I am traveling to China in April with 200 high school band students for two weeks! Our itinerary says that we are staying at the Friendship hotel in Beijing. I would appreciate any info anyone has about this hotel, as it has been very difficult to find info on line. Thanks

Friendship Hotel Beijing http://b2b.hotelclub.net/DirectHotel...=&id=34484

It's a vast, Soviet-era complex in a not particularly convenient part of town, mostly used by tour groups and conferences. I found it good value and perfectly good accomodations when I was there in 2004. There are several reviews at tripadvisor--see
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...l-Beijing.html

OT: how do I abbreviate a URL? I tried using raw html and that didn't work.

It's on the west side between the zoo and the Summer Palace, surrounded by universities and research institutions, good hotel for the students.

Good luck and please let us know how the trip went!

I stayed at this hotel once for business; it's in the part of town that's full of universities and technology firms (the "Silicon Valley" of China). The lobby and rooms are decorated with an ancient Chinese flair. If you are tired of modern international chains (whose rooms have no character at all), then you may like this hotel.
However, the service may not be 5-star.

local north-west ofdowntown,surrounded by universities and research institutions,like People`s University,Peking and Ksing Hua Universities,good place for students to live.