overall great property with a lovely lobby and fantastic room

Everything about this hotel is terrific; a real Ritz Carlton experience. I stayed here for 7 days at the club level. By the end of first day it seemed all of the employees knew and called me by name. The staff at club level are great. The food presentations are all day long and there are many choices and quality is high. The airport pick up by hotel was outstanding meeting me before customs and assisting me thru the process in a very quick manner. It was our anniversary and the staff presented us with a happy anniversary card with pictures of the staff at club level along with warm personal greetings. The room was large and very comfortable. Great breakfast buffet in main dining room. The immediate area has a large upscale mall with a great dumpling restaurant. A second mall across the street has a great foot massage place. The only problem with the location is other than the mall there is really no place to wall in the area. If you want to be able to walk outside the hotel, then the Peninsula or Regent are better located. But the main sites, great wall, summer place, birds nest, still require driving and taxis are cheap. I think this is a terrific hotel and would stay here again.

Just stayed there October 7 through 11, 2011. Great Central Business District location (and adjacent to luxe stores like Burberry and Gucci you find in any world capital).

Hotel feels small and intimate (not like the huge bustling Portman Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai), and the staff goes out of its way to maintain that feeling. (Groups, for instance, have their portrait taken, and it's delivered framed and gratis the next day.)

Rooms have the usual R-C old World Euro-inspired furnishings, with some Asianesque touches. The bathrooms are huge, tons of glass, and feature expected goodies like loofahs and shoeshine kits.

But there were some major scuffs on the walls and cabinets and blinds control console, which isn't good at an R-C or any newish hotel. Touch-ups are in order. It also took two tries for the front desk to properly input my R-C rewards number into the reservation.

On the other hand, every single thing, down to handkerchiefs, was folded each day during room cleaning, and when I forgot clothes in Beijing, they were laundered and forwarded on to me in Shanghai.

Rooftop pool was lovely, utterly clean and very relaxing for a morning swim. It seems it isn't used much -- each a.m., I was the only person swimming when stopped by.

The concierge provides a taxi card (which many of the big hotels do), but this one lists not just the R-C address but the address of about 10 other popular Beijing destinations (Summer Palace, Ya Show Market, etc.). Very handy.

Also very handy was the big R-C shopping bag, since so many Chinese stores don't provide good bags.

Nice selection of teas at the minibar. And of course R-C beds are always heaven.

Now, to the food. I only ate in the buffet, both for breakfast and dinner, but the food was not up to R-C standards, and there weren't enough selections. Breakfast was included, as it always is in Asia, but dinner buffet was $50 a person. That's too much for insufficient dim sum and mediocre pasta.

And speaking of prices. Yes, this is the R-C. And yes, the dollar has fallen significantly against the RMB. But $33 for a room service hamburger plus service charge? $30 for continental breakfast? Such prices seem to verge on abusive.

Still, I'd stay here again in a minute. If you do, ask for Ivy, the guest relations manager. William the doorman also is extremely helpful and efficient.

As a frequent business traveler, I don't get to stay at the Ritz much. I was lucky enough to get a one night stay here before my return home. The hotel lobby is a wonderful respite from the hectic city outside. The interior is decorated in old world charm with marble, wood, chandeliers, silk brocade furnishings in neutral colors and the hotel staff make you feel pampered and special. Concierge is very helpful. The hotel room I was in was very large, king sized bed, desk, 2 sitting chairs, large marble and tiled bathroom with 2 sinks, separate shower and soaking tub. The spa is open until 2am and I treated myself to a massage after a late night business dinner. The spa was well decorated and comfortable and the massage therapist spoke good English. The cost is pricey for China but it is comparable to the cost of any spa service you would get in the U.S. Breakfast buffet was good. Service was attentive and choices of food was good. The restaurant was not as large as its sister hotel, the Marriott, but the food choices, quality of food, and quality of service was just as good. I was able to get everything I wanted: eggs, home baked breads, meats, fresh fruits, yogurts, coffee, juices, etc. Don't confuse size of restaurant with availability of food. In fact, I was impressed to see home made yogurts and mueseli served in glass jars versus the mass-produced yogurts in prepared packaging. When I return to Beijing, I will definitely stay in this hotel.