Shijia House

Upon our arrival at Shijia House late May, we discovered it no longer serves as a hotel but is being converted in to a restaurant. Fortunately, the Red Wall Garden hotel (diagonally opposite, also on Shijia Hutong) took over our reservation without extra charge. Quiet, peaceful location in lovely neighborhood; great traditional (and affordable) Beijing restaurant nearby (look for the red lanterns at #13 Shijia Hutong). Room was quite large and spotless; very comfortable bed; large bathroom with big shower. Flatscreen TV unfortunately had no English-language news channels, which is being made up for by the 2 computers in the hall providing free internet access. Some minor maintenance needed in some areas. Airco in the room; no elevator; no pool. We skipped the expensive breakfast and Western-style restaurant. Underground station and bus stop nearby; easy to find taxis. Wangfujing shopping street within walking distance. Overall: highly recommended.

We stayed for three nights in Shi Jia house on our trip to Beijing in July 2010. While the concept of a courtyard hotel was good the actual experience was altogether different. We had one of the delux rooms that faces the main courtyard. Since the windows/door open directly into the courtyard there was no choice but to keep the heavy blinds closed the entire time, which makes the room really dark and airless. The bathroom, although very chicly designed, was painted a deep cobalt blue, which made it hard to see. I had to crack the curtains open every morning to put on makeup. There is a common problem in China in winter and summer when you have to rely on AC to control temperature: the air circulates within the room without any fresh air intake from outside. This resulted in me waking up every morning with a huge headache, and also put me in a constant state of mild hypoxia our entire stay. Another negative on the location is that although it's centrally located, most taxi drivers balk when they hear the "hu tong" in the address, and they refuse to drive into the narrow lane, so every night we had to be dropped off at the entrance of the lane and walk back. In conclusion, even though we always favor little boutique hotels when we travel, next time we go to Beijing we're staying in a large hotel on a main road with windows that can open

Very charming and well located hotel. The staff was friendly and helpful, but the level of English varied widely. The rooms open onto a lovely courtyard. The property is centrally located, but the entrance is down a small side street (hutong) so not every taxi driver was able to get us there. Unless you speak Chinese and are able to give directions, this can be a pain. In any case, be prepared to walk to the main street to catch a taxi. However, there is a Metro stop about one block away. Very comfortable bed. The free wireless is a nice perk. There are several restaurants, convenience grocery stores, and cafes near by.