My friends and I opted for a hotel+land arrangement package for our Beijing trip. Since we dilly-dallied in applying for a visa (we got ours a day before departure; mine was expedited and we received our passports just before we went to the airport), our reservation for everything was last minute. Yup.
Our supposedly 3-day tour became a 2-day tour because I didn't want to sleep at the airport and wait for the sun to rise. So, our airport pick-up service, a huge van, greeted us when we arrived in Beijing and we were promptly chauffeured to our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Chongwenmen. My friend chose this hotel because it's a Marriott. It was expensive, though. We were booked for 3 nights, Tuesday to Friday.
Beijing looked kinda sleepy when we arrived. Maybe because it was already past midnight. The Courtyard, too, looked sleepy. It was so quiet it seemed as if were the only guests there. But the lobby had a Christmas tree, yay! The hallway on our floor smelled of newly-installed carpeting. Our room, too, smelled, looked and felt new. And it was decent sized and spotless. No plumbing smells from the bathroom. All's well? It should be, right? We checked-in late, 12 hrs. past the regular check-in and the third bed was not yet set-up. We had to wait for an hour before it could be arranged. No one was answering the phone at the housekeeping. We had to call at the front-desk lobby to tell them our concern. Plus, the phone's not working properly. It kept on unhooking and thus the dial tone sound on speaker came on frequently. It was annoying and it was did so on unholy hours! I unplugged it so we could have peace.
Aside from those, our stay was okay. The beds were comfortable; it was hard but it's hard everywhere. Besides, it was good on the back. Buffet breakfast had a good variety: rice, porridge, bacon, ham, has brown, assorted bread, juices, fruits, but it was the same everyday. Still, it's filling and delicious.
The biggest pluses staying at the Courtyard are: 1) close proximity to the subway station; and 2) grocery, shopping and dining. The Courtyard is connected to a mall with a grocery at the basement, the New World Shopping Plaza. Also, there's an H & M near the hotel as well as smaller malls like Soshow. There's a nearby Starbucks and Mc Donald's, too. On the downside, there's no free wi-fi, not even on the lobby.
This is the view from outside our room. The mall in front is Glory Mall; there's an H & M there. Below, on the left, not in picture, is the underpass to the subway. On the right side, not in picture, are Starbucks and Mc Donald's.
