Beijing Shindom - Zhushikou Hotel

Found the hotel right in Old Beijing hidden amongst the Hutongs and narrow lane ways. I found it to be a great location, just 15 minutes walk from Tiananmen Square and Qianmen Subway Station. The staff were nice and knew enough English to allow me to check in and check out. If you want to organise any tours through the hotel best to learn a bit of Mandarin first. The hotel itself wasn't especially nice or modern ( get ready for Chinese Style Toilets) but made up for it with value and location. If you're looking for somewhere genuinely Chinese, this is definintly the place to go.

Despite reading the review below I decided to take a chance on this place as it seemed well positioned and was much cheaper for a double than everywhere else we looked. We arrived here at 2am having paid a taxi driver 100rmb from the airport, which I was particularly annoyed about. We had no idea where we were but realised the following morning that it is only a 10min walk from Tiananmen Square. If you turn off T. sq. to get there then take a right at the McDonald's, walk the pedestrian street to hotel 8, take a left up a dodgy looking alley and follow it around - it goes around in a V shape and it's located up the other lane. When we finally got to the front door we thought we'd walked into the wrong building as it looked like a police station, so we walked out and assured ourselves this was the place. The girl at the desk was nice but spoke about as many words in English as we did in Chinese. She gave us our key and directed us into the courtyard. The room was quite a decent size and it was apparent that everything was cleaned thoroughly - the sheets, towels, shower etc. were spotless. Strangely, the room had no curtains...nor did any other room! The beds were comfy but the light from the courtyard and a draft through the door made sleeping a bit difficult. The second night we covered the windows with towels and our coats but it was still very cold. There was a small heater but it struggled to maintain an acceptable temperature. The room also had a tiny shower in it, which we did not expect. It was spotlessly clean but not very powerful - it was fine for me but my girlfriend did not appreciate the lack of power for washing her long hair so she used the communal showers outside! The communal showers were literally just a few shower heads and a curtain, however my girlfriend realised you could lock the door while you were in there and prevent anybody else using a shower or sink. They were warm and spotless. The men's were just the same but without a curtain. There was no toilet in the room, just a shower, so we had to use the toilets in the courtyard. Again, they were spotless and I witnessed them being cleaned twice in the 2nights we were there, however there were only squat toilets. There was no tissue in the toilets but they leave you some in your room! You could buy water in reception for 3rmb and coke or sprite for 5rmb. They also had a decent storage room where we kept our bags for free after checking out. Wifi worked perfectly throughout the place. For 79rmb a night we thought this place was good enough; since Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The National Museum and a few other things are so close, however the lack of curtains and the cold rooms during the winter were a bit much. If you're on a budget then go here...just remember to take your coat, your scarf, and some curtains!!

On 15 September I booked this hotel for 5 Aug - 12 Aug. On the booking page as well as the itinerary I received by email was clearly written: "Cancellations or changes made after 6:00 PM (China Daylight Time) on 2014 August 04 or no­shows are subject to a hotel fee equal to the first night's rate plus taxes and fees." I cancelled the booking on 1 Aug due to a change in travel plans. I never stayed in this hotel yet I was charged the FULL amount for the booking. I rang five times to try and fix. The end result was being told that cancellations by email are not accepted, and that there was a second cancellation policy which was not made available to me, which said that no-shows lose the total amount of the booking. THIS HOTEL STOLE MY MONEY. "FREE CANCELLATION" IS A LIE.