The Warwick is a great place to stay. The staff are absolutely wonderful, very pleasant, courteous and helpful. It seems that nothing is too much trouble and they do their best to ensure your stay is a good one.

We had a standard studio which was a massive room with a huge, comfortable bed. There was also a sofa, desk and chair, TV and wired internet connection. There is no safe in the room but valuables can be left in the safe in reception. The bathroom has a western style toilet, washbasin, bath and a large separate shower cubicle. Towels were changed daily and soap and toiletries were replenished when necessary. The room and communal areas were cleaned every day.

There were a couple of minor disappointments. Our view was of the back wall of a building about 5 meters away. Also, the room was described as having a kitchenette but there was no cooker, sink, plates or cutlery etc. These things noted, they didn’t really make a great deal of difference as we were out most of the day and eating out is so cheap we wouldn’t have been doing any cooking ourselves anyway. The room did have a large fridge/freezer, microwave and tea/coffee making facilities.

We had breakfast at the hotel and it was a mix of Chinese and western food. I tried some of the Chinese breakfast one morning and it was ok. We mainly had cereal, yoghurt, fruit and toast which was enough to start the day. There was also an “American breakfast” with a fried egg, ham or sausage and fried potatoes. The coffee was good and there was also fruit juice. At 30 Yuan per person per day I thought it was worth having.

Warwick is in a good location, most of the tourist sites and shopping areas are a short taxi ride away. Taxis are really cheap (the most we paid to cross town was less than 30 Yuan) and there are always loads of them about. Even with a map and directions some taxi drivers still said they couldn’t take us to the hotel, sometimes we had to try a few until we found one who knew where they were going. If you are going out by taxi reception will have one flagged down for you and will tell the driver where you are going.

We explored around the hotel on foot and found a couple of nice restaurants and a large supermarket a few minutes walk away. One restaurant we particularly liked was the Shandong, just round the corner from the hotel. We had lovely roast lamb there and the staff were fantastic. There are lots of great places to eat and shop and see in Beijing.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Warwick and Beijing was awesome.

I have the hotel name and a map in Chinese. If you would like a copy let me know.