I stayed there on 2007.
The location is great, if you want to feel an original hutong atmosphere ! There is some poverty nearby, but it is a great and safe experience to be there !
It is also next to the Tianmen Square, the Forbidden City and the subway.
The hostel has a courtyard where you may meet people and exchange tips. Do not wait for frills, it is a hostel, ok ? However, it is clean and the heating works fine !
The atmosphere is friendly on this hostel and you may book some tours at the front desk or at some stores nearby.
I did appreciate the place and it is really worthy if you are on a budget.
Print a chinese map in order to advise your cab driver, ok ?

Very low price, and a decent hostel.
Located in the famous hutongs in the middle of old Beijing (like 1-2 km south of Tiananmen Square).
A 10+ minute walk to reach Hepingmen subway station.

My wife & I stayed there in September for 2 weeks room 417 in the main hotel. Room quite large and what a relief to have a first class shower. towels and bedding changed regulary.Only down side was storage space for clothing but no big deal. Ask at reception to write down in chinese where you want to go. Also for a card to give taxi drivers to show them where you want to get back to.
We thought the breakfast was far to dear. but did not miss it. Food in surrounding restaurants fantastic and so cheap.
20 mins walk from Tianamen square if you can resist the temptation not to wonder into the many shops on the way.Then through the square to the forbidden city.
Also 20 mins walk from The station at Hepingmen. Train fares 20 yuan (20p UK) to anywhere. Unbelievable! Very easy to use and a tourist train map can be had there for free.We managed to get to most sites by train even though taxis were very reasonable, make sure they put their meters on and beware of any tut-tuts which will trick you ( they say 18 ( £1.80p)and when you get to destination swear blind they said 80...(£8.00p) each)
We also took a bus to the Zoo 20yuan and about an hours drive very interesting.
I would highly recommend this hotel for a clean room, excellent service ,and helpful staff Ideal for any one who wants to save money for the excellent shopping to be had around.

Beijing was my last stop on a three-week trip to China. I stayed at far East for 6 nights and would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. After staying in a variety of places, Far East seemed adequate, although a bit pricey for the private rooms based on my other experiences. I chose the hotel for its location, which was convenient - near the subway and Tian'anmen (10-15 walk to each). The hostel is located in a hutong, which I really enjoyed seeing. I'm surprised that I saw several comments here about people not feeling safe in the area and being grossed out - hello, it's a fairly poor neighborhood in a developing country. I never had any issues or felt threatened in any way, and there are people still out selling fruit late at night so it's not at all desolate, plus there are several other hostels located nearby. The hotel istelf is fine - nothing fancy, with rather grim communist decor, but cleaned well every day. One negative is that no cab drivers knew where the hotel was, even with the Chinese map. When I arrived, the cabdriver had a difficult timetrying to drive through the narrow streets which were blocked by a bunch of bikes parked in the way. I ended up just getting dropped off on the main drag and walking into the hutong since it was less bother and probably quicker.