This hotel is very pleasant. The rooms are clean and modern, even if not particularly spacious, and I enjoyed seeing and hearing the robots as they moved around the reception area into the lifts. The breakfast was superb – varied food, and lots of it. The staff were wonderful, although not much English was spoken. The location is great, being at the junction of two subway lines and the Capital Airport Express. The only possible downside was that the aircon didn’t work particularly well in the rooms, although I’m told the weather was unusually warm for the March 2025 days when I stayed.
I'm not quite sure where I should provide some comments about travelling around Beijing. It can be quite a culture challenge if, like me, it is your first visit to Beijing, and you do not speak the language. The usual approach for any visitor to a foreign country is to ask staff at your hotel, or to stop passersby, or to consult something like Google Maps. The first two of these are possible, but, in view of the lack of any widespread use of English by the Chinese, the answers provided might not be readily understood by the questioner.
This situation is not helped by the fact that the English translations of various Chinese place names can have different spellings, which makes it hard to identify where exactly any particular place is located. In addition, the Beijing subway is vast, and can take a long time to travel around. The interchange between lines can be as much as 10-15 minutes. Yet further, the subway stations themselves are massive, with sometimes as many as six exits. These are also sometimes 10 or 15 minutes walk away from each other. So there is a risk that you could emerge into the open air without really knowing where you are. For info, I attach a March 2025 photo of a plan of the Beijing subway. I suggest visitors get to know this well, taking care that you don't confuse (as happened with me!) one like-sounding station with another.
As for online maps, the great Chinese firewall makes it tricky to consult and use the Internet with any great facility. I found that it took a long time to plan any travel around the city. For instance, I wanted to visit the Marco Polo bridge, which in 1937 was the scene of a skirmish, or battle, between the Japanese and the Chinese in 1937. But could I work out how to get to this site? In a word, no. I simply could not establish the route, or how long it would take, or which suburban railway or subway line I should use. So I gave up. I suspect that it would be possible with some form of guided tour but that would need to be planned in advance. I could also have used a taxi, I suppose, except I couldn't get to grips with the ride hailing app Didi.
In summary, Beijing is a lovely place. The architecture is amazing. The people are friendly. Hotels are affordable and clean. One feels safe. Food is tasty. The culture and history is, naturally, sensational. I'm very much in favour in fostering good relations between the West and China. But western tourists should suspend your normal approach to sightseeing. Be prepared for internet restrictions, and language issues, to make it a lot harder than usual to get around or visit places. The authorities and the various travel organisations steer you towards organised tours, so maybe the best idea is to buy into this concept. Or perhaps you can get a Chinese buddy to explain things. So my advice is to visit Beijing with an open mind and be prepared to be patient, and play by the rules rather than trying to be too independent.
