moondog

Yes, the US embassy has been collected weather data ever since it opened.

BTW, I hate Beijing pollution as much as anyone but have to admit the situation has gotten MUCH better recently.

Cheerfulflyer

So I ended up staying at Jingjin City (about 2 hours drive from PEK, a little more if you are starting at the city center). Since this was a health/rejuvination holiday, my stay was truly wonderful. Language was sometimes an issue, but I had kind and caring managers on duty escort/translate etc. I stayed at the hotel for 4 days, did some nice spa/spa/chinese med treatments, had really good food and relaxed. This Hyatt operated property is amazing (Las Vegas style) and I was very well taken care of. This came at a bargain: 5K/night. Regency club was closed so I got full breakfast and was upgraded to a Full suite. Highly recommend this. ^

crystak

I've just noticed that the club rooms look far better than the base suites, with private hot tubs on the balcony . Did they say when these rooms will be available?
I think this might be the first hotel where I would turn down a suite upgrade for these normal club rooms.

moebod

i will be there in 2 weeks but for 1 day only, and I def want to check out everything I could ... can you post the link to the other thread regarding taxis? also, would a "guide" know any better where and what to look for a tourist, more than a taxi driver there?

Cheerfulflyer

True club rooms are quite nice. I was given a tour so I have seen the club rooms, which happen to be in a separate club building. Club rooms are available, but they close it if the bookings are not sufficient.

wala

Yes, the US embassy has its own monitoring equipment, which is a godsend to those expats who can receive tweets (some more limited information is passed to a non-Twitter website). Google "crazy bad" for something amusing that happened last year.

Two or three blocks is a long way away in Beijing; arguably each subway stop is one block away :-) If you couldn't see the China World hotel and towers, that would be awful though.

moondog

Just go to the China forum and search for beijing + driver. In general, guides don't know any more than the crudest of guidebooks. As I noted, there are also lots of (long) threads on this topic in the same forum. You are welcome to email me (my pm box is full at the moment) for more specific advice.

Cheerfulflyer

I took an independant cab from PEK to Jingjin city Hyatt. Although I saved a couple hundred RMB, I don't recommend it. First, the location is somewhat obscure. Driver had to call a few times to get me there. Second, you are goingto get a much more luxury service if you had Hyatt arrange for a transport. Someone will greet you upon arrival, take you through customs etc. On the other side, I like to support local economy and my driver was very sweet and friendly albeit we had a total language barrier. On the way back, i went with Hyatt and received an awesome service.

One other option: take a train or plan to arrive in Tianjin. Hotel has a shuttle from there to the hotel. Availability and schedule maybe limited so check wit them.

moondog

I was replying to moebod's inquiry about the Great Wall and Forbidden City, but I suppose my advice for people in your situation wouldn't be that different. Apart from regular cabs and hotel cars, there are 100,000+ "black cars" (as in black market) in Beijing. While this term often conjures up images of cheating and deception, many of them are very good (excellent cars and drivers). In the "beijing drivers" threads some of us have tried to plug drivers that we like, though I can't recall any recent updates. But, they are pretty easy to find on your own. As for cost, an A6 to Tianjin booked by the Park Hyatt will probably cost around y1800. An independent driver (same car) would ask for less than half of that.

GB

Just stayed at the Grand Hyatt this week. I thought the prior posts regarding it were tainted until I saw the room. I was on the Executive Lounge floor and the rooms looked liked the Sheraton Skyline hotel at Heathrow airport. Tiny rooms, low ceilings, dirty carpeting and spartan ammenities. I really was shocked. The bed was actually nice.
However, there are much better choices in Beijing. This hotel was ready for an upgrade 10 years ago.

youhavebeenupgraded

I would definitely recommend the Park Hyatt. Better views. Very attentive staff. Very good Hyatt Diamond recognition.

Pictures can be found here:

Park Suite:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.blogspot....tt-peking.html

Park Suite Details:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.blogspot....-peking-2.html

Hotel Design:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.blogspot....-peking-3.html

Diamond breakfast at China Grill:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.blogspot....-peking-4.html

Views:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.blogspot....-peking-5.html

SMF Rider

Agree totally. Although the bathroom in my suite at the Park was amazing as was the butler service, our suite at the Grand had two bedrooms and bathrooms and a small, but full kitchen. Even though the butler was great, I would take a lounge over a butler any day.

The locations are night and day - nowhere with a long ride to anything or right in the middle of many sites to see, a large shopping area and the evening food stalls (if you are that adventuresome).

moondog

PH location is better, guys.

Cheerfulflyer

Beautiful pictures! Vielen Dank. ^

jlisi984

I think I know already, but to confirm - PH or GH? First time in PEK, only two nights, will be mostly busy so won't be able to use lounge during happy hours. Prefer full breakfast to lounge breakfast and want to use suite upgrade. So - PH or GH?