Jib

Can anyone give me current feedback on the Marriott Beijing?? I noramlly stay at the SW St. Regis, but would like to try the Marriott. Any advice?

NWA-PLAT

I stayed 5 nights at the Renaissance in October. The room was comfortable and the staff spoke English well. There is no train nearby that I know of (or much of anything else), but who cares? Taxis are so cheap it doesn't really matter. The doorman will get you a taxi 24 hours a day and translate to the driver where you would like to go. There is a bakery and convenience store within a 1 minute walk from the front door of the hotel.

I would also like a review of the Marriott to compare.

PTravel

I've been trying to put together another no-cost trip, this time to Beijing and Shanghai. I was getting towards the end of my supply of Marriot points, but I thought I'd try my luck. I was able to get 7 nights at the Beijing Courtyard in March for only 55,000 points. According to my wife (who is Chinese and knows Beijing well), the Courtyard isn't in the best of areas, but it's rated 4-stars and for only 55,000 points for a full week, how bad could it be?

I also booked the Renaissance in Shanghai on points (though not as good a deal), and was able to get a super-saver award ticket on UA. I'll only have to pay for the flight between Beijing and Shangahi -- only $143 _full-fare_ on Air China (and probably less if my wife arranges the purchase with one of her friends in China).

Not bad!

travelerjim

For two years in a row, 2003 and 2004, I have stayed at the New World Courtyard Hotel in Beijing, China. In 2003 - November and 2004 in October. October is great weather (shirt sleeve or light sweater/jacket) in Beijing...end of November is much - much colder. with a bit of snow possible.
Both times enjoyed excellent hospitality and will stay there again on next trip.
Used points on second trip for 3 free nights to lower my travel costs. But, I chose Mid-week nights for the free nights...Mon Tues Wed. I bought 6 nights over two weekends...Thurs-Fri-Sat-Sun at Weekend rate of US$60.00 per room night which included breakfast buffet...A very nice buffet - but costly if you have to purchase it for 98 Yuan.
Your one week stay for 55,000 points is a real steal :-)
The hotel is located on the backside of the New World Beijing Center -
http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/BJSCY .
a huge complex of high rise serviced apartments, office tower and 7 story atrium shopping center with mid-to-upscale stores. The basement has a large supermarket which is great to buy food and snacks to take to the room. The 5th floor has a food court which is huge and offers many, many food choices...a great way to enjoy what the locals are eating at budget prices. The 5th floor also connects to the Health Club which is very large and part of the Executive Serviced Apartments Complex....very nice indeed and the swimming pool, sauna, steam rooms, billiards room, and comfortable lounge are all great to enjoy at no extra charge to Marriott New World Courtyard Hotel Guests.
Easy access to subway and bus within 1/2 block walk. And you can walk - long but nice walk to Forbidden City area...I like this hotel.....
By the way....if you must purchase a room night...and budget minded...the Novotel has a hotel about one block away for US$43.00 nightly all nights.
Novotel Xinqiao Hotel - http://www.chinadiscounthotel.com/be...iao/index.html .
And I highly recommend tour guide services of: http://sinohotelguide.com/travel/beijing/local.html . - for Great Wall/Ming Tombs Tour with lunch;and the Forbidden City/ Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven Tour, again with lunch - the best deal and excellent tour guide services all for US$49.00 per person for the 2 full days of tours...a real bargain! I have used them both times.
Many good Beijing websites to view, including: http://www.beijingpage.com/ .
Enjoy :-)
TravelerJim of USA

UA835

I was a little disappointed in the dated rooms at the Beijing New World Cortyard, but that was after being completely spoiled at the Tianjin Renaissance. The best thing the Cortyard has going for it is the location. Wangfujing/Forbidden City are both walkable, with the Silk Market and Temple of Heaven being only a short cab ride away.

If you do anything in Beijing, make sure to spend a half-day or so at the Summer Palace. Rent a motor boat for ~20RMB per hour and drive around the lake for a bit. Sooo relaxing!

P.S. If you need your coffee fix, there's a Starbucks on the first floor of the New World center.

John C

Great info in this thread. Thanks! I will be in Beijing this October for 4 days/nights. I currently have reservations at the Renaissance. Any comments or thoughts on that property? Also, do any of the experienced travelers to the area have any suggestions for definite do's and don'ts for a first time visitor to China?

Karen001

A question for you Marriotophiles. I had made reservations at the Beijing Courtyard in hopes of being able to use their Concierge lounge. As a gold member, I've always had access to the lounge, whether in the US or Asia.
Although it seems a small thing, the choice of the hotel was a major factor in our vacation planning. When we arrived, they told us only Platinum were allowed the lounge. Is this ok? I rechecked the Marriot website and it says garaunteed access to the lounge for Gold. Of course at checkout they tried to charge my husband for his free breakfast by saying that only one meal was included. What kind of silliness is that? And for only two of our 8 days at the hotel? The woman at the front desk called a number for her manager to check on it, but couldn't reach him. We said we could wait the 20 minutes for him to be reached, as our taxi was not due to arrive yet. After 2 minutes of standing at the desk, she took the charge off. There was no value in being a Gold member with Marriot on our first big vacation to China. For all the days Marriot makes you stay to earn Gold compared to the Hilton, what's the value if you can't count on the program to be uniformly applied?

Fermat

but other than the lack of consistency in your Gold status, how was the hotel?

ohmark

Interesting question. You can check the Marriott Rewards website, and find out that concierge lounge access is guaranteed to plats and golds, but the properties mentioned are Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts and Marriott Conference Centers. Nothing about Courtyard. The free breakfast benefit for plats and golds is, generally, in the concierge lounge of Marriott and Ren properties (generally not resorts), not at Courtyard. If the Marriott or Ren has no concierge lounge, continental breakfast is provided (other than resorts). So, it appears that the concierge lounge benefit or in lieu breakfast benefit for plats and golds, may not apply to Courtyard. A previous thread, in which some FTers were quite exercised, dealt with the denial of breakfast benefits to the families of plats/golds at the J.W. Marriott (Rihga Royal). Chris, the Marriott Concierge, stated that plat/gold benefits are generally limited to the elite member him/herself, and not the rest of the family/party. Other posters pointed out that most Marriott/Ren properties allow concierge lounge access/in lieu breakfast benefit to the elites AND the rest of their party. As a plat, I've never had a Marriott/Ren try to restrict the benefit so as to deny the rest of my party the benefit, whether access to the lounge, or substitute breakfast benefit.

Note that in U.S. Courtyards, the general rule is no free breakfast, elite or not, unless the rate includes breakfast. There have been previous threads where elites have vented over this policy.

travelerjim

Sadly - I had the same experience as you at the Courtyard Marriott New World Center in Beijing.

We had a Weekend Rate in Nov 2004 of US$60.00 and the Marriott website said it included Bkfst ...but when I checked out they wanted to charge me for the second bkfst each day....I complained and asked for the Manager...the desk clerk dropped the charges before calling the Mgr :-)

Looking at some other sites...it sometimes says Bkfst for ONE person!! I had printed out the Marriott website confirmation which said INCLUDED BREAKFAST!...and the room was for 2 persons...so I expected Bkfast for 2.

For the record..... search for the Weekend Rates with Bkfst for 2 included at a great price; and, the Weekday rates do NOT include breakfast for anyone unless you have paid dearly for the increased room rate.

No experience with Gold or Plat access to their lounges. But I did find the Manager of the hotel most helpful and accommodating when I was there for 10 nights 2 years ago in November 2003. With a stay of 10 nights or more, you get upgraded to larger room with sofa and chair etc...not a suite but more like an Executive King Room...and you get free breakfast for two at much lower price for the extended stay in Beijing(my rate then was US$60.00 nightly).

The Breakfast Buffet served was very good in my opinion.

The hotel location excellent access to central Beijing. Enjoyed our stay and would go back :-) ..but not at the much - much higher prices they are now wanting for this hotel....business must be really good for them to get the higher tariffs for the rooms now.

TravelerJim

UA835

Stayed here once in October 2003, and would try to get the rate WITHOUT breakfast next time, as it was quite disappointing. You're better off going to the Younghe (sp?) around the corner, or getting something from the market that sits just between the Courtyard and the subway stop.

yyyccclll

In China ...

Always expect unexpected ............

kyushuman

I realize nobody answered this in time for you, but I was searching for "Beijing" and this came up.
Anyway, I used to live in PEK and, while yes traffic is terrible, I think since you would be going away from downtown and the center of the city, it shouldn't be too bad--especially if you leave early, maybe 6AM or so, since that would get you there (with no traffic) in about 45 minutes.
Hope you enjoyed PEK! Despite the traffic, it offers SO much to see and do--the Wall, Tienanmen Square, the Summer Palace, and of course great food if you know where to find it!

John C

I just checked out of the Renaissance Beijing this morning and I must confess it was a huge disappointment. I had written well in advance to let them know this was part of my honeymoon and ask for an upgrade, which I was assured I would get as a Platinum member. I also arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport upon our arrival. Things went wrong from the very beginning - the car never showed up and when we called the hotel from the airport we were told they had no record of it being reserved so we had to arrange alternate transportation. Upon reaching the hotel, the front desk had not even heard about the car mixup. Bad Management - they should have known they had a potentially hot customer coming in. They promised to look into the problem and, having a platinum customer they just forgot to pickup who had contacted them in advance and been assured of an upgrade for his honeymoon, they assign a tiny room with a queen sized bed - no upgrade at all (though I can still go up to the executive floor to use the lounge).

Upon reaching the room, the girl from the front desk did call to explain that they did find a record of the car reservation but that Marriott had failed to inform the hotel about it and I would have to take it up with Marriott customer service. So, the hotel had a communications issue with their parent company and believes it is my job to follow up? Hmmmm. I asked her to send me that in writing and obviously it went to someone who realized that wasn't the best message to convey and instead I received a letter offering a free ride to the airport at departure. A nice gesture which I did accept but it hardly brought them even in my mind.

To be fair, the lounge did have nice service and the staff generally tried to please, but disappointments continued. I scheduled an in-room massage for my wife and they just didn't show at the scheduled time; actually they didn't show at all. After waiting until half an hour after the scheduled time, she decided to skip it and just went to sleep and I called to explain and cancel - they again had no record of it and apologized. Great. Thanks.

I also had a problem in that the shower drain was very slow and water just pooled above my ankles when taking a shower. The first day, I filled out the ticket in the room for requesting a repair and asked that it be addressed just anytime that day. When I checked out 3 days later it had never been fixed not had anyone ever commented about it at all. The maid took the form from the room; they just never did anything about it. I showered the entire time with my feet submerged in soapy water.

I could go on if I wanted to knitpick but the bottom line is that while I liked many of the people I encountered at this hotel, I found it to be one of the worst managed hotels I have encountered anywhere. For whatever it is worth, I would advise anyone planning a trip to Beijing to avoid this hotel. I wish I had.

tcook052

I too am curious to hear some more feedback from FTers about this property. The impression I'm getting from various places, like trip advisor, is that it's a solid choice with a few familiar western food options nearby, is in a location that isn't too far from many of Beijing big sights, and offers better than N.America Courtyard service, if the language barrier can sometimes come into play.

If anyone can add anything, the input would be appreciated. BTW, I'm holding a reservation for 7 nights in early June.