Although this has been stated in at least one news story it is incorrect. I toured the hotel with the chief engineer in October, well after the Olympics, and no parts of it whatsoever were remotely ready for occupancy: it was still little more than a glazed shell, filled with loose building materials, showers of sparks, and so on. Communication required walkie-talkies: hard hats were essential.

And although news reports have been describing it as a hotel on fire, the building is actually the TVCC, or Television Cultural Centre, of which the hotel is just one part.

Peter N-H
China