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Courtyard Marriott Beijing and Beijing Review
First, I had bid for a 3 star (highest star level offered) in the Forbidden City district, but did not get a winning bid. Then, I bid for a 4 star in the Chongwen district of Beijing and got the Courtyard Marriott (at a reasonable price for a decent hotel there). It was about 100 RMB by taxi from PEK. I talk about Beijing taxis later. The lobby was nice, as most 3 and 4 star lobbies are, but our initial room was smokey with shabby carpets and wallpaper. I went to front desk and they gave me a much nicer upgraded room. The carpets here were not the newest and had a few stains, but I walk around hotel rooms wearing flip flops anyway. The hotel manager called us a couple of times to make sure we liked the new room better, and this was appreciated. We decided after seeing some of the other available hotels in this city, that actually we may have lucked out in getting the Marriott. As I believe this is a third world country, it seems the standards may be a little different than what we would expect in the US. I would suggest always staying in a "4 star", at least, in Beijing, and assume that it will be more like a 2 1/2 to 3 star by US standards.
The front desk staff was nice overall, but we found that there were a few that understood and spoke English better than others on staff. The concierge desk was efficient about writing down chinese translations, for destinations, on a card for the taxi excursions we took (highly recommended and also circle the destination on a map for the taxi driver).
The location was great! It was nice to go to the 5th floor of the adjoining New World Mall and have a selection of little eateries to go to, also nice to walk to the Pearl Market and to the Tiennamen Square area. We felt very safe walking and often commented on how we feel a little safer than walking thru some large cities of the US. I think that justice is very severe in China, so this probably helps alot.
We read a recent US article that explained how some Americans frown upon the social ettiquette of Chinese visitors to the US. I have to admit that sometimes it got tiresome, in Beijing, to get bumped by the Chinese and their bags but we came to the realization that the customs and practices are different from US standards. Can't expect another country to be like our own, can we? It's all part of the experience of visiting another country, so we enjoyed experiencing things as they are in Beijing.
Bathrooms were a consistent problem as, again, they weren't up to US standards. Honestly, I as a woman, could not force myself to use them: flat on the floor, smelly, and no toilet paper/soap. Bring tissues and hand sanitizer gel for emergencies, otherwise just use the restroom back at the hotel.
Taxis seem to often have their little "games". They will meet you outside the markets, after you have shopped and have significant bags of purchases, and quote "$80 RMB for Rush Hour". If you had taken a taxi to get there from the Marriott, you may have paid 10 to 25 RMB. You ask them to use the taxi meter, and they say it will cost more that way to get back to the hotel during rush hour. So then you are stuck not knowing what to do, so you negotiate before getting into the taxi, like we did. The next taxi will offer to take you back for $70 RMB, so then we negotiated $30 RMB. Then, you get in a taxi to go from the hotel to the airport. This driver says he will use the meter and shows you , only when asked, that the meter is starting at $10 RMB. Then the whole way to the airport, he somehow covers the meter so you cannot see it,and zeros it out at the airport before you can see the final amount. This ride cost $130 RMB. I think it's best to negotiate the total price before getting into the taxi and going to the airport. Let's not forget, too, that the driver will add about 10 to the total for the road toll. Games taxi drivers play! Oh, and how about when you show the driver the chinese translation for your destination, he seems to understand where you want to go, so you get in, and he drives around awhile before pulling over to ask to see the location on your map (meter running the whole time). Good thing the exchange rate makes the bill not too high.
There is a saying: "When in ______ , do as the _______ do." This would apply to China and probably other places in the world. In China, like the natives, hold your place in lines and negotiate the lowest prices.
Overall, we really enjoyed the experience (once we understood the rules) and will be going back.
Courtyard (Beijing Siheyuan)
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