Beijing HWA Apartment Hotel

Like so much else in China, this hotel was a bit different than we're accustomed to, but once we adjusted it was comfortable and worked out just fine. The folks at the desk were very accommodating and did their best to provide good service. Finding the place for the first time wasn't obvious, but if you peek at an aerial or map beforehand it's not too hard. It's kind of an odd set-up: it's squished between a mall and a parking garage or something. Look for the wall of plants (although those are definitely a thing in China and not as rare as you might suppose). It's across from the what's-that-doing-here Italian grocery store. I think the rooms actually sit on top of the mall, so you're ten stories up or so away from the street. Speaking of malls, there are several nearby with all sorts of different shops and stores, so those can be fun. Plenty of places to eat too, but from what I observed in China, you're rarely more than 20 steps from someone selling food. Unless it gets late and then you might have trouble finding a place still open...but I digress. Getting back to the hotel, the rooms were spacious and pretty clean, I'd say, although the decor was seriously spartan with virtually none of the decorative do-dads common in the west. We had a large group so we took two adjoining rooms, which kind of sort of gave us four bedrooms. I say that because in each room only one bed space was closed off by a door; the other bed was kind of just taking up the rest of the area. No couches or communal space though, so that was interesting. But each room had one full, one half bath, which was nice. The showers were deep, so even though they didn't have a door, you weren't faced with the dreaded "showering gets the entire bathroom soaked and people are somehow just okay with that" problem. And that's not just a China thing, btw; those wacky Europeans are similar offenders. Anyway, the rooms are plenty big and seem even bigger due to the lack of extraneous furniture. It was nice, the stay went well even in the face of several very hot days.

The room was huge - living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen area and a balcony (with a view to the inner ward). A lot of restaurants and shopping close by. The closest metro station is 5min walk away and it's about 25min walk to the Tiananmen square. Nice staff. Free wi-fi. I don't think that the hotel is very new but it's clean and comfortable.

Stayed for 9 nights in September 2015. Location great. Between 2 metros but Lingjing Metro(Line 4) is nearer and easier access. Buses in Xidan street few steps away. Taxis in front of hotel. Location is in a small street ( not directly in Xidan North street) south side of Xidan Shopping Center. Not hard to find. Eateries, restaurants and groceries are all nearby. Xidan is a big shopping area. Avoid at all cost restaurant in the basement right beside the entrance of hotel, has picture signs and a waitress standing by the stairs. Walking distance to Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City but there is Xidan metro Line 1 and buses at Chang'an Ave. Hotel is clean and safe. Small lobby but you don't go to Beijing for that. Few steps to the lifts. Access to rooms has security. The one bedroom suite is very spacious. Beds are comfortable. Has a safe. Bathroom is spacious. It has a small kitchen but spacious living room. Towels are changed daily. Room is cleaned daily too. Linens are changed on request. Room cleaning crew are honest and did their job well. My money almost $500 was just on top of the safe for 4 days forgot to put it in the safe was there on the same position and not a dollar missing. The only downside, our room has no washer and stove not functioning but we have a microwave and fridge and 2 complimentary bottled water daily. There's a small grocery at Xidan Center for water supply. . Staff are friendly and very helpful with directions and for anything we need. They speak limited English but be patient with them and they will help you. We don't speak Chinese either. The guy in charge of their laundry is very helpful with directions, writing addresses in Chinese for us and even booked our Mu Tian Yu Great Wall tour. We were very satisfied and happy with our stay in HWA apartment, in Xidan area and all the staff. We will stay again in HWA apartment whenever we go back to Beijing.