After a two week business trip in China I spent a few days at the Nanjing Great Hotel to relax, shop and sightsee in Beijing. A coworker found the hotel for me. It was very clean, comfortable and very affordable. It was also a short walking distance from great food, shopping, sightseeing and a Catholic church. Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City are a short walk away. Bicycle rentals are just down the block. I’ll definitely stay there again.

We stayed here for five nights just before the Olympics last summer and it was a great choice. The location is perfect -- wedged in between Wangfujing and Tiannamen on a cross side street. The nightmarket venue is a few steps from the hotel. The subway (Wangfu.) is about a ten minute walk and the north entrance to the Forbidden City is also about 10. Really, the location could not be better for first time visitors or anyone else for that matter.

We booked a no-window double on sinohotel for about $50 a night which included breakfast buffet. The room was clean and comfortable as well as spacious. Top-notch maid service every morning was the norm. Flat screen t.v also. Just a well appointed, modern room & large bathroom / shower. Our relatives booked a room with a window which was larger and had a pretty good view of the surroundings. I think it was about $30 more per night. Maybe 20. Just check sinhotel.

Breakfast was very good in my opinion. Include it. It was the typical Chinese / Western situation with a lot of choices and a dude at the egg station. Actually, the breakfast experience was very nice each morning. Good food and nice atmosphere downstairs next to the lobby. We ate very well and got a good base for the hot days of exploring... The waiters and waitresses always smiled and said good morning. They also quickly cleared our plates so we could indulge more, which I probably did too often...

Now, about the staff. We came in quite late (2:00 a.m.) and were greeted by the very friendly and helpful night bellboy. He carted all of our baggage in and alerted the front desk clerk. She greeted us by name and proceeded to check us in quickly considering our fatigue. The staff at the Nanjing are young, but they work hard, speak pretty good English and do everything they can to accommodate their guests. I mean we always appreciated their efforts, which went far beyond the call of duty in my mind in a couple of situations. They would always happily locate and phone restaurants for us, write the names of destinations in Chinese on their cards for the taxi drivers and what not. With another year or so, they will all be seasoned pros, still their attitude needs no improvement at all.

The other thing I liked for us, but not the hotel, was it was not overly busy. On the weekend the dining area was pretty much full, but during the week maybe one quarter. Lots of personal attention in a new, modern hotel right off Wangfujing.

One last note. I do a lot of research before I travel. Maybe too much. I'm actually planning our trip to Europe this January at the present. Tripadvisor travelers play a major role in my choices on where to stay, what to see, and what to avoid. The Nanjing is definitely a central place you want to stay at that is affordable and comfortable. If you need anything more, just shoot me a message and do enjoy China.

The hotel has a good location but that's it. The rooms are dirty and smell like bunch of people smoking in there. The bathroom are very small and not clean. The hotel has some weird policy like no AC which means no cool air coming out of the vent in November, therefore, it's very hot in the room to sleep. There is a temparature control unit in the room but you can't change the temparature, then why install the unit? The staff do not speak good English, so it's very hard to communicate. The housekeeping staff are not trained correctly how to clean the room, for the four days that I stayed there, the only thing they do is to make the bed, I could do that myself. I don't recommend anyone stay at this hotel, it's one from hell.

I cannot be more clear, this is one of the best value hotels I have stayed at in China and I am there a lot. Not quite four star but well beyond a three star. The location could not be better, easy walk to Tianemen Square, Forbidden City ,Wanfujing Street and you quite literally can throw a rock at the night market. Paid $48 through Ctrip for a windowless single, which I really prefer because it lets me ignore what time it is outside if I want to nap [jet lag hint].