While travelling in Beijing on business, a colleague made reservations for my wife and I at a nearby hotel (Golden Sun). When we arrived, we found this hotel did not have non-smoking rooms. My wife has asthma and could not stay at their hotel, so the desk clerk arranged for us a room at the Grand Metro Park.

The desk clerk at the Grand Metro Park was very gracious and made accomodations for us without reservations. My wife and I were very impressed by how the hotel was kept so clean and quiet. The common areas are beautifully decorated, and our guest room on the non-smoking floor was absolutely impeccable. All of the staff was very kind, especially the hostess and wait staff in the resturant where breakfast is served. We felt well taken care of during our stay, and would recommend this hotel to all our friends and colleagues. I look forward to staying there again.

Keep in mind that this hotel is not on the east side of Beijing with all the other western branded hotels. It is Chinese owned and operated, so don't expect western kiss-a$$ service. It is however in a much more traditional area, and a short taxi ride to Tiananmen Sq and Beihai park. It is also on the opposite side of the city from the airport, so expect a 1-1/2 to 2 hour taxi ride.

Stayed at the Metropark the first several nights of a 15 day tour, and it was a fantastic place to start. Very upscale and a grand lobby. Super clean. Actually the only hotel that gave us lotion on the trip... so standard in America, but all the others gave slippers, toothbrush&paste... everything but lotion. The service was great, and everyone at the hotel was very helpful.

Many hotels had great breakfast buffets, but this one had the best. Good coffee, eggs cooked to order with sample plates to point at, lots of choices of fruit, absolutely every option both western and eastern. Also, it's a very attractive room just off the lobby.

This would be a good choice if you have kids who demand fast food, as not only are there lots of choices for breakfast (and dinner, we heard) -- but a block or two up the street there are a KFC and pizza place-- there might have even been a McDonald's.

Only negative-- some people complained that the beds were too hard. However, I have a feeling that, because it was the first hotel of the trip, they just had not gotten used to the very, very firm beds throughout China.
We loved this hotel!

a large group of us stayed at the metropark for three nights. we were out sight seeing all day, so the hotel really just served as a bed for the night. the rooms were good, though the beds were a bit low and harder than most americans and europeans would be used to...it was not uncomfortable though. our room faced the main road, and though this didn't make for a beautiful view, noise wasn't much of a problem. as far as food goes, their dinner menu wasn't great and the food was very sub-par. i'd recomment just going out and eating some authentic chinese food. however, the breakfast buffet was a wonderful variety of continental as well as traditional chinese options. the location of the hotel isn't great in that its in the south part of the city and many of the major sights are in the northern part. we got lucky with the traffic, however, this could pose a problem during rush hour. my only major complaint would be that almost no one spoke english. it took us almost a half hour to get someone to point us in the direction of the pool (which, when we finally found it, we discovered was very clean and nice. they have a great game room too....a bit expensive though.)

We have stayed at this hotel twice now and found it to be a wonderful hotel, the rooms and service were excellent. The food was some of the best breakfasts we had while on both trips to China (2006) and this year. They do have a new policy of not cashing traveller checks but because I was aware there was a problem I brought cash for the first few days in China. Also there is an ATM machine and a Bank of China located a few hundred feet from their front door. We took taxis to the big markets before our trip home and the cost was only a few dollars.
The area is very quiet , and if you venture around the area early in the morning you'll be surprised at all the local color and ambience you'll find right there. I call this the real China.
lwaild, Lockport, NY