Two of us are going to Beijing taking advantage of the Continental offer from Newark and need a little advice selecting the best hotel suiting our needs in Beijing. We'd like to stay somewhere nice, not the Four Seasons but hopefully not the Comfort Inn. We're arriving in the afternoon on 12/22 and would simply be looking for a little shopping and perhaps an area with a little nightlife. A place that is close to the Forbidden City and the main shopping areas would be nice, but I'm not familiar with the area at all. So far I've found the Sheraton Great Wall for ~$120 a night and the Hyatt (near Wangfujing) for about the same. Is Wangfujing the place to be? Or is there somewhere else we should be looking?

I stayed at the Peninsula and liked it a lot... the rates were pretty good at the time (last January)... I think rooms could be had in the $150 range at the time. The hotel was recently remodeled and was very nice.

The location is great... easy walking distance to the Forbidden City.

Wanfujiang has boatloads of shopping. It is basically an old street that was closed off to traffic and now it is a pedestrian walkway the size of a street with lots of stuff to do. The Hyatt is just off Wanfujiang and is a nice hotel, I normally stay there. Also it is within easy walking distance to Forbidden City and Tianenmen Square (1 mile West). St. Regis is a bit to the East of the Hyatt, maybe 1 mile or so and is also a really nice hotel for slightly more $$$ than the Hyatt. It is closer to the "Silk Market" which is another place where Americans like to shop. Basically you haggle for cheap pirated (movies, clothes, shoes, watches, etc) stuff there. Really fun market to go to. You must go there if you go to China. I love going there. St. Regis is the opposite direction from the Hyatt as Forbidden City/Tianenmen, so its a longer walk but still doable. Great Wall Sheraton is up several miles to the NE (the PEK airport) from the other two hotels. Its also in a decent location for nightlife. A lot of expats hang out around there (Emabassys there as well as the Lufthansa Center). But its not walking distance to Forbidden City. Personally I like the Hyatt or St. Regis and would pick one of them, especially if you want to be near everything in the middle of the city.......

based on your preferences, the hyatt would be your best bet, but please do a search

Agreed that the Hyatt is good, but the St. Regis, especially if you have Starwood Points to burn is not bad. Its about 2 block walk to the subway that will take you to the Forbidden City, Wanfujing, etc. Behind it is a large embassy area with many tree lined steets and restaurants.

My Advice: Stay at Wanfujiang. It�s a great location for both: Shopping and Sightseeing. Last time I stayed at the Tianlun Dynasty and was very happy with it. The Crown Plaza just opposite the street looked nice as well.

Have a good time at PEK!