The 21st Century Hotel is a good value hotel in the northeast of Beijing.

(1) Neighborhood

The Hotel is realtively close to the airport -- about 25 minutes, assuming good traffic conditions. (Beijing is urban sprawl hell, so this is a good location if you want to be close to the airport.) A taxi from the airport should cost about Y$75 (about US$10). The hotel is located in the Chaoyang neighborhood, but there's really not much to see within walking distance. There are a number of embassies located nearby, a street called "Super Bar" for nightlife, and a decent mall, all within walking distance. The neighborhood was perfectly acceptable, if lacking in major siteseeing opportunities. The hotel has a taxi stand, and taxis are relatively inexpensive (at least to NYC standards). The hotel is not close to any subway stations.

(2) Check-In / Check-Out

We booked our reservations using a service called "elong.net". WARNING: If you use this service, the hotel will demand that you check-in before midnight. If you arrive after midnight, the hotel may cancel your reservation. Elong does not have an option for late night check-ins, and the hotel would not let us confirm a late night reservation over the phone.

We had scheduled our original check-in using Elong for 11:45 pm (giving us a 15 minute window to check-in). Because our flight was delayed, we didn't get to the hotel until after 1:30 am. The check-in manager informed us that our reservation had been cancelled. He did try to make it right, but instead of a room with two beds for the first night, he was only able to offer us a room with a single king-sized bed for a first night, and the real room we had booked for the following nights.

The check-in desk is capable of handling basic transactions in English, but more complex issues may require some time, patience, and a phrasebook. During the day, there's almost always at least one person on duty who has better English skills.

Once we resolved our issue with the late check-in, we found the check-in desk to be professional and helpful. They were willing to store our luggage for 3 days while we travelled elsewhere in the country.

(3) Price

My friend and I paid Y$500/night (about US$66) for a room with two beds and a private bathroom.

(4) Rooms

The rooms are nice, clean, and modern. This is a real hotel, with a business clientelle. bathrooms are clean with plenty of towels, and many of the rooms have a mini-bar for additional cost. The beds were very comfortable, with good mattresses.

(5) Other Amenities

Internet service is available on the 1st floor for Y$1/minute (every 8 minutes is US$1). I can't recall whether or not they have wireless access in the rooms. 1 Liter of Evian is available for sale for Y$30.

The concierge is willing to book tours, but to be quite honest, I found them overpriced: They charged Y$260/person for an acrobat show, and we discovered that people sitting many rows in front of us had only paid Y$150 for tickets they bought on their own. They were unable to provide us with a private car with driver for the day at a reasonable price (we booked this on our own with just a few phone calls).

All rooms have phones, and local calls are only Y$0.2/minute (about US$0.03).

The room price includes breakfast for one person in their restaurant. If you're two people, you'll have to pay for an extra breakfast. We didn't partake, but it looked decent.

The ATM on the first floor did not accept my bank card (and did not appear to accept any foreign bank cards), however the concierge desk did provide exchange of foreign cash and travellers cheques at very reasonable rates (much, much better than at the airport). Make sure that your bills look clean, or they may not accept them.

(6) Conclusion

This is a good, inexpensive business-class hotel, located close to the airport. Our problems with check-in were probably more due to the travel service we used than to the hotel. The staff was always friendly and willing to assist with our requests (some of which may have seemed strange, such as our desire to walk up the stairs rather than take an elevator). I wouldn't recommend the tour booking desk because they're overpriced, but other services were very acceptable. The rooms were very good and it was easy to get a good night's sleep. I would stay there again.