tsmith12

I see there are 3-4 Park Plazas and 1 Rad Blu...any experience with any of these properties? I'm not sure which one is centrally located to attractions like T-Square, Great Wall? TIA

klaasvaak

Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing

I have been there last year in august, 3 nights together with the mss.
It was near the metro station and on walking distance of the bigger shopping district.
Also nice, al the big and expensive car brands are located around the hotel.
Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bentley and some other nice brands, so if you're a car lover you can stroll at night and do some "window shopping"

The hotel itself is also nice and the service was more then ok.
If you can book the Plaza Club Room, this includes drinks and some food from 17.00 till 19.30.

Pickup by the hotel from the airport is also nice, with a audi A6L

kauppias

I can tell you more about the Park Plaza Beijing West next week as we are going there to check it out we decided to try it out due to its axcellent value, we'll see if that was worth it or not

tsmith12

Thanks. I'm not sure if an award night reservation or paid reservation for a standard room for my parents will get them an upgrade to Plaza Club Room based on my Concierge status.

Pickup is RMB500, whereas a cab is RMB100-not sure if it's worth spending over $100/RT for this though.

tsmith12

Great, I look forward to your report. Thanks!

klaasvaak

We did the pickup by the hotel, return we had a regular cab.
But i can tell you i wished we used the limo service from the hotel again.

The guy driving the cab was tired, almost falling a sleep and volumes up the radio so he could stay awake. Later on the highway he was driving like a maniac.
My girlfriend was really carsick because of his driving.

tuscanyx

Definitely Park plaza wangfujing. I was from that area. Metro is just next door and it's 20-30min walk to tian an men square and part of it is along the famous Changan blvd. Or they can take cabs, which is inexpensive. If you put yourself on the reservation too and email them ahead of time asking for an upgrade for a special occasion, they will probably accommodate you. They have great staff n service. If not (most likely due to language barrier), call the cc office and they'll take care of it.

Santander

That sounds about right for Beijing.

The only Carlson property I've stayed at in Beijing was the Park Plaza Science Park last year. It wasn't anything special, pretty much what you'd expect from a Park Plaza, but the price is good. I was on a paid stay but I think it's only 5000 points per night. It's not far from the metro station but it's not really a great place to go sightseeing though.

sidne

I've upgraded to Club floor at check in a couple of times at this property for much less than the rate offered at booking. And this was on a heavily discounted hotels.com rate.

If they don't upgrade when you ask, e-mail them the day your parents are checking in. If they have the room, I bet they'll do it.

They'll certainly hesitate to say "no."

kauppias

As I promised to the OP I am writing a few words about my experiences at the Beijing West PP.

The hotel is clean and nice looking, rooms are decent in size. Upon check in I identified myself as a gold elite ClubCarlson member at which point I got a very confused look by the check in girl, I showed her the advertisement for CC on the desk still nothing. it took them 15-20 minutes of checking to see and finally found it in the reservation...

Got an upgrade to a higher floor it was nice.

The staff do NOT understand very much english. EVEN basic words are difficult, BUT they sure do seem enthusiastic.

The hotel is a bit far and away, We chose it for the Sauna and Jacuzzi which is included in the room rate, HOWEVER be aware this facility is BROKEN and has been for quite some time, thus not worth looking forward to...

It is about a 30-40CNY taxi ride to the downtown area and takes 30 minutes. also the metro LINE 1 is about 1km or maybe 2 from the hotel which goes directly to silk market and other places like the military museum etc...

If I had to choosxe again in Beijing I WOULD NOT go to the Beijing west, but rather the Radisson blu or the other PP but still all and all not a bad value for the money paid.


Hope this helps...

tsmith12

Thanks Kauppias! ^

From what I've been hearing, it's hard to get upgrades based on your Club Carlson status, especially if the account holder is not traveling and you run into a situation (much like yours) where they have no clue about the program and have a hard time communicating in English. I had emailed another PP about Concierge benefits and simply got a hotel brochure emailed back to me without addressing my questions.

Santander

Interesting, the PP Science Park check-in staff and porters spoke excellent English when I was there. Seems like there's a big difference between the two locations.

kauppias

must be, maybe next time in Beijing I will give them a try or the radisson blu

8dimsum

I have had 2 stays at this property--different years and different travel companions.

Good location near Metro (alas never did take it) and a comfortable walking distance to TS, FC, the night time "eating market" and of course, WFJ shopping. There is a Starbuck across the courtyard in front of the hotel. The ATMs are located in the business buildings which are fronting a major street. There was a Cantonese restaurant located on the adjacent sidestreet.

Staff were sufficiently fluent in English and very nice. The Club lounge had free access to internet and a printer. Nice PM snacks, fresh coffee, drinks. The buffet breakfast was ample and had Asian & Western food choices. Also the Club hostess was available to help with sightseeing questions.

I wouldn't hesitate to return to PPWFJ. Both times we had no problems with catching a cab from the airport to the hotel for no more than 100RMB.

NWA747SNN

I was able to upgrade a points stay for 350 RMB/night. Happy hour (5:30-7:30pm) and breakfast were both in the restaurant above the lobby. I thought the upgrade was money well spent.