Originally Posted by
lsquare
I know Beijing is very big. I'm open to new ideas. I'm also a bit familiar with Haidian given that I studied Chinese there when I was a kid. I spent 3 summers living in Haidian so I do feel comfortable there, but it's been a few years since I was back. I don't mind the Jinjiang or Home Inns. When I was a kid, I stayed in those chains as I travelled around China. It's more than good enough by my standard, but I know you guys here have much higher standards.
About 8 years ago, I was between apartments in Beijing, and took the opportunity to stay in ~8 different hotels over the span of 2 months. Somewhat surprisingly, I ended up liking Gulou (I even tried a private room in a youth hostel there) and Wangjing quite a bit. I suppose neither would be high on my list if I needed to be in CBD all the time, but they were cool since I didn't have such constraints. I can't get behind Haidian for people older than 30 though, and even 30 is pushing it.
Also look at Shuangjing and maybe the next station south from there. Unfortunately, not many mid range hotels, but still worth checking out.