Chateau Star River

I stayed twice recently, and I would definitely stay again. It is not a traditional hotel in the sense of other 4 and 5 stay places. The whole area is a private development and is for the super rich. The local park and the facilities are for residents of the complex as well as hotel residents. The hotel itself is referred to as VIP Guest Rooms, and is a 5 minutes walk from where the taxi usually drops you. They drop at the conference centre reception where the restaurant and pool are. I then had to drag my suitcases around to the hotel itself. English really isn't spoken by any of the staff. The hotel itself is set inside the gated community, near to a really pleasant garden. The rooms are large and well appointed. Free Wi-Fi and water and tea. Minibar and fridge. Good bathroom with walk-in shower. The bed was supper comfortable and the towels large and easy to dry on. The breakfast was a 5 minute walk away, and is mostly set-up for Chinese guests and cuisine. Given that there were very few westerners in evidence, they probably had that right? Eating out is not a problem, as the Joy City shopping mall is about 10 minutes walk away, and it is full of restaurants. The gated community is really quiet and exclusive, if a little dark at night. The front desk would always get me a taxi and would help with bags. Even though their English wasn't great, nothing was ever a problem, and we sorted out language issues with WeChat or Google Translate. I got time to use the pool - good quality 25m indoor pool with clean changing rooms and sauna and steam rooms. I would definitely choose to stay again.

This was an absolutely excellent hotel. Nice, safe, secluded in the most beautiful surroundings and with every convenience imaginable. Reception staff were professional and friendly, but the fact that none of them could speak English turned everything into a time consuming problem. If you speak Chinese, this is probably the best hotel in Beijing. If not, you should allow an extra hour every time you visit reception. It says the hotel is smoke free, but the rooms clearly smelt of smoking. This may be due to our unannounced early arrival, and may not apply to the entire hotel.

Bit of a problem finding reception as this is a very large complex, residential as well. We were dropped at the Restaurant which no one spoke any English. We eventually realised where we had to be which was quite a walk with all our suitcases in the freezing weather. Lovely receptionist who again didn't speak any English so please be prepared with a translator app on your phone or a phase book, we found it quite fun trying to understand one another. Room was very comfortable, very large bed. Tea and coffee facilities with free water each day. Our only problem was the room was so hot, and it was minus 10 outside but we turned all radiators off and had a window open but still the room was warm, not sure where the heating was coming from. All in all a very good stay and easy walking to Joy City Mall and the tube stations.