ZHONG AN INN AN DING MEN

I was advised to stay at a hotel near Line 2 of the subway as accessibility to most of the attractions is easier by way of public transportation in particularly the subway. As such, I booked this hotel which is within walking distance from Line 2 subway station Andingmen. The moment I alighted at Beijing Airport, I took the direct airport subway line to city (RMB 25), transferred to Line 2 (paid RMB 2) subway and alighted at Andingmen subway station. I then walked for about 800 m before turning right from the main road into the hotel. It is quite easy to locate the hotel though the building is behind a tall building on the main road. I booked this hotel on-line via Expedia and there was no problem with the check-in. I noticed that our hotel charges were cheaper than that the price listed at the hotel and the staff told us that online charges are much lower than the listed price. As we were there early and there was no room available for check-in, we left our luggage at the counter and roamed our way to visit Ditan Park and Yonghegong which were two attractions that were within walking distance from our hotel. By late morning, we returned to our hotel to check-in. The counter staff was courteous but it was lucky that we could speak Mandarin as they were not proficient in English. My hotel room window faced the Ditan Sport Stadium at the second floor and we could see teenagers playing soccer in the morning. It was not an issue to me and the room was spacious. But the furniture was quite old - the very Chinese old hotel furniture. Maybe, there should be some renovation to upgrade the furniture. Even the toilet design was the old design and did not have the modern lustrous look like some of the chain hotels. When I compared this hotel room with my subsequent hotel (King Joy Hotel) near Tiananmen Square, I think the latter looked more modern and westernized. The plus point of the room is that it is more spacious than King Joy hotel. I also had no issue with the air-conditioner as they were cold enough. So, if you like the classic old traditional Chinese hotel, then this hotel is good for you. We stayed here for four days. Initially 2 days, we had paid for our breakfast (RMB 20) but decided to eat outside for the rest of the days. The reason is that the food is quite salty with salted egg, pickled vegetables, tofu nothing special just ordinary Chinese food. Of course, you can have as much as you can finish. There is no food court or restaurant outside the main road on this side of the hotel. So, we crossed over the other side of the road and had our dinner at one of the restaurants, rather reasonably priced bento set. We also bought a bunch of cherries from a street hawker and watched our TV program in the hotel while having the cherries for our supper. The location of the hotel is ideal to visit Ditan Park, Tiantan, Bell and Drum Tower, the Hutong area, the Guloudajie (Bell and Drum Tower), Yonghegong, Confucius Temple and even as far as the Summer Palace, the Beihai Park and so forth. Overall, this is an average hotel more suitable for the local Chinese and it is a bit of overpriced compared with King Joy Hotel.

The only thing I can say is it isn't fancy but it met our needs to sleep and get a breakfast. The bathroom is the worst part of the room as it leaks all over the bathroom floor when you take a shower. Also the air conditioning doesn't work very well. The best part is the free breakfast which provides a good variety of a Chinese foods and was tasty.

Definitely not flash but the bed was comfortable ( I like a hard bed), the amenities were not amazing but they served the purpose. I found the staff really helpful. However when we arrived at 4 am in the morning straight from the airport, the girl at the desk said she wanted us to pay cash. We said no we didn't have xpcash as we had just arrived in the country and booking.com had stated that we could pay by card....so we did. Unfortunately, not a lot of staff speak English but we got by with signs and smiles. Breakfast was nothing fancy but it filled a spot but we did eat dinner in the restaurant and it was quite delicious. It is quite tricky to find the hotel so that can be a little frustrating at first especially if it is the middle of the night. Don't expect flash but seriously we were hardly there. Just to sleep. Rooms were quiet and it did what we required it tomdo for very little price.