Beijing hotel negotiations on site
May 2nd, 2004, 05:46 AM
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Beijing hotel negotiations on site
After flying for fifteen hours or more, what would anyone suggest for the first night in Beijing. Which hotel would be easy to negotiate with and close to other hotels should we be turned away? We arrive at three o'clock pm. If we made advance reservations for just one night could we not "deal" with them for the subsequent four nights? We are interested in an upscale hotel but certainly not for big bucks.
May 2nd, 2004, 06:18 AM
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'Upscale' but 'not for big bucks' means a Chinese-run hotel (although one person's 'big bucks' is another's pocket money).
One of the airport express buses will drop you at the ticket office directly opposite the recently refurbished Prime Hotel (Hua Qiao Da Sha) at the top of Wangfujing Dajie. I haven't seen this hotel since its refurbishment, but it was one of the most amenable at the upper end to bargaining in the past.
Failing success there, the best policy is for one or more members of the party to relax in the lobby while one or more go on to do further research.
Just south of the Hua Qiao down Wangfujing, on the other side of the road is the Wangfujing Grand Hotel, so try there next. On the way you'll pass the Fu Hao Binguan, set back from the road. This is only a three star, which again I haven't looked into for a couple of years, but which was spotless when last seen, and had highly negotiable prices. You may well find this quite comfortable enough--higher floors recommended.
Further south still you can always put your head in at the Crowne Plaza, but you'll do better in terms of price at the slightly glum Tianlun Dynasty on the opposite corner.
A little further south still, and one block west, the Cuiming Zhuang Binguan (at Nán He Yan Dajie 1)
One of the airport express buses will drop you at the ticket office directly opposite the recently refurbished Prime Hotel (Hua Qiao Da Sha) at the top of Wangfujing Dajie. I haven't seen this hotel since its refurbishment, but it was one of the most amenable at the upper end to bargaining in the past.
Failing success there, the best policy is for one or more members of the party to relax in the lobby while one or more go on to do further research.
Just south of the Hua Qiao down Wangfujing, on the other side of the road is the Wangfujing Grand Hotel, so try there next. On the way you'll pass the Fu Hao Binguan, set back from the road. This is only a three star, which again I haven't looked into for a couple of years, but which was spotless when last seen, and had highly negotiable prices. You may well find this quite comfortable enough--higher floors recommended.
Further south still you can always put your head in at the Crowne Plaza, but you'll do better in terms of price at the slightly glum Tianlun Dynasty on the opposite corner.
A little further south still, and one block west, the Cuiming Zhuang Binguan (at Nán He Yan Dajie 1)
May 2nd, 2004, 06:20 AM
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All thumbs today...
is another three star that was in excellent condition when last seen, and very well-placed for the Forbidden City and the metro.
There are other hotels to look into en route. None of the Chinese five stars are worth anything like their published prices, however, although the recent refurbishment of the Hua Qiao is said to be rather good.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
is another three star that was in excellent condition when last seen, and very well-placed for the Forbidden City and the metro.
There are other hotels to look into en route. None of the Chinese five stars are worth anything like their published prices, however, although the recent refurbishment of the Hua Qiao is said to be rather good.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
May 2nd, 2004, 12:11 PM
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I also recommend the Cui Ming Zhuang Hotel where we stayed in April. It was very satisfactory, clean, quiet, comfortable. Breakfast was not included. Agonizingly slow dialup internet was Y30 for 30 minutes. We paid Y420 (about $51US)for our room, booked by phone the day before our stay, although I'm pretty sure you could book on the spot. Negotiating might be problematical since their English was minimal. Posted rate was a good bit more than we paid as I remember. I show their fax number as 010 6301 8811. If dialing from outside China, I don't think you include the leading zero. Country code is 86.
There was no AC while we were there; not a problem. The first room we got was smoky and we easily changed to another. Easy to get a taxi from the hotel.
Best attribute - location, location, location. Only about a block or two from the Forbidden City and a block the other way from shopping street Wangfujing. And in between, the fabulous Donghua Men night market for a most interesting supper - I really can't recommend the cricket kabob and some of the other choices, but we found plenty of delicious food to eat. There are also lots of restaurants close by. Walk to Lao She's courtyard home, the Imperial Archives, hutongs, Tian'an Men Square, Beihai Park, and more.
We arranged our first three nights in Beijing via Priceline, bidding $50 for 4* in the Chongwen zone and receiving the New World Courtyard by Marriott (web and walk up rate is $90). We were satisfied with the hotel but preferred the location of the Cui Ming Zhang.
There was no AC while we were there; not a problem. The first room we got was smoky and we easily changed to another. Easy to get a taxi from the hotel.
Best attribute - location, location, location. Only about a block or two from the Forbidden City and a block the other way from shopping street Wangfujing. And in between, the fabulous Donghua Men night market for a most interesting supper - I really can't recommend the cricket kabob and some of the other choices, but we found plenty of delicious food to eat. There are also lots of restaurants close by. Walk to Lao She's courtyard home, the Imperial Archives, hutongs, Tian'an Men Square, Beihai Park, and more.
We arranged our first three nights in Beijing via Priceline, bidding $50 for 4* in the Chongwen zone and receiving the New World Courtyard by Marriott (web and walk up rate is $90). We were satisfied with the hotel but preferred the location of the Cui Ming Zhang.
