HAOYUAN

We had a room with a giant and gorgeous Chinese bed, and we appreciated the Chinese decor, the Chinese breakfast, and of course the inner courtyard, although it was cool. A nice haven in Beijing, convenient walk to Wangfujing, Tian an Men, Forbidden City, as well as DongDan with its trendy shops appealing to my daughter.

Spent 3 nights here in early Jan, when we were about the only residents. Great location, a 25 min walk from the Forbidden City or the Confucian Temple, very near a metro station and a short (and cheap) cab ride from most places. Decent buffet breakfast and bathroom toiletries. Friendly staff. On the downside, the ceiling fittings fell down on top of my friend when she closed the toilet door - could have done some serious damage. To be fair to the staff, they tried to move us out to another room for our own safety but we refused as we had emptied all our luggage and it was too much hassle. The staff left most of the rubble on the bathroom floor for us to clean. Masses of dust under the beds and the floors were filthy, so I asked the staff to clean it. I don't think it is asking too much for them to clean dust when you're paying 760RMB per night. If they cleaned the room better and had at least one of the 50 TV channels in English, then this would have made a significant difference to a three day stay. As it is, I would stay here again - it is a peaceful haven surrounded by the madness of Beijing.

We loved the charm of this hotel and the location, which was a close to the subway, autoteller and local shops, including a pastry/coffee shop. It was up a quiet Hutong (small side road) off a busy road. The people who worked there were fantastic and very helpful. Our room was exactly like the photos and a highlight of our stay. The biggest challenge with this inner part of Beijing is the heavy traffic on major roads during the day. Taxi drivers occasionally refused to take us into the area from across Beijing, due to the gridlock getting there (at first we were quite confused about these refusals). We found the nearby subway good, modern and convenient and very easy to use with bilingual ticket machines and station names.