My husband and I are meeting our son, who is working in Mongolia, in Beijing the last 4 days of June. We are looking for a centrally located place to stay to see some of the more typical tourist sights of the city. Has anyone stayed at Haoyuan Hotel and have any personal experience with it? If not, we'd appreciate any recommendations for a mid-range priced hotel--between $100-$180 centrally located--something comfortable and reflecting some part of the Chinese culture--be it the new ultra-modern or something reflecting the more traditional Chinese ambience.

I have a reservation at Emperor's Guards Station Courtyard Hotel which is a 5 min. walk to Dongdan metro stop, just east of Tian'anmen square.
Phone: +86-10-65274138
Fax:+86-10-65274178
Cell: +86- 13621228626
E-mail: [email protected]
www.emperorsguards.com
Address: No. 51, Beijige Santiao, Dongdan Beidajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Bonnie returns e-mails quickly. Book directly, her price is better than booking on a booking site. There are very good reviews of this B&B on Trip Advisor.

Some considerable caution here. There are very many of these courtyard hotels popping up out of nowhere all over the place now, and you should trust neither photography nor descriptions given on their website. Many are attempting to charge the unwary considerably more than they are worth, and lying about the antiquity of what is in fact a total rebuild is very common (although unknown in the case above). Trip Advisor is the last place to look for reliable advice, and is also heavily compromised by postings from interested parties posing as disinterested ones. Booking far in advance from overseas for these Chinese-run places also guarantees that you pay more than you need to--very often a great deal more, and does not absolutely guarantee the room will be there unless there's payment in advance.

For a late-June visit you certainly shouldn't be booking anything until mid-June. For foreign-run properties falling into the 'new ultra-modern' category the best rates will be found on their own sites from about a week before. Prices are falling rapidly, and the price range given will get you into almost any hotel in Beijing by then. For ultra-modern I'd suggest the tower-top Park Hyatt, the well-designed and trendy Opposite House, and for a whiff of times past in solid, individually furnished roms, the Raffles. All of these will be easily found with a little Googling.

The Haoyuan is overpriced amongst courtyard hotels, and often hard to get into as its on the mental maps of both expats and middle-scale tour groups. You'll get a better rate and better level of comfort at newer properties that remain undiscovered, but not by booking in advance from overseas and clearly identifying yourself as a foreigner. The rates on the websites are only paid by people coming from overseas, and are automatically discounted over the counter, and then bargained down still lower, sometimes (depending on time of year, demand) to as little as 30% of published prices, with 70% being common, and 50% also fairly standard.

If you must book in advance, then you'll do better with the foreign-run enterprises, but again you should leave it until very shortly before you leave. There are thousands of top-end rooms recently opened with yet more coming available this year, and supply already well outstripping demand even before the current economic collapse. June is a low season in China, with little business or domestic leisure travel anyway. You can only benefit by waiting until the pips are really squeaking, although it's said that occupancy rates at some swanky hotels are as little as 10% already. So if anything the pips will be screaming by June. Take advantage of the bad planning and the recession, and pay no more than you have to. Prices in Beijing, after reaching absurd heights, are once again becoming more realistic.

Peter N-H

Here's a recent discussion on an assortment of Beijing hotels, and you'll find more like it by using the search box:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...sfavorites.cfm

I'm happy with our dealings with Emperor's Guards in the help they're providing before we arrive. I'll report back the first week in June of my opinions once there.

I understand it would be less expensive to wait on booking, but I just can't do it that way. I feel we already have a very resonable rate, although a Chinese citizen would most likely pay less.

The difference is not between one citizenship and another, but in the manner of booking. The industry is happy to take more money from those who insist on booking in advance, treat the industry as if it works the same way as those at home, and take published prices at face value. No one who turns up and discusses matters over the counter, be they Chinese or foreign, will usually pay anything like the published price, even more than usually now. But even for those who cannot conceive of not booking in advance, now is far too early to book for a Chinese-run hotel in June, if paying a reasonable, real-world price is the aim.

Peter N-H