in law when he picked us up at the airport. There are restaurants near in the mall (5th and 6th floor) and plenty of other options in the area. We had hot pot in the mall and Beijing duck in a restaurant pretty close to the hotel.

2. Rooms are well sized, I am Diamond but I didn't notice a difference in the rooms between the 15th floor Executive Rooms and 9th floor (my parents in law stayed on the 9th floor for 2 nights). The rooms are open to the bathroom though which the sink being the room seperator can be good or bad. Our toddler was busy watching us washing instead of sleeping :-). The shower is very good with a rain shower on top and 2 shower heads with ample water supply. The temperature control is a pain though and the rooms are way too hot. Air conditioning didn't work (winter) and when we complained we were told to turn it completely off and open the windows which helped some. My room on the second stay had a similar problem but not as bad.
You can hear some construction noise though if you are on that side. They do start relative early.

3. Executive lounge is quite nice and on the 16th floor. I had once breakfast there which was quite good including omlet station. I also tried the afternoon tea and one happy hour. Afternoon tea had nice choices of cake, happy hour food was quite limited but ok for quick bite. They did setup a wonton soup station though with a cook behind it. Lounge personal is very nice and helpful and even sent out some free faxes (Beijing area code) for me. Wireless in the lounge is free and it also did work on the 15th floor (actually just writing via wireless from the room). During happy hour alcohol looked quite limited but I wanted only a beer anyway (Bud Light or Tsingtao was available).

4. Fitness area had 7 cardio options and 2 weight benches and 2 more machines for upper body work out and 1 leg press. It was completely empty when I was there and I got the guy doing some personal training for me for free . He also did show me the pool which had water inside and is supposed to open in around 1 or 2 month. The pool looks very nice but has no steam rooms or sauna area. There is an outdoor deck but I decided to skip that tour with only my sweaty gym clothes and freezing temperatures.

5. Restaurant : I did not eat at the hotel except for breakfast. Breakfast buffet is Asian and US fare and is on the 5th floor at Vasca. Pricing seems to be very expensive but we got it included in our room rates (50% off deal made this hotel a very good deal). The price shown on the bill I signed at the restaurant was 240 RMB including tax which I find obscene for breakfast and I would probably just go out to a local restaurant if it wouldn't be included. If you have lounge access the breakfast up there is smaller but still plenty of options and no reason for paying.

6. I did get a free Wine (Chile, Dancing flame Cab) for being Diamond but didn't drink it.

The hotel felt very empty, I was the only one at breakfast at 8am and then only 2 more groups showed up. I would recommend the hotel for location and the rooms are quite nice (if you can work around the temperature problem). I usually stay at the Crowne Plaza in that area on the executive level. I would say the rooms are comparable and the lounge offerings are comparable too. The regular rooms at the Crowne Plaza are not that good though and the regular rooms at the Hilton are the same as the ones on the executive level.

Last edited by German Expat; Jan 3, 2009 at 10:18 am
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Old Jan 3, 2009, 7:38 am
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Thanks

German expat

Many thanks for the detailed review. My wife and I are booked to stay here for 11 days in mid March as a Gold. Are there any recommendations or tips you would suggest as to what you might do differently/or not, ask for, should have brought with you, person to speak to to book something etc?

Thanks in advance

P
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