Hotels in Beijing, China

Considering that I arived at the airport at 2:30 AM the bus was still at the airport and with a quick ride to the hotel I was greated by a very friendly staff. The breakfast was very good with many choices. After getting a late checkout I went back to a room that I wish was mine at home.

Immediately upon arrival at the Grand Millennium Beijing, you will be treated--and feel--like royalty. I have stayed in some nice places before, both in the States and abroad, and this hotel is among the best. The staff at the hotel in Beijing are pros at making the customer feel welcome and going above and beyond to ensure everything is as perfect as possible. The rooms (my fellow travelers and I were in "executive club" rooms) were spotless and the bathroom had both a tub and shower (separate). The desk (free wireless in room) also contained power converters, and the TV and (free) mini-bar area were nice as well. There is an in-room safe, free slippers, robes, and information on laundry as well. The bed was very large and comfortable, and there was a nice couch/lounger as well. The views of the city from the large windows in the bathroom and bedroom were superb. Particular staff members who were helpful included Abbie and Mark in the executive lounge, and Sam (concierge/baggage). A complaint is that every transaction seemed to take a long time, compared to the US. Although there was not much of a language barrier, it took nearly 45 minutes to check out on our final day (we actually stayed at the hotel on two separate occasions during our week-long trip to China) since I was playing cash for several rooms and trying to sort out expenses charged to the room. It was not entirely their fault, but considering they knew we had a car reserved (via the hotel) for our trip to the airport, it should have taken 15 minutes... A small quibble to be sure. Another one is that there is no free wireless in the lobby, which was ridiculous as there is a lobby lounge with tons of seating. It was fairly inconvenient for me while waiting for my party to arrive. But otherwise, a painless stay at a wonderful hotel.

A bit of mixed feelings about their service levels. On the one hand, they rendered services that were totally unexpected (such as acknowledging my birthday with a 6” cake and b-day card). But on the other hand, they completely flopped on simple expectations. On our booking, we had requested for a room on the highest floor available/possible. We were placed on the 3rd floor (the lowest possible). This aside, we inquired about the closest metro/subway station and were given directions that required us to walk approximately 10 minutes (around the block), whereas, we could have walked out their side door that would have cut the time to about a 3 minute walk. We had to discover this route on our own. Why was this not told to us? Overall, hotel is clean and quiet (although on 3rd floor, street noise was non-existent). But service is questionable!

I traveled with my son and we selected its nearby location to airport and their shuttle service. We traveled to downtown and airport on their free on-time shuttle many times and it gave us access to long distance, very convenient, cheap, very comfortable, on-time bus services available from airport. (We did travel more than 250 miles away from Beijing).We did eat breakfast, dinner at the hotel restaurants at nominal costs but we wished they had better buffet foods as we had enjoyed at some other hotels especially where much better buffet breakfast was included. You could, however, walk outside the hotel and find small places to eat if you want to save more. I needed to access internet and it was terrible experience in logging and EXPENSIVE.

Swissotel Beijing is a very nice and comfortable hotel, and in a good location. I like the most is their knowledgeable and friendly staffs. When I checked in, I was informed that my room was upgraded. I asked how and what time I should leave for American Embassy with an appointment at 8:30 am to replace my lost passport. I was given a printed map, and told to take a taxi at 7:00 am because it would be difficult to find a Taxi, and bad traffic during the rash hours. I spent the all morning in the embassy, and found out that I could not be back to check out at 12:00 pm. When I called the hotel, the staff extended my check out time to 1:00 pm. I feel that they provided both comfort and help when I had problem.