avek00

Does anyone have any info. regarding the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing. I'll be staying there for a week in March. From what I've seen on the Sheraton website, the hotel seems very nice, but as we all know, firsthand personal experiences are much more reliable indicators of what to expect...

Muchas gracias.

pegasus8228

it is one of the first 5* in beijing...so pretty old comparatively. what r your other choices?
the location is very good though, and price reasonable.

it is also famous for a big disco downstairs a few years ago, where it was reputed to have the best chicks in town (they r pro's). i think the police should have cracked down on them by now.

Gaucho100K

stay away.... if you wanna go Starwood, I suggest the St. Regis Beijing instead.

avek00

I am staying at the Great Wall as part of the tour package. The alternative was the Jinglun Hotel, which I heard was not too great. Also, on the Sheraton website it mentioned that the hotel was recently refurbished; has anyone been there very recently ???

AOTan

Good Morning (or whichever is appropriate)

I will be going to Beijing for a conference in early June. I have made a reservation at The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel. It's a good deal. Does any one know if this is a better hotel than the nearby Hilton?

I understand that The St. Regis Beijing is rather pricy and traffic is not easy. Is this true?

I hope someone can give me some information on this hotel (Sheraton).

AATan @ Singapore

pegasus8228

you can proabably get st regis at $170.
thought great wall could be 100$ or less.

so st regis is realtively pricy, but not too expensive in real term (compared to 300-400$ in other locations)

also, st regis location is not bad, on par with great wall
(great wall is 5-10 min closed to teh airport, and st regis on the 2nd ring-road and 5 min from the 3rd-ring road / "highway", whiel great wall is ON the 3rd-ring road. but st regis closer to the tiananmen)

both great wall and hilton and pretty old and in the same cluster (location). they are about the same quality. i tend to think hilton quality is a bit lower though, but they are close enough to compare.

MilesDependent

I was at the Great Wall Sheraton last July. As already mentioned, it is pretty old, and it is a fair way out of town. It's basically one of those standard convention hotels - very big and not very personal service. As long as you don't request or expect anything out of the ordinary you'll be fine. I must say the rooms are quite nice though. I've had dinner at the Hilton - also pretty old, I certainly wouldn't say it'd be any better than the sheraton.

A tip for the GW Sheraton - order a cherry dacari (spell??) from the Atrium Bar. They are the best I have had anywhere in the world and they are served in like a salad bowl. Man I had two of those and they almost had to carry me upstairs :-)

Gaucho100K

GW is the older property, do check out the St. Regis as it is way way better. Other hotels to check out would be the Swisshotel, if youre meetings are near the airport then the best option is the Moevenpick. The Radisson SAS is also OK. My favorite hotel in Beijing is the Palace Hotel.

Snoopy

I have stayed at the Sheraton Great Wall more times than I can remember. It's on the outer ring road, so it's not that central (but it was convenient for our office which was a 5 minute walk). The facilities are fine, the restaurants are fair and the buffet breakfast is not bad at all. It has been refurbished recently so it should be even better.
If you are on a package tour and it was the Great Wall or the Jinglun Hotel I think that the Great Wall will be just fine and you will be quite happy with it.
Enjoy your stay in Beijing, it's a very interesting city!

Gaza

I will be in Beijing on business. We have a corporate rate at The Great Wall ($63) but not at The St. Regis.

Gaza

Check-in to The Great Wall last Sunday - checked-out again on Wednesday. The main reason was that the hotel is in NE Beijing while my office is in SW. This meant a 50-60 minute journey each morning. The second reason was the prices. When working overseas my company gives us a fixed rate Per Diem out of which we are expected to pay for breaksfast, dinner, laundry, etc. I found that my per diem was disappearing fast. The buffet breakfast (which was magnificient) was USD21 and a draught beer was USD7 plus 15% service charge. Ouch! One of the local supermarkets was selling complete cases of beer for that! The journey each morning I could have put up with, but the high prices were the trigger to make me move. I do wish Starwood would follow Hilton in giving SPG Gold free breakfast.

I moved to the Holiday Inn Downtown which is a five minute taxi ride from my office. Breakfast was incuded in the rate (and hence does not come out of my per diem!!) plus a beer was far more reasonable at around USD3.20.

Snoopy

I've stayed in both hotels and you were right to move if you have business near the HI Downtown. I used to have meetings near there on some of my trips and would stay there too, although I preferred the Great Wall. I find the HI Downtown a bit cramped.
However, a saving grace is definitely the Indian restaurant there which has one of the best Peshawari Nan's I have ever tasted.

Gaza

Snoopy

The Indian restaurant has gone. It has been replaced by a Japanese. They do offer a limited Indian selection in the Oasis Cafe.

I agree that the Sheraton is better. The room I had was larger than the room at HI. But the travel time and high prices were enough to convince me to move.

fallinasleep

Some of the best Indian in Beijing can be had at the Taj Mahal at the China World Trade Center East Wing. Look for the Haagen Dazs and KFCs on one side and the Mongolian Airlines office nearby.

hmattila

Hello,

I was third time in the row in this hotel and always got the same junior suite. Has anyone succeeded here to get a "real" suite? They told me that junior suite upgrades are the hotel policy for Platinum members.

They also have stopped to give those nice teddie bears. Only amenity was two apples and one orange...pretty poor I would say.