Beijing / PEK Hotel suggestions Pre 2009
 

I'm going to Beijing from May 18-21, but am completely lost as to where I should stay. I want to go out and see the great wall one day, and also explore the forbidden city, and other Beijing tourist attractions in my remaining time. Since I won't be there for that long, I think the hotel's location is really important, but I'm having trouble figuring out where stuff is in the city. My budget is flexible (within reason), but I'm shooting for less than $200/night, and I tentatively made reservations at the Sheraton Great Wall, and the Westin Financial Street. Is either hotel better than the other location wise? Is there another place that you would recommend?

Thanks,

Alex

I have booked the Crowne Plaza in the Wangfujing area. Recently renovated with good rate and good reviews, for <$200/night for a club room is not bad of a deal.

There was a recent thread comparing these two hotels in the Starwood forum. IMO, the Sheraton's location is sigificantly better; just try to get one of the renovated rooms, even if it costs a little more.

The Novotel has a really great location, an excellent jazz bar, and good prices are to be had if you check on Expedia, etc. The Annex can be a really good deal if you look around.

http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fiche...he_hotel.shtml

i stayed in the westin 2 weeks ago, and it is definetly the better choice. much closer to the forbidden city than the gs. the westin is in the middle of the city, excellent service and great innovations. try the bathologist...i loved it.

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse about the location thing, but I'm going to chime in again anyway.

While it is true that West 2nd Ring is closer to dead center than the CBD or Lufthansa area is, Beijing is a very different place now than it was 400 years ago.

When the communists took power, they reserved the "center" for themselves.

Things changed a lot in 1978 upon Mao's passing. In particular, the northeast was earmarked for development.... and along came the GW++.

Since then, the epicenter has moved from there toward the "center"; witness the sudden emergence of the CBD and the revitilization of Wangfujing.

But, the west, including Financial Street, has yet to grow teeth.

The idea behind Financial Street is similar to Lujiazui in Shanghai: create a center for banking/finance. The problem is that the uptake has been slow (I think BoC and Goldman Sachs made the move, but others are slow to follow).

On the surface, the preceding paragraph is not relevant to tourists. However, it is those big companies that will transform Financial Street into a bustling neighborhood (still hasn't happenned in Lujiazui btw, in spite of the 10-year head start).

Moving on, your point about proximity to 故宫 is well taken. But, I advise those that really want to experience Beijing to stay closer to the action. (Lest any of you history buffs attempt to rebut me, there is nothing historical about Financial Street).

In closing, I want to make an off topic comment. The Mitsukoshi mall -- 新光天地 -- across the street from me at China Central Place just openned today and was full of bustle. What's more, the JW and Ritz Carlton appear to be about 2 months off.

Edited to add: Words can't describe how happy I am about China Central Place. I chose to live at Blue Castle (across Dawang Rd) last year when I got my current apartment because, while cheaper, CCP was the pits (i.e. no food that I like). But, today marks the start of a new era! Not only do I have a first class mall with tons of restaurants, but I'm also going to get two 5-star hotels that I plan on plugging to fullest; they will both be great because the Marriott guys here are awesome!

I'd say do not stay at the Great Wall Sheraton. The St. Regis is nicely located, though it seems like the Westin is even better positioned. I did like the neighborhood (embassies mainly) near the St. Regis and it was somewhat enjoyable to take a stroll around.

Why not? It may be old and ugly (early 80s architecture is anything but timeless... doubly so in Beijing), but the renovated rooms are quite nice, the prices are good, and I like the location.

The St. Regis location is ok in my book, but I have to say that I've never been a fan. It's a little too stuffy for me, I guess.

Just out of curiosity, in what way is the Westin's location better? (For my views, you needn't look any further than 2 posts above.)

Second in support of Crowne Plaza Wangfujing.

It is an easy walk to the Forbidden City (even for me) and I had no trouble haiing a taxi and getting to any attraction I wanted to see. There was a bustle to the street that was amusing.

NB: That was first and only time in PEK, but perhaps that says something about the hotel as well, that a novice would enjoy the city so well from the Crowne Plaza's location.

Any opinion on the Park Plaza Beijing? It has good tripadvisor reviews, and I am mainly interested in the location to the typical tourist areas.

Thanks!

Beijing is a big city but as has been hinted at before the "city centre" to me seems to be around the Wangfujing area.

In my three visits to date I have seen this area change into a modern and tourist friendly area with the underground/subway close by, also the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square can be reached by foot and your never too far away from the hutongs and side streets to see how the locals live. Lots of hotels to choose from as well.

All in all a fantastic city.^

Park Plaza Wangfujing is in an excellent location.
If you go let me know what you thought of the Park Plaza as I was thinking on staying there later this year.

Stayed at the Park Plaza in November. It's new with nice, adequate sized rooms. Breakfast was also good and there's a Starbucks about 50 feet away if that's important. Beijing is very spread out, but I walked from the hotel to Tienanmen Square/Forbidden City.

Which hotel in Beijing?
 

Hi guys, my friend and I are going to China for a month, and will stay in Beijing for a week. We are trying to book a hotel, however, there are so many hotels and REALLY don't know which should go for. Has anyone got any good experience of hotels in Beijing to share, we will be really appreciated!


Thanks heaps!

p.s. we are looking at to spend about 500 -- 600 Yuan per night for hotel

This is an extremely popular topic in both the China forum and the Starwood forum (but, don't worry about the latter because it's over your budget).

In fact, if the mods are on the ball, not only will this thread get moved to the China forum, but it will probably aslo get merged into a current thread.

Cutting to the chase, my advice for that price range would be the Comfort Inn. However, the last time an FTer friend tried to book it, they threw some pretty nasty rates in his direction (we pulled off a suite for 500 or 600 last year, which was an amazing deal).