This is a truly wonderful hotel. We enjoyed it twice, in April and May 2011, each time for 3 nights.

No wonder it is considered the flagship of the Sofitel brand in Asia.
We felt the 5-star quality from the minute we stepped into the lobby, with its Chino-French features, numerous crystals (including a multi-million dollars Swarovski in the form of 3 peony flowers on the lobby's wall) and relaxed atmosphere.

The hotel is located a 5-minute walk from the Dawanglu metro station and is very close to several malls (and a huge Walmart with lots of ultra-cheap food). While the hotel is a 20-minute metro ride from Tiananman square, its location is excellent.

The check in was swift, with receptionists with excellent English and a courteous service (which is not that common in Chinese Western hotels...). As A|Club Platinum card holders we were upgraded from a luxury room to a Club Suite on the 21st floor. We also got 2 welcome drink coupons (which we used at the lobby to have a wonderful Australian red wine - if I'm not mistaken, it was a Parker Estate First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon 2006) and a personal gift (for the first stay - a leather badge for the suitcase and for the second stay - gilded cufflinks with the Sofitel logo).

The 61 square meters suite itself was amazing, with a living room, sofas and a guests' bathroom, and a huge bedroom with 2 extra-comfortable queen beds, a coffee machine, a safe, 2 LCD TV's with dozens of channels (including some English ones, too) and a HUGE bathroom with a bath tub (with TV...) an immense shower (with the biggest rain shower head I've ever seen) and a toilet. All the bathroom amenities were L'Occitane (bigger-sized bottles than in smaller rooms).
The room was spotless, and the housekeeping kept it clean with twice a day clean-ups and a nice turn-down service.

We explored the hotel quite a bit. The pool was wonderful and most of the time - we had it entirely to ourselves.

The Club Sofitel lounge was a wonderful surprise. It has the best attendants we met in China, fluent in English and so very nice.
We took breakfast in the lounge, which was quiet and excellent. The all-day Internet, drinks and nibbles were also appreciated. The happy hour included excellent cocktails and a small dinner (home-made breads, 7 types of French and Swiss cheese, ham, pasta, veggies, dim sums, pizzas, fruits, coffee and way too many cookies to remember - including some very tasty macaroons).
I have to say that this was one of the only lounges in Asia where you ask for freshly squeezed juice - you actually get it - freshly squeezed!
Oh, and everything is served in Sterling Silver forks, knives and spoons!
All in all - the Club was a wonderful, wonderful experience for us and we enjoyed it a lot.

We had dinner at the Western restaurant. The food was excellent, although the evening buffet's price can climb to 50US$ per person, unless you have Accor's "Advantage Plus" card, which gives you a 50% discount.

Would I recommend this hotel? Absolutely! Would I return there? Well, the next time I'm in Beijing - the Sofitel would be my home away from home, for sure.