“A good hotel for a conference”

A comfortable hotel in an out-of-the-way location, near the zoo and the aquarium (with a nice show) and not far from the Wuta Si Five-Pagoda Temple. It had a very nice garden on the grounds. The hotel was one mile from a large subway and suburban train station, an easy walk. We took the train ... more

A comfortable hotel in an out-of-the-way location, near the zoo and the aquarium (with a nice show) and not far from the Wuta Si Five-Pagoda Temple. It had a very nice garden on the grounds. The hotel was one mile from a large subway and suburban train station, an easy walk. We took the train there to visit the Great Wall. We tried one of the restaurants at the hotel and did not like it. The buffet breakfast was moderately priced and reasonably good. There were a couple of popular restaurants around the corner and another one we liked by the station. The English proficiency of the staff at the front desk was surprisingly poor. The TV was adequate.

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“Central Garden, but not very central!”

I just spent two weeks in Beijing working at one of the nearby Universities. The hotel is rated 4* but its getting a bit tired. The aircon either doesn't work or the controls are unfathomable, and the plumbing was not great either - the shower just about kept going for the two weeks. The staff sp... more

I just spent two weeks in Beijing working at one of the nearby Universities. The hotel is rated 4* but its getting a bit tired. The aircon either doesn't work or the controls are unfathomable, and the plumbing was not great either - the shower just about kept going for the two weeks. The staff speak little English - I found it hard to get problems resolved as a consequence. The main restaurant was good and quite good service. The buffet breakfast was quite varied and quite reasonable, but not very varied/exciting for a long term stay. Its about 20 minutes walk to the nearest metro station (there is also a bus) so quite a long time to get into the centre (although the metro is cheap). There are tourist attractions in Haidian (where the hotel is) but they are a long way away. Certainly tolerable even for two weeks - but it needs some investment!

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“Well Located for the University District”

The Central Garden Hotel is well located for business travellers who are doing business in the Haidian district of Beijing (top left hand corner of the map, within the third ring road). It is also next door to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The hotel is clean and the staff are as helpful as you c... more

The Central Garden Hotel is well located for business travellers who are doing business in the Haidian district of Beijing (top left hand corner of the map, within the third ring road). It is also next door to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The hotel is clean and the staff are as helpful as you could expect in this class of hotel. Not many speak English and some confusion is inevitable. I found that the front desk usually had one or two staff who spoke English well enough to deal with most guest interactions. I also found that a couple of the Bell Hops spoke very good English and were a great source of local knowledge and advice. The rooms are large but very dated and "tired". A minor make-over with some paint, wallpaper and new TVs would make a huge difference to this hotel. Wallpaper is peeling in some corners, paint is faded or scratched away in high-traffic areas and the TVs really are from last century. The beds are hard, there is no other way to describe them. Hard beds are a national preference and I've encountered similar hardness in Chinese hotels from Shenzhen to Shenyang. On the plus side, the free internet access is fast and reliable, all the rooms have a desk area that is big enough to be useful. There are three dining options in the hotel, a Muslim restaurant, a traditional Chinese and a casual restaurant that offers some western options. As with the case with all Chinese cities, you can't walk more that 50m without finding some kind of restaurant in the local area, so dining "in house" may not be your first choice. The breakfast buffet is adequate rather than lavish and is squarely aimed at the Chinese guests. There are western choices, with cereals cold meats, bacon and sausage, but the Chinese breakfast is pretty good and offers enough choice to cater for even the least adventurous westerner. I would stay here again, but may explore other options in the area.

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