Originally Posted by
frank_10b
WOW great info!
How is the UrCove Beijing International Exhibition center location? Is it close to public transit? Is it a viable option for tourists?
That property is in somewhat of an off-center but okay location. The nearest subway station (Liufang, Line 13) is around a 10 to 15-minute walk away. Once you hop on, you’re looking at about 40 minutes to Tian’anmen. Shaoyaoju (Line 10 for Summer Palace, Olympic Park and Fragrant Mountain) and Dongzhimen (Line 2 for basically everything around the inner-circle, or the north, east and west 2nd Ring) are pretty close, though changing trains at both are really, really crowded amid rush hour. You’d want to avoid that. The hotel is however pretty close to the expressway connecting PEK and the Airport Express train station in Dongzhimen.
The property’s neighborhood is nothing special, just your run-of-the-mill middle-class residential blocks in Beijing. The property itself is a conversion from Home Inn, and I’ve heard mixed reviews on Chinese sites though I’ve never personally stayed there, nor am I sure whether foreign document holders are accepted. Try calling in if you have a friend who speaks Mandarin, and again the usual warnings of low English capabilities when you’re in-house (a small trivia on UrCove: they don’t use the standard Hyatt-flavored Opera or Colleague Advantage as their PMS, but a modified one based on Home Inn systems that’s entirely in Chinese).
Yeah I’d say it’s pretty viable for tourists if you’re fine with the mild inconveniences of getting to the subway, the boring neighborhood and the usual English warning. If the rates for the dates you chose are close, I’d recommend the BEI Zhaolong. It’s pretty sub-par for full-service hotels in China, but it’s much better than any UrCove. They use Opera for Hyatt as their PMS with no concerns for EQN and point credits, and I’m pretty sure the receptionists and operators can speak English!