The Emperor Beijing Qianmen

Great hotel. We were on in Beijing for 3 nights and had our baby with us so wanted a nice hotel in a great location. This met that requirement. The main selling point is that the hotel is situated in a truly great location on Qianmen Street which we thought was incredible. So beautifully designed with incredible street art, architecture, shops and restaurants. And ofcourse this leads to Tianaman Square and The Forbidden Palace - both in walking distance. So an ideal place to stay with transport links allowing you to explore the rest of the city. The hotel itself was really cool, very modern. It had all the amenities you would expect, breakfast was served in a really funky looking room (felt like an underground bar). It was quite dark everywhere but to be honest that was a nice relaxing vibe after being in a busy hectic city. The staff were friendly and helpful and gave nice advice and tips to get around the Chinese internet! (tip... get a VPN before you get there - even if you dont want to use the internet on holiday, its pretty essential for travel planning in China we found). We booked a Soak King Room which was all white. It was great with the main feature being a huge round spa bath. We were there in December so it was lovely relaxing in this as the snow fell outside. On the rooftop was a restaurant/bar. Only gripe we had with this hotel was their refusal to serve us food when we arrived 1 minute after food service ended. Bit frustrating as it was 11:01 at night and everywhere else was shut and we had a child. But like most of China, they set a rule and really stick to it! But great place to stay in our opinion.

Let me start by saying that this "hotel" doesn't even deserve to be called a hotel. It is more like a building with rooms that have beds. It lacks everything from customer service to hospitality to the staff acting like their guests are getting in the way of their job. Let me be clear, this has nothing to do with not one member of the hotel staff being able to speak English. There is a rooftop pool which is quite unique to have in Beijing. It is small, approximately 15 m. The view is decent but it is Beijing so there are really no special city views. Again, don't even try ordering a drink from the rooftop "bar", you would be lucky if you were even brought a menu. The rooftop pool has more of a public pool atmosphere than a lounge in a hotel. The location is great being so close to the Forbidden City, the National Museum and Tiananmen Square but there are dozens of other options in the area. Save your money and time and find another proper hotel.

We stayed at The Emperor for 3 nights and the entire team were extremely friendly and helpful. The location is excellent as it's located right next to the shopping street with a lot things to do and eateries. I have to admit that it's hard to find the hotel in the very beginning as it's hidden by the corner. But you will get over it after knowing where you are. Apart from that, the room is clean and spacious with good mixed of varieties at the breakfast buffet. Service is really impeccable as most of the service crew that I dealt with went above and beyond. Highly recommended!!!