The hotel is clean and affordable. The staff does not understand a bit of english however they advertise they do speak English - they don't! Taxis don't like to take you to the hotel so you end up needing to use the subway which is a 20-30 minute walk away from the hotel.

Like so many hotels in China, this hotel looks great from the outside (and online) but has flaws on the inside. This hotel is an architecturally significant, old and charming hotel with a theme of the Beijing Opera - in fact there are performances there in the Liyuan Theatre which are worth seeing. The lobby is lovely and has a huge skylight which makes it bright and airy. The staff is very helpful and the breakfast is wonderful.

The rooms are not as good as the exterior and lobby. They smelled of mold and the shower did not drain well. There is a safe and mini-fridge in the room, wired Ethernet (Wifi only in lobby). The location is fairly good - you can take a 10 minute walk to the the Temple of Heaven or to the Hongqiao (Pearl) Market, and it is a 15 minutes walk from both the Caishikou and Hepingmen subway stations. Overall, it is a good hotel that could use some upgrading as to cleanliness, but I would stay here again.

HORRIBLE!!! it says 4 star but seemed more like a two star hotel!!! i dont see what the hype is all about!!! first of all the air conditioning wasnt working and the stench in the corridors were unbearable!! the staff didnt knw english too well and it was harder explaining the problem to them! food was average..nothing great. wish we had stayed at a better hotel.

The hotel has an excellent standard for its four stars, as good as some allegedly 5* hotels. Our room was attractive and comfortable. Breakfast was very good and the breakfast room tastefully decorated. The staff were correct and efficient but with some exceptions not overly friendly. The location was convenient for the sights around Tiananmen Square. Good value and recommended.