Best Hotel Bets

Best Hotel Bets

• Best Newcomer: It's a hard call given how many new hotels have popped up in the lead-up to the Olympics, but one of our tried-and-tested favorites is The Ritz Carlton, Financial Street. Though the hotel caters to a business crowd, the homey touches makes it feel more like a boutique, with the Ritz's trademark impeccable service and the best Italian restaurant in town to boot.

• Most Relaxed Atmosphere: Located down an unassuming alley, the Hotel Cote Cour S.L. is the best of a glut of courtyard accommodations that have flooded Beijing. The private garden and a modern, airy lounge are fantastic places to unwind. The old hutong neighborhood where the hotel is located is as uncommercial as Beijing gets -- it's simply bicycles and one-level courtyard homes here, with the odd dog and rickshaw thrown in.

• Best Whiff of Old Beijing: Located on a bustling street in the hutong, Gu Xiang 20 is located in a neighborhood that combines old Beijing with hip bars and clothing shops, just a short walk away from Hou Hai Lake. The modern rooms with Chinese fretwork and nice views of the hutong give you a taste of old Beijing, without having to live like an old Beijinger. If you prefer to live more locally -- and that means with a squat toilet -- try the nearby Hutonger.

• Best Hotel Garden: The Bamboo Garden Hotel's three courtyards are filled with rockeries, stands of bamboo, and other green leafiness. A traditional Chinese garden stretches away behind the otherwise modern Shangri-La Beijing Hotel to its tennis courts at the rear.

• Best Business Hotel: That 90% of China World Hotel's guests are there for business comes as no surprise. It's part of a vast shopping complex offering a full-scale business center and top-notch executive floors, state-of-the-art conferencing facilities, free wireless connectivity in public areas, Beijing's finest European restaurant, a specialist wine store, and a supermarket. It sits right above a metro stop and the east Third Ring Road.

• Best Design: In a city full of bland, monolithic hotels, Hotel Kapok stands out from the rest with its innovative exterior that looks like a lantern lit up at night. It's also conveniently located a block away from the Forbidden City.

• Best Health & Fitness Facilities: The health club and spa at the St. Regis Beijing is the capital's most luxurious by far, but the most extensive facilities, including a running track and courts for almost everything, can be found at the Kerry Centre Hotel.

• Best Pool: The pool at the Grand Hyatt is very kitsch and out of keeping with the tastefully understated modern but comfortable design of the remainder of the hotel. A small lagoon buried among mock-tropical decor beneath a ceiling of electric stars, it's worth visiting even if you have no plans to swim, and it has plenty of space if you do.

• Best for Children: The Westin Beijing, Financial Street pays special attention to young kids with cribs available in rooms and highchairs (rare in China) in the restaurants; a kids' center offers babysitting. The Kerry Centre Hotel also has a supervised play area for children, a wide range of sports facilities, and a pool for the older ones.

The Best Splurge Hotels

• The Peninsula Beijing (Jinyu Hutong 8; tel. 866/382-8388 or 010/8516-2888): Despite the huge boom in five-star hotels in the capital, The Peninsula still manages to stay on top with its constant upgrades and its impeccable English-speaking staff. There's an understated elegance to the entire complex, complete with a luxury shopping arcade and afternoon tea in the lobby. Wireless Internet and marble bathtubs with television screens anchored in front of them are standout amenities in nearly all rooms.

• Raffles Beijing (Dong Chang'an Jie 1; tel. 800/768-9009 [toll-free from U.S.] or 010/6526-3388): Located in a historic European building just steps away from Forbidden City, the distinguished Raffles has an old-world charm that few hotels in the capital can match.

• Hotel Cote Cour S.L. (Yanyue Hutong 70; tel. 010/6512-8020): A glut of new courtyard hotels has opened in the capital's old neighborhoods, but none matches the elegance and style of Hotel Cote Cour S.L., with rooms decorated in Chinese antiques and green and wood tones. The public spaces, like an elegant lounge and a spacious center patio, are perfect for unwinding after a hectic day touring the city.

The Best Moderately Priced Hotels

• Gu Xiang 20 (Nanluogu Xiang 20; tel. 010/6400-5566): This lovely three-star hotel is smack in the middle of one of old Beijing's gentrifying neighborhoods. The stylish rooms are decorated with Chinese antiques and flatscreen TVs, and third-floor rooms have picturesque views of the hutong.

• Far East Youth Hostel (Tieshu Xie Jie 113; tel. 010/5195-8561, ext. 3118): The best budget option in Beijing is located at the center of one of the city's most interesting hutong neighborhoods, only a 10-minute walk from both the Heping Men and Qian Men metro stops. It has clean, nicely renovated three-star rooms at unbeatable rates -- you can get down to Y200 ($27/#13) with a little bargaining).

• Feiying Binguan (Xuanwu Men Xi Dajie 10; tel. 010/6317-1116): This is the most "hotel-like" branch of Youth Hostelling International in Beijing. Dorms have in-room bathroom and brand-new floors, and beds are only Y60 ($8/#4).