Beijing Eletel Apartment

The price, for me, at my travel time (7 mar-20 mar 2015) around $40 USD/night. The stay was good and the location was great!!! The hotel is an apartment type stay. However, a main draw for me was the kitchenette. But the flat's kitchenette only resembles a kitchenette by having a kitchenette area with a sink, counter, and apt size frig. There are no utensils for any type of cooking or eating. You must bring your own eating utensils and cleaning utilities... Besides the kitchenette misunderstanding, I found the place to be a location perfect place for visiting Beijing, as well as, getting to and from the airport and around Beijing, via the airport express and metro... Now to the pros and cons. I will start with the cons first, so we can end on a good note with the pros!!! Cons: 1 - To find the place: The vendor only indicates the address and not directions. I arrived in the area early in the morning and spent about two hours looking for the apartments. I asked many locals and received many confusing replies. It was difficult on both sides, since English was not the common language. I will say that the locals were very courteous and helpful. Two locals went out of their way to walk me to the general area and point me towards the destination. But the place was still elusive to me... Bottom line - the apartments should indicate that they are located above Carrefour. Use the door on the far right, when facing the Carrefour building, and take the elevator to the 12th floor to 1201. To get to the building, once exiting the metro, proceed North (raised expressway will be on your left) and walk to Carrefour, about 5 minutes. With these points, I could have saved almost two hours and a lot of frustration. 2 - Language: (not a pro and not a con - but listed under con, because language could be an issue for some). The office translates English using their smart phones apps. You would be surprised on how many attempts it takes to find an answer, even from one question originated from either party. For example, I was asking about the safe in my closet and after a few typing exercises, we concluded with the right answer - the safe in your room is not functional because there is no key. The conversation went along many paths including with is it safe - yes the building is safe. Just to point out how a word can place one among many paths… 3 - Electronic media: The cable TV is only Mandarin and the free WIFI is slow. Wifi maybe slow because of Government intervention. Google cannot be accessed. Email vendors I could not access, include but do not exclude others, are hotmail, gmail, and yahoo. Plus my tablet was being assaulted by hackers. I had to drop my firewall a few times to gain access to websites, but I would virus boot-scan during next start-up. Also, my unit was a tablet I used only for web search with no indicative apps or info, plus I only access 1 email account, via the web sign on. I have found GMX email provider works in Beijing... Pros: 1 - Location: Eletel Apartments is located above Carrefour, which is a great place to shop for food and stuff. Eletel is also located minutes from circle line 10 of the metro and you can walk to Olympic Park and walk the Yuan Dynasty Wall Relics park. I could not ask for a better location... 2 - Secure: The apartment door is metal with secure locking. Also, the building entrance (after hours) and the floor entrance is only accessible with a key fop. 3 - Apartment Service: I list this as a pro, but some may, for various reasons, place some services as a con... a) Language: Yes, from some reviewers, I felt the reason for the con was the language barrier. I even saw some say that the staff was rude... I have found that is anything, but the case. Yes, the front desk (1201) asked me not the come to the front desk, but to email the office instead, for any needs or questions. Hey, does anybody see the sense in this? It is not rude! It is a way for better communication and time management for all concerned... b) Cleaning: It is not every day. Trash is placed outside the apartment door for morning pickup. I prefer this type of service. I am not bombarded daily for entry to rifle through and cleaning my rented flat. I am a responsible person and do not need daily maintenance. The individuals cleaning the flat are efficient and very friendly. Again the spoken communication was not there. But understanding could be established... Bottom Line - I enjoyed my stay and look to do again... Mahalo and Aloha, dave...