Beijing Friendship Hotel Grand Building — Hotel in Beijing

Staying in this hotel is as if one does a bit of time travel. It drives you back to China probably in the 1960s or 1970s, when it was for sure a deluxe hotel. This after all was an hotel built jointly by Russia and China. Today it is a rather dated hotel, but still it is worthwhile staying there, mostly for the location and experience. The experience is really the cherry on top of the cake. First of, it is a government hotel and if you observe the staff attentively, you clearly see that you are in a completely different hotel than any other hotel you may have visited before. There are a ton of staff for relatively few clients, and the staff tends to answer your questions in a rather militarized fashion - not warm or friendly but somewhat useful- and everybody is in some kind of uniform. Reminded me of being in a military barracks rather than in an hotel but it is worthwhile for the experience. The hotel is massive (but it has signs in English with directions which is really helpful) but most of the rooms seem unoccupied. This is quite nice because the hotel is mostly quiet and you can have a really good sleep. Working in the room is also great. The rooms are kind of past their best times, but they are still relatively comfortable, although the mattresses could benefit from some replacement because the sleeping experience is not the best. The air conditioning is also sort of controllable and one needs to have a lot of trial and error until one understands how the water in the bathtub works (some of the water taps work in a system that I have never encountered before).The grounds outside the hotel are also very pleasant for a stroll, and there are some restaurants inside that are worth visiting. I would recommend it for...

I have stayed in this hotel at least 4 times previously and so I know it meets my needs. I stayed in room 10420 for 6 nights. This is in the main building, number 1.||||I arrived at midday on a Saturday, after an overnight flight from the UK. Thankfully I could get into my room immediately.||||It was spacious with a separate lounge, bedroom and bathroom, separated by sliding doors. It was a sort of corner room with windows on two sides. The lounge had a sofa, desk, large TV and wardrobes. In one was a safe. Cupboards contained a minibar and tea, coffee.||||The bedroom had a large bed, two bedside cupboards, a TV and a space to put a suitcase. The bathroom comprised separate WC and shower rooms, plus a bath and washbasin. Toiletries were conditioner, shampoo and shower gel. Surprisingly, no body lotion which usually is provided in good class Chinese hotels. Hot water was always plentiful. The bath had a washing line that could be pulled out which was very useful.||||Lighting was good in all rooms. The air conditioning worked effectively and efficiently. The WiFi also worked well, though sometimes seemed a little slower in the evenings.||||I had the buffet breakfast on the 6th floor which had a good selection of hot, cold, Chinese, western foods.||||The room was always serviced quickly each morning. All the chambermaids were polite and friendly.||||Hotel staff seemed to speak English well enough to get by, no problems. The hotel is near Renmin University subway station, about 300m. The subway system is very easy to use and cheap.||||TGI Fridays is also part of the hotel and has always provided a good range of food with quick and friendly service.||||I would not hesitate to stay at this hotel again and...

Overall the experience at this hotel was very nice. The grounds are beautiful, and the staff is friendly.||We booked 2 standard rooms with 2 beds each for a party of 3. We had planned to move my daughter back and forth. However, we received 1 room with 2 double beds and 1 king room. That was OK because the king bed was ever so slightly softer than the concrete slabs that were the double beds. The beds were very hard.||There was no room in the double room for anything but the beds and a desk. So, there was nothing but a desk chair to sit on. The king room, however, had a chair with an ottoman, which came in very handy for those times when we were recuperating in our rooms. I would recommend having a place to sit other than the beds.||The Haidian area is nice. We chose it to be near the Renmin University where our son was attending fall quarter. We were pretty far from the city center though. I can tell you the Taxi ride to the Pearl Market area and Temple of Heaven ran us consistently 60 RMB (about $10 US). DO NOT TRUST THE TAXIS at Pearl Market. They will try to gouge you and tell you the meter will be too high. That was never the case when we spent the time to seek out a taxi that would use the meter. It was always 60 RMB or less.||Everything in the hotel, including the TGI Friday's is expensive. It is actually rather cheap to eat in Beijing, jut not at the hotel and not at high end restaurants.||Everyone is friendly and tipping is not necessary.||We...