Jiatong

The JW central has low tone chinese service in their EL. (Chinese finical trust owner)
The Mrt NE EL has great western style service, probably due to the Hainan Air owner & its very near the US embassy.
-Quite a few embassy types do stay at the nearby Westin which is on subway line 10.
- Both the Mrt NE & Westin are close to the airport vs the JW central which is about an hour depending on traffic.
- IMO, the JW central has a great top floor pool & fitness center with amazing city views of BJ.

moondog

"Western" is the last adjective that comes to my mind when thinking about the HNA Group, expect maybe in the gun slinging cowboy sense, but I agree with the previous poster's boss on Northeast being a cut above the other Marriotts and Rens in Beijing.

crfgon

Including the JW and JW Central?

moondog

Obviously, the location needs to agree with your needs, but I really do like Northeast. It boils down to the details. Sure, they don't have a nobu, but the gym/pool are sweet, and the HVAC system is unrivaled (e.g. it's one of the few venues in Beijing that has really great air quality).

nk15

I stayed last week at this location for a layover, the EL at the start of evening appies is a mob scene with screaming children everywhere and long lines of inland locals who push and shove everybody, and every individual clears a whole tray of food. It was like a Black Friday event. It took me 20 minutes to get a plate and retreat to my room. But it is an experience that you can enjoy for only 10k points, lol...I arrived after midnight, about 12-19 miles from airport, roughly 20-40 min, depending in route, the taxi driver took me the scenic route and still paid only 89 cny ($13).

I also stayed at the JW last week for a discounted 15k points/night, MUCH better experience in every respect.

Marco Vigini

I was in Beijing in October and I stayed at Renaissance Wangfujing.
Let me say that this is really a good choice.
The only problem is maybe the food (but I'm italian and I don't like so much chinese food)
The room is amazing, the service outstanding (room service I think 3 times/day) and the staff really helpful, also if no everybody speak good english.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update re: the Ren Wangfujing. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

elephentravels

Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel or Marriott City Wall? Having a hard time choosing, rates are the same, city wall looks a bit older.

lucycan

What would you suggest for a first time tourist? Staying 4 nights with my wife. PLAT status most likely paying cash (ie not points). JW Central?

Jiatong

Yes to 4 nights at this JW. great Chinese area. Abet of a drive from airport， but enjoy the ride and view of the city.

BrightlyBob

Beware of taking Marriott's, or any hotel companies, quoted distance from city centre to hotel too seriously. The exact location of a city centre differs with each company.

We (me, wife and 2 "adult" kids) are visiting China for the first time in July visiting Shanghai, Xi'an and finishing off in Beijing. We'll be needing 2 rooms at each location.

When going anywhere on a tourist visit I decide what central sights I'd like to be within walking distance, then consult a map. Here, daughter wants to go shopping, so Wangfujing is her priority, me and wife are interested in Chinese Imperial history, so for us the Forbidden Palace is ours, and son is interested in Chinese Communist history (he read about Tiananmen Sq in his history books - ouch!) so Tiananmen Sq is his priority.

Looking at the actual Beijing map there are 3 hotels that look close to those locations. According to the website, Ritz Financial is closest to the city centre, JW Central 2nd and the Renaissance Wangfujing is 3rd. But in reality, for our priorities, the Ren Wangfujing is the best option. Firstly, the distances are long, it's a truly long walk from either the Ritz or the JW to Wangfujing. Secondly, the Ren is also much closer to the Forbidden city too. Finally, although the other 2 are closer to Tiananmen Sq, the walk from the Ren should be much more characterful, either via Wangfujing and swing a right at the end, or via the Forbidden Palace and gardens straight into Tiananmen. The other consideration is proximity to a subway station, here the Ritz and the JW do win, but it's trivial, all are close to the subway.

Next, hotel quality. I think this is a straightforward 1, 2, 3 with Ritz being followed up by the JW and Ren 3rd. Although Tripadvisor didn't have it in that order, having read a few reviews there, and this thread I felt that was probably a fair reflection, though all were very high quality. Overall I felt there was little in it on the quality front.

Next, pay or redeem? China is a strong value place to redeem those points. The Ritz is out, it doesn't provide Plats with lounge access and the kids love their lounges, popping in and out to get a bite and a drink, and to get away from one another for a short while! So that leaves us with the JW and the Renaissance. Now when I booked this in January both were Cat3s priced at ~$180/nt meaning for my 5-night stay I could either pay $900 or redeem 60,000 points. 60,000 points per room is great value for the redemption so I decided to redeem and since there was no difference in the cost I took the best location, namely the Renaissance Wangfujing.

lucycan

Good points BB. I am taking a similar trip and sent you a PM.

Jiatong

Staying at the Mrt NE now for a few days, One can access google & FB -(IMO wastebook) on the hotel internet. They have had this in-house vpn for about a month now.

Last year the JW Central had a vpn in the EL on their in-house computers.

djohannw

I have a overnight-layover in Beijing where the airport Hilton is just too expensive for the short time I am there.

Lowest priced hotel on our corporate rate would be the CY Northeast which also looks decently reachable from the airport, but would you suggest any other hotel for this purpose? Will probably arrive into PEK around 9pm and depart the next morning at 10:45...I see that the CY has a lounge, but will that be still open and serving anything "usable" at that time?

Thanks for your suggestions!

Greetings - Dirk

SkiAdcock

Property website says this:

Open: Sun-Sat, Open: 0600-2400
Private access floor
Complimentary food:
- Continental breakfast
- midday snack
- afternoon tea
- hors d'oeuvres
- dessert
- late night snack