Ibis Beijing Sanyuan

My expectation was fairly low considering Ibis being a budget brand and this property being fairly aged in particular, however definitely not a bad place to spend the night as the commute to PEK is basically effortless. Not a big fan of the neighborhood though - I found it hard to find reasonably-priced food options.

I had wanted to stay at the Radisson Blu, or the Novotel, so this was third choice, but they had availability. Front of house was ok, but from the elevators onwards it was tired. The rooms were small, and the bathrooms a single shell design - shower, toilet, sink all in a single plastic construction. Very little hanging space, no wardrobe, no safety deposit box. There was water and tea provided. Towels were tiny and difficult to dry on. It is a budget hotel and it definitely feels like one. The air-conditioning made a noise, but never cooled the room. We took the breakfast most mornings, but we forced into the 39RMB buffet when actually we wanted to just order beef noodles. The food was ok, ignoring the coffee. There was an attached Lawson's store for those things you needed. English was difficult for the reception staff, and it wasn't particularly cheap given the standard - so 3500 RMB for 6 nights. The saving grace was that there were plenty of restaurants around about in the evening, and it was walking distance to the convention centre. A word of warning on taxis. Use the taxi the reception will call and note the registration number. The taxis waiting outside the hotel run a scam - they turn off their meters and will charge you double or triple.

Just average hotel for quick stopover. Me and my friend stayed for a night on a sight seeing trip in Beijing. Don't expect any bells and whistles. Just a decent hotel with clean and neat bed and wash.