Graceland Yard Hotel

When we first saw this hotel online, we thought it looked perfect, very quaint and special. Special it was, but not in a good way... We arrived late in the evening and it was definitely a language barrier when checking in, we needed to use our cellphone for translation. About half of the amendities does not exist, such as restaurant, breakfast, roomservice and 24-hour reception (when we needed to get a taxi in the morning no one was to be seen, later the receptionist came to help us in her pyjama). The room was in an awful state, had not been cleaned for ages as you can see in the photos below. The bathroom smelled awful and something had died in the fridge. If you want value for money and actually get what is stated in the information, pick another hotel!

This place isn't perfect (it feels like walking into somebody's garage, when it's really a 500 year old temple) but our room, the Chinese style loft was really nice and I think a great value for the location - down an authentic hutong very charming for walks at night and in the morning. Wifi and everything worked fine. The hot water was a weak stream but we moved hotels later to Dongziheim (more modern area) and we missed the Graceland Yard. We booked a Great Wall tour at the Red Lantern Hostel right down the street which ended up being a great choice (and it's a really cool courtyard). The workers at Graceland don't speak much English but they'll get you in your room and let you pay (we used a credit card - no problems). No other services here: no bar, restaurant or food. But lots of local food around. Lower your expectations just a bit and be glad that you're not in a high rise. The hutongs are awesome.

We stayed here just one evening because we were staying at more traditional high-rise hotel for the week and I wanted to see a courtyard hotel. We stayed in the Chinese Style loft suite. The room was very beautiful with a high lofted roof (the building used to be a temple) and beautiful furnishings. The air conditioning and wifi worked well. The courtyard was also very beautiful which we were able to see better in the morning. The room was clean but under the sink smelled off where the hair dryer was stored so I didn't use. The check-in staff member was also kind but rather unprofessional which was off-putting when arriving to a new place (which isn't cheap) - just sitting in the lobby in comfortable clothes, eating and watching shows rather than behind the desk during the evening. She seemed unfamiliar with locating and reading our visas in our passport but after showing her she was able to check us in. I then came back out to get more towels and she told me my entry visa was expired through her translation service on her phone which it definitely was not (after paying good $ to Travisa, I know everything was in order) and that made me nervous unnecessarily even though I know it was an honest mistake or misread on her part. When we checked out there was no one at the desk but we gave our key to a kind woman in the courtyard who I think worked there! All in all it was a neat experience for a night but had some drawbacks.