This was my fifth time in China but my spouse's (and our baby's) first time in Asia. The fast-changing pace of China never ceases to amaze me. I've learned to expect something new(er) every time I visit but this time I was really anxious because I wanted my husband to really enjoy his first Asian excursion. AND, we were bringing our 10-MONTH OLD BABY (and about 6 large pieces of luggage, 5 of which were for the baby! lol) so my anxiety level was HIGH. First, the location of Raffles is the BEST. The only other hotel that rivals this location is the Beijing Hotel (right next door) but I had heard from other colleagues that service and decor at the BH has gone down despite the increasing room costs. Second, Raffles has the best location in terms of being able to walk to sights, shopping and restaurants quite easily. Getting a taxi on Donchang-An boulevard is next to impossible unless it is from a hotel. Plus, we didn't want to have to take a taxi everywhere to go anywhere so this hotel held the maximum amount of sightseeing and eating capabilities in walking distance. *WARNING TO NON-CHINESE SPEAKERS: staying at a handfull of well-known hotels is vitally important as most taxi drivers do NOT speak a lick of English so being able to say "Raffulo Hotel" (pinyin for Raffles Hotel) got us BACK from the restaurant -or whatever site we were visiting- to the hotel. Third, we really needed a room that had a separate bedroom from the living room so the baby could take her naps in peace and Raffles had a large Executive Room that suited our needs perfectly without adding much to the price of a regular room. Although we brought our pack-n-play, it was completely unnecessary as the hotel had a Graco Pack-n-play and a beautiful crib set of frilly sheets and blankets all set up for us when we checked in! The mini-bar had a medium size fridge which allowed us to store our one-week supply of baby formula (from the U.S.) as well as an ample supply of bottled water to mix it with. Oh, this in ADDITION to greeting us at the airport with a valet that actually COLLECTED ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE (yes, all six pieces, plus the stroller, our pack-n-play, and our portable bassinet) and SPED us through an "expedited" Customs line to a VIP parking lot underneath the airport where a chauffeur-driven, luxury, large Audi WITH AN INFANT CAR SEAT awaited us! This hotel REALLY knows how to accommodate infants and parents! We felt like celebrities staying here (we aren't). The breakfast buffets were fantastic, with a nice mixture of Asian and Western offerings, self-serve and made-to-order. The seating and service was immediate every morning, with coffee served piping hot immediately and with utmost courtesy (and English-speaking staff). In fact, after the first morning, the staff would fetch the infant seat upon our entering the breakfast room every morning after that. They never rushed us out, either, especially since feeding a baby makes breakfast a two-hour event! Our executive room was always in top notch condition after maid service and any requests were acted upon within 5-10 minutes. Our room had a large foyer, a living room, separate bedroom and large bathroom with two entrances with separate toilet room and bidet. We didn't eat dinner here because there are so many other choices in Beijing for traditional fare such as Peking Duck and Mongolian hot-pot that we wanted to get to. And, at the end of our stay, we got the same VIP treatment going back to the airport as we had on our arrival. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The only upset was on the last night of our stay, some heavy and LOUD construction work went on until 2AM!! We called the Front Desk and the manager apologized but said there was nothing he could do about it since it was construction belonging to another building (unrelated to the hotel) but sent up two pairs of earplugs for us and offered to change our room. But with a baby changing rooms at 2am was not an option. I guess there are some negatives to the industriousness of the Beijingers (2am?) but all in all, the best place to stay for location, pampering comfort and letting someone else do all the planning and forethought! Will definitely come here again next time in Beijing!

It's hard to resist the name Raffles! As part of a Virtuoso Tour of Tibet my last destination was Beijing and the wonderful Raffles Hotel. Every part of the hotel lived up to it's legendary name, the rooms, food and service were all excellent and set in immaculate surrounds.
The Beijing Raffles is situated within walking distance of the Forbidden Palace and Tian'anmen Square and when you need a break from all the amazing history and culture the shopping is only a street away. I can't wait to go back 3 days is not enough for this amazing city.

We stayed at Raffles Hotel for about 4 days in Beijing in June 2011. Bella Bai, the concierge was wonderful. All the hotel employees were so nice and kind to my family of 3 children, a grandfather and us. When my sister had a late check-in (10pm) they were extremely helpful. The breakfast buffets were wonderful. The bowling alley was fun. The ambiance was wonderful. Most of all, the service was impeccable at every level.

A group of us visited the city of Beijing to celebrate Christmas last December. Two of us have never been to China and were very skeptical about what to expect in terms of culture and accomodation. We decided to be safe and book Raffles Beijing because we were proud of the Raffles brand name as Singaporeans. It was indeed a wise choice! From the check in all the way to check out , we were treated like royalties. I guess this hotel is used to catering to VIPs and celebrities. Pity we didn't meet any while we were here though! Surprisingly , most of the staff have no problem understanding "Singaporean" chinese even though they converse in the thick beijing accent. In fact, alot of them speak english very well, which is a plus for us..usually when we visit a country we will just dump our luggages in the room and dash to the nearest shopping mall. This time though, the interior of the hotel and the rooms were so delicate that we took pictures from the lobby all the way up to our rooms. Our well warmed room made it cozy as compared to the freezing cold outside. Being located in a very accessible location helped too.the subway was literally at our doorstep. there were many malls down the street with international brands that we are all familiar with like Zara, H&M etc, and eateries like yoshinoya, McDonalds, dairy queen etc for those not brave enough to try their local delights at Wang fu jing food street ..and for those who do not feel like experiencing the cold before breakfast , we recommend trying the buffet breakfast at their restaurant - east 33. The price was quite reasonable for the spread and the ambience . There is also a gym and a indoor pool in the hotel but we didn't manage to try them due to our tight schedule, but we will be back for sure to try them! All in all, a wonderful addition to our 1st visit to Beijing. Well done, raffles!