Hotels

There are two types of hotel in mainland China: the Sino-foreign joint-venture hotels with familiar brand names, and Chinese-owned and -managed hotels. At the four- and five-star levels, the Chinese-owned and -run hotels want you to think they are on par with the joint ventures. At lower levels they can range from indescribably battered and grubby to friendly, clean, and comfortable. (Note: We awarded the star ratings shown at the beginning of each review in this chapter. Our 0-3 star scale does not coincide with the Chinese star-rating system.)

Your first choice at the four- or five-star level should be a familiar brand name, or a property from one of the Asian luxury chains. In most cases, the buildings are Chinese-owned, and the foreign part of the joint venture is the management company, which supplies worldwide marketing efforts, staff training, and senior management, while ensuring conformity with brand standards (never entirely possible; you'll generally find 90% of what you'd expect from the same brand at home).

Your second choice should be a wholly Chinese-owned and -run hotel with foreigners in senior management whose main purpose is to be there and make sure that things actually happen. But in both types of hotel, the general manager may have far less idea than he thinks he has of what's going on: The transport department uses hotel vehicles for private hires to make money on the side; the human resources manager rejects applicants whose experience may be threatening and makes a good income from bribes (to ensure that the housekeeper's nephew gets a job in security, for instance); the front office manager institutes a system of fines, and pockets them himself; or the doormen charge taxis to be allowed to wait in the rank.

Entirely Chinese-owned and -run hotels at four- and five-star levels usually have only one thing in common with their counterparts: They charge the same (or, at least, attempt to do so); but you'll rarely get value for your money. At the four-star level and below, the best choice is almost always the newest hotel -- teething troubles aside, most things will work, staff will be eager to please (if not quite sure how), rooms will be spotless, and rates can be easily bargained down, since few hotels spend any money on advertising. The aim is to find sweetly inept but willing service rather than the sour leftovers of the tie fanwan (iron rice bowl) era of guaranteed employment, for whom everything is too much effort.

A drawback for all hoteliers is that the government requires them to employ far more people than they need, and it's nearly impossible to obtain staff with any experience in hotel work. The joint-venture hotels are the training institutions for the rest of the Chinese hotel industry, which steals their local staff as soon as possible. Lower-level hotels are run by half-understood rules, with which there's half-compliance, half the time. A hotel may have designated nonsmoking rooms, but that doesn't mean they don't have ashtrays in them.

Until recently throughout China, only hotels with special licenses were allowed to take foreign guests. This requirement has now vanished from Beijing. In theory, all hotels with such licenses have at least one English speaker, usually of modest ability.

The Chinese star-rating system is meaningless. Nationwide, five-star ratings are awarded by a central authority, but four-star and lower ratings depend upon local standards, and both depend upon compliance with a checklist, but more crucially, with banqueting the inspectors. (Inspectors have no idea how to run a hotel anyway.) In general, Chinese hotels receive almost no maintenance after they open. There are Chinese "five-star" hotels in Beijing which have gone a decade without proper redecoration or refurbishment. Foreign managements force the issue with building owners, but it's rare for standards to be maintained. A new three-star will usually be better than an old four-star.

Outside of joint-venture hotels, don't rely on finding amenities; even if we list them in this book, there's no guarantee that you'll find them fit to use. Salons, massage rooms, nightclubs, and karaoke rooms are often merely the bases for other kinds of illegal entertainment (for men). Fitness equipment may be broken and inadequately supervised, and Jacuzzis may have more rings than a sequoia, so proceed with care.

You may receive unexpected phone calls. If you are female, the caller may hang up without saying anything, as may be the case if you are male and answer in English. But if the caller persists and is female, and if you hear the word anmo (massage), then what is being offered needs no further explanation, but a massage is only the beginning. Unplug the phone.

Almost all rooms, however basic, have the following: A telephone whose line can usually be unplugged for use in a laptop; air-conditioning, which is either central with a wall-mounted control or individual to the room with a remote control, and which may double as a heater; a television, usually with no English channels except CCTV 9 and possibly an in-house movie channel using pirated DVDs or VCDs; a thermos of boiled water or a kettle to boil your own, usually with cups (wash before using) and free bags of green tea; and an array of switches, which may not control what they say they control, found near the bed. The bathrooms have free soap and shampoo, and in better hotels a shower cap and toothbrush/toothpaste package.

Ordinary Chinese hotels usually contain a biaozhun jian, or "standard room," which means a room with twin beds or a double bed, and with a private bathroom. In older ordinary hotels, double beds may have only recently been installed, the switches are all in the wrong place, and the room is now referred to as a danren jian or single room. Nevertheless, two people can stay there and the price is lower than for a standard room with twin beds.

Foreign credit cards are increasingly likely to be accepted in three-star hotels and above, but never rely on this. Most hotels accepting foreigners will exchange foreign currency(cash) on the premises; some may not accept traveler's checks. Almost all hotels require payment in advance, plus a deposit (yajin), which is refundable when you leave. Some hotels add a 5% to 15% service charge on top of their room rates (our listings indicate where this is done).

Keep all receipts you are given. To get your deposit back, you may need to hand over the receipt for your key when you check out, and since staff occasionally forget to enter payments in computers or ledgers, you may need receipts to prevent yourself from being charged twice.

To check in you'll need your passport, and you must complete a registration form (which will be in English). Always inspect the room before checking in. You'll be asked how many nights you want to stay, and you should always say just 1, because if you say 4, you'll be asked for 4 nights' money in advance (plus a deposit), and because it may turn out that the hot water isn't hot enough, the karaoke rooms are above your head, or a building site behind the hotel starts work at 8am sharp. Once you've tried 1 night, you can pay for more.

When you check out, the floor staff will be called to verify that you haven't stolen anything. This step may not happen speedily, so allow extra time.

Children 12 and under stay free. Hotels will add an extra bed to your room for a small charge, which you can bargain down.

In the Red Lantern District

Southwest of Qian Men, beyond the mercantile madness of Da Zhalan, in the hutong that never dreams of pedicab-tour salvation, is where you'll find the remains of Beijing's once-thriving brothel district, Ba Da Hutong (eight great lanes). Prior to the Communists' elimination of prostitution in the 1950s (and its rapid reemergence since the 1980s), government officials, foreign diplomats, and other men of means would come here to pay for the pleasures of "clouds and rain."

The transaction was not always lurid. The women were closer to courtesans than whores, akin to Japanese geishas, and their customers often paid simply for conversation and cultured entertainment, and popular guidebooks were published advising on the etiquette for wooing courtesans. Although the promise of another brand of entertainment always lurked in the background, and many of the women who worked south of Qian Men were kidnapped from other provinces; nonetheless, the dynamic was not half as base as its modern counterpart's.

Many wonderful old bordellos still stand, although local tour groups are forbidden to take tourists to the area, or even mention it. Most buildings were converted into apartments or stores, but a few were restored and turned into cheap hotels. While those who can afford it will prefer to stay in a more luxurious hotel further north, travelers on a budget would be hard-pressed to find affordable accommodations with so much character.

Among the best restored of the old brothels is Shanxi Xiang Di'er Binguan ?? (tel. 010/6303-4609), at the north end of Shanxi Xiang (once home to the most upmarket bordellos), a poorly marked and malodorous lane a few minutes' walk south of Da Zhalan. As with most buildings of its kind, it is recognizable by its multi-story height (rare in a neighborhood made up of single-floor houses) and by the glass that divides its roof, designed to let light into the central courtyard while blocking an outsider's view of the activities taking place inside. Far nicer than the late-night barber shops and karaoke parlors where Beijing's working girls now do business, the hotel is spacious and lavishly decorated, with red columns and walls supporting colorfully painted banisters and roof beams, the latter hung with traditional lanterns. The rooms, arranged on two floors around the courtyard, are tiny and windowless, as befit their original purpose, but now have air-conditioning, TVs, and bathrooms (¥100/$12 per night). To reach the hotel, walk east from Far East Youth Hostel and turn left down the second hutong on the right.

The 200-year-old Qian Men Changgong Fandian ?? (tel. 010/6303-2665), at Yingtao Xiejie 11 ??11?, is less well maintained than the Shanxi Xiang Di'er but closer to the city center and far grander inside. The tell-tale roof peeks over the rest of the street but the facade has been pasted over with anonymous white tile, which makes the elaborate interior more surprising. A large sign by the door describes the building's history as a "black meeting hall." Beyond is a large, high-ceilinged central courtyard surrounded by green walls with traditional red pillars and banisters. Informal cross-talk performances (a traditional Chinese form of storytelling) and chess games take place in summer. Standard rooms (¥140/$18) on the first floor are basic and have grotty bathrooms but are still livable, with air-conditioning and TV. The second floor has more luxurious rooms (¥180/$23), which are brighter and cleaner with a few pieces of traditional Chinese furniture. A gathering spot for elderly men from the neighborhood, the hotel is worth visiting for its Old Beijing atmosphere even if you don't plan to stay overnight. To get here, walk west along Da Zhalan, and take a right at the fork.

Airport Hotels

Plenty of hotels, all with free shuttle services, are located near the airport. The most pleasant choice is the Sino-Swiss Hotel (Guodu Dafandian) [ST] (tel. 010/6456-5588; fax 010/6456-1588; www.sino-swisshotel.com), formerly a Movenpick, containing large rooms with two queen-size beds for around ¥830 ($104) after discount. Guests have free access to a pleasant resort-style pool complex, and regular shuttles go the airport (10 min.) and downtown. Almost within walking distance of the airport to the south is the very basic Air China Hotel (Guohang Binguan; tel. 010/6456-3440), with standard rooms from ¥260 to ¥320 ($33-$40). Slightly nicer rooms can be had at the three-star Blue Sky Hotel (Lan Tian Dasha; tel. 010/8048-9108), 15 minutes away in the Konggang Industrial Zone. A standard room costs ¥528 ($66). Further from the airport, in northern Chaoyang, the Holiday Inn Lido (Lidu Jiari Fandian; tel. 010/6437-6688; fax 010/6437-6237; http://beijing-lido.holiday-inn.com) is part of an extensive complex with foreign restaurants and shops. Standard rooms are large but tired and in dire need of refurbishment (¥1,170/$146 after discount), and the coffee served with breakfast is vile. The Kempinski Hotel, on the Third Ring Road, offers free shuttle service to the airport.