Beijing Hotel Guide - 2 star hotels in Xicheng, Beijing

If you want to experience how does the old Chinese living look and feel like, then this is the best hotel for you. You wont be able to locate this by just looking at its facade, all it has is the small No.58 placed on its vintage red door. It is located at the end of a hutong (Xisi Beiwutiao). The hutong is relatively safe during the night. This hotel is kinda far from the subway station though. Ping'Anli being the nearest is around 750m away, while on the other side is Xisi subway, which is 800m away or even close to a kilometer. But if you are looking for Chinese restaurants along the way, better walk to the Xisi station. This hotel does not have any restaurant by the way.

The main good thing about this hotel is the fact that it is cheap compared to other hotels in Beijing. I'm not sure how many stars this hotel has but it certainly deserves no star, at all. First, I arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night and was just going to ask whether or not I can leave my big baggage in a room there until I can check in in the afternoon but I was rudely sent away by the receptionist which apparently slept behind the reception on two stools. I understand that it was 4am or so but I'm just used to a hotel that is half-way decent being staffed day and night and being friendly to customers. I had to drag my big baggage around until I came back to check in. I suppose since I am a foreign they already knew that the room I originally had booked (single person room, non-smoking, double bed) would be not to my liking, so even before they gave me a room key they had the cleaning lady show me the room to see whether or not I'd want to upgrade to the next biggest room. I sticked to the room I ordered through Expedia even though it smelled like cigarettes and had an ashtray in the room (not what one would expect from a non-smoking room) and the room was just the bed and a "wet room" which was not a room but just a part of the room that was closed off with glass and a glass door. This single room can't have been wider than 6 feet and not longer than 9 feet. I complained that it wasn't non-smoking but it didn't help. I upgraded to the bigger room in the end.

Hôtel "correct", fonctionnel, pas le luxe mais suffisant pour dormir. Literie et aménagement ok. (TV plasma, douche, bouilloire électrique, sèche-cheveux, chambre petite). Cadre sympa, terrasse intérieure, jolie, calme et reposant. Cloison des chambres minces, alors si vous avez un voisin bruyant..Accès par la station Ping'anli, sortie D, puis dirigez vous vers la banque ABC au coin, vous êtes à 200m, assez facile mais imprimez votre adresse en chinois et demandez votre chemin. De l'aéroport, prendre le Bus express (2€)jusqu'au terminus, la Station Xidan. De là, Soit vous prenez le métro jusque Ping'anli (2 stations, et ticket à 0,2€...) ou prenez un Taxi de Xidan jusqu'à l'entrée de la rue de votre Hôtel (Taxi 3€ maxi, vraiment pas cher..). Les + de l'hôtel = hôtel pas cher, sympathique, personnel bienveillant, quartier populaire mais vraiment typique, loin des touristes... Les - : Pas de petit-déjeuner (mais bouilloire et tasse dispo dans la chambre), odeur parfois désagréable des canalisations.La localisation pourra sembler loin des quartiers animés mais métro pas loin et taxi vraiment pas cher pour se déplacer partout! Perso, je retournerai volontiers dans cet hôtel vraiment pas cher et bien typique.