Celebrity International Grand Hotel — Attraction in Beijing

I stayed for 12 nights in this hotel with my 2 children. We ended up in a very well-appointed executive suite. Most of the staff were friendly and helpful. However, the stay didn't begin well and I almost decided to take our business elsewhere. ||||We began in a 2-bedroom suite on level 11. It would have been a perfect room but for the powerful stench of cigarette smoke. This is supposedly a non-smoking hotel. As a non-smoking family we all felt unwell within minutes. It wasn't possible to open the windows. I complained and was told there were no other 2-bedroom suites available, so we could stay where we were, or be moved to 2 separate rooms. We were offered an air purifier, so I decided we'd try it and stay, because surely the smell would clear and we needed to stay for 12 nights so I didn't want to be stuck with 2 separate rooms. ||||On Day 2, we went to check out the recreation facilities (dingy indoor pool, stuffy gym area, no table tennis or billiards despite the signs saying so... this was the low point of our stay!)... and I saw a staff member (in the massage/"health" area) smoking! I put in a complaint to management and we were upgraded to a 2-bedroom executive suite on the 23rd floor. No extra charge :-)||||From here on, the stay was very nice and I stopped thinking about finding another hotel. The executive suite was large and comfortable. My children (not the most adventurous) enjoyed the room service dinners every night. The breakfast became somewhat monotonous but there wasn't anything to really dislike about it - a good spread of Chinese and Western items. The room was well cleaned every day. We still had a faint whiff of cigarette smoke from time to time, but it was bearable, and not overpowering as it had been on Level 11. Occasionally in the lift, the doors would open at Level 6 (the recreation level) and the smoke smell was always strong there. We did see cigarette butts in the toilets on Level 1, and in the ashtrays in the lobby.||||It would have been nice to have a usable swimming pool and some recreation facilities for the kids for such a long stay, especially as I was working for some of the time. Because of the lack of these facilities, and the pervasive cigarette smoke, I've marked the hotel as "not suitable for families with children". ||||The concierge staff were helpful in assisting me to track a parcel that I was having delivered to me at the hotel. There had been some mix-up with the delivery company that there was no way I could have understood without speaking Chinese. I was very grateful for their help.||||The location is not central (4th Ring Road) but the subway is fairly nearby. Also nearby is the Birds Nest Olympic complex, including the lovely "Olympic Forest Park" which is worth checking out for a quiet couple of hours. There's a supermarket across the road and several restaurants in...

This was my second trip to Beijing. The Celebrity Internatioaal was just fantastic. I must admit the quality of the rooms and the top service surprised me. I had a very comfortable suite, with a separate lounge and bedroom and a fantastic view of part of the city. The bathroom was just one of the best set of amenities I have experienced in hotels this year. The buffet which combines Chinese and contemporary breakfast, was srcumptious. The staff at both check-in and check-out were efficient and friendly, the concierge extremely helpful and when faced with an ATM that only "speaks" Chinese - the staff was there to lead me to it and translate for me. I had a great stay at the Celebrity and look...

I went to China for a week and this was the first Hotel we stayed in for 2 nights. When you walked in the hotel had a nice entrance. The room was decent and I was able to charge my phone from the T.V. rather than use a adapter. One of the things I really liked was the bar they had buy one get one free drink specials as long as you gave your room number. You could also pay with R&B or American credit card. Now what I didn't like was the breakfast every day I left I had to take 2 Tums to ease my stomach. The American breakfast foods were not that good. It does have pool, but it was very dark and questionable we did not proceed...