Redwall - Olympic Games Special - Beijing

8.6

This hotel is extremely well positionned in Beijing : 3 min walk from the north entrance of the imperial city, 5-10 min walk from the biggest commercial and trendy street. The hotel has a nice decoration, big rooms with all required equipment (safe box, free water bottles, good restaurant, business services ...) : we stayed more time than planned and were offered a good price (we could have negociated an even better one, I think). The only issue is the noise isolation of the windows (we were on the interior side) that let go the noise of the hotel crew when they spoke too loud. Note that the hotel organises mariages sessions, so it was often decorated for the receptions.

4.9

When we arrived they had made a mistake with our booking (we had booked a business room)so they put us in a Chinese Traditional Style room (they told us it was better than the business room). When we complained because we had cold showers in the Chinese room we were then told that all the business rooms were booked out for 2 days so we had to wait 2 days to get into the business room. The business room was a lot better than the Tradtional chinese room.

7.0

Good hotel with some remarks. Most important: do note at your arrival they will ask you an additional deposit that is almost 40% of the total from Venere site. This deposit will be given back to you if you do not use any additional service (e.g. mini-bar), but it's better if you arrive to the hotel with cash money in RMB, since they cannot change you big sums of foreign currencies. They say they provide you internet access, but in the business center there's only one pc: you have to share it with staff (who needs it if other customers ask something), and there is no privacy. Rooms have internet access, but we weren't able to test if it worked since we did not take our laptop. English is spoken only by reception people: even the business center cannot help very much in case of need. We stayed for a total of 10 days: housekeeping services, cleanliness and security are very good, so our rating is positive.

5.6

Public areas were without heating that is, very cold and terribly unpleasant especially in the morning. The food was horrible and morning buffet a pity while some meters out the least restaurant offered delicious meals nearly cheap The internet connection failed and was not repaired. The computer was faulty they said but it happened in all the rooms and my computer worked perfect in a nearby cyber caffee The only good point was the room, large, and comfortable

9.9

Hotel Redwall exceeded our expectations. The people at the hotel were helpful, walking us to nearby restaurants, helping us pack a scroll we had bought, arranging for tickets to a performance of the Peking Opera, etc. The location is great, just a block from the Forbidden City and within walking distance of Tianamen Square. The room was spacious, had a small refrigerator, a very firm bed, a tea kettle--everything we needed. I recommend the hotel highly--a great experience. Traveler's hint: take a filtering mask with you to Beijing. The air is unbelievably polluted and both my husband and I wound up getting sick.

7.0

It's a satisfying cost-to-service compromise for a week in Beijing. Few minutes walk from the forbidden city and the isle of Giada. The only drawback is the poor english of the staff.

6.4

The staff does not speak English, which is perhaps as expected in China! But they try to help and are friendly. We had unfortunately a room next to the room service, so it was pretty noisy during the sleeping hours. There was some trouble with the drainage system, but was quickly repaired once we complained. The location is excellent, close to the imperial palace and beijings' famous gardens.