Crowne Plaza Beijing Zhongguancun — Hotel in Beijing

On Saturday night April 22-23, 2017 after a formal charity dinner in CBD my wife and I were locked out of our apartment nearby Crowne Plaza Zhongguancun. At 2:15am we walked to the hotel in formal evening wear without luggage and asked for a room. The staff didn't speak Engliish well so we don't know if they understood us completely, but we were told there were no rooms available.

Once I was able to confirm that I was a gold elite member I was informed that a suite was available at four times the cost of a normal room, which seemed very high since we had a Sunday work day starting in a few hours. I suggested that they charge us for a normal room and upgrade us, since it was such a short stay but was told that a gold membership didn't qualify for an upgrade to a suite. Not very neighborly.

When we opened the door to the suite, it wasn't a suite. It was an office with a bedroom and large bathroom. A suite has a separate sitting room. Where the sitting room was supposed to be was a very large desk with three office chairs and a little fridge with potato chips for purchase on top.

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So this was really not a suite, but an office, so did it really merit the price we paid for the suite? However, we were certainly glad that Gold Elite membership prevented us from not getting a room at all and sleeping on a bench outside the hotel.

The bed was comfortable, but we couldn't figure out how to turn off the large hall light. there was no laundry bag, and the shaving razor was simply painful. Why can't a hotel buy a decent razor?

In the morning the breakfast in the top floor lounge was excellent and the hostess charming and efficient. But we were in the hotel for only 5.5 hours for a very high price for what was clearly stupidity on my part for forgetting to put a key in my tuxedo pocket. Especially since it is my local hotel and I have recommended people to stay there - though clearly the staff on duty wouldn't know that. So, I am more angry at myself than I am at the hotel.

This is a good hotel , but don't lock yourself out of your apartment before all the regular rooms are sold, but definitely consider 2028 if your are looking for the biggest desk you will find in a hotel in Zhongguancun or anywhere else.

BTW, the hotel does have good food, and from my previous stay I can report that the hotel has a nice workout area, the best pool in Northwest Beijing, and a relaxing...

My wife and I went to Beijing to visit family and friend around Zhongguancun area. The hotel location is with reasonable walking distance from line 4, and there are both local bistros and fancy shopping mail with posh restaurants and stores nearby. I requested an early check-in to try my luck when I booked this one since we would arriving in the morning around 9am, and when we got there on the day, the receptionist was very nice and helped us to have a hassle-free check-in and explained the room wasn't ready yet and it may take an hour to have the room key, so we just left our baggage there and went to see friends. I was disappointed by the lobby toilet, which wasn’t clean at all and even with the smoking smell, there were few cigarette left on the floor, and the room is also a little bit dark. The receptionist welcomed us and handed over the room key when we came back after lunch time. Our room is located at 11th floor, with an ample space and a California sized bed, the view was just okay, since there’s nothing to see anyway. One thing I don’t really like about the room was its bit dark too, seems like they didn’t decorate enough lights. The bathroom is also big with separated shower and bath facilities, however, the water pressure wasn’t good, and shower leaking seems bit blocked. I especially like the idea that there are extra tooth pastes, so I don’t need to ask like I was in other hotels. The furniture, on the other hand, I can tell are bit old, there are scratches and dens on the TV stands. We also visited the swimming pool of the hotel, I personally think the water is bit cold, but wife reckons it’s fine, the staff there are very nice too and helped me brought a note to my wife as we both forgot to bring our mobile phones. The breakfast was a spotlight, I enjoyed a lot. If you are big fan of big breakfast, they catered both dry and crispy and wet bacon, scrambled eggs, baked tomatoes and baked beans, with a wide range of selections of pastries. Chinese sides, however, also up to standard, especially the local Beijing cuisine such as jianbing and dalumian. My overall impressions here including nice and friendly staffs, good location if you happen to visit haidian/university area, and...

I chose this hotel on two trips - each for over two weeks. The primary purpose of choosing this hotel was proximity to my business location.

The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. The rooms are of average quality for the price. As with most of China, the mattresses are a little too hard for western bodies. I had specifically asked for a soft mattress, and even that turned out to be on the rigid side. I had the deluxe room.

I was particularly disappointed by the breakfast. The choices are fairly limited and not at all tasty. I did not try the chinese foods, which may have been better, but the western breakfasts were quite bad. It seemed the cooks were unable to even make a decent omelet! So, I had sunny-side-up eggs, and every other time, the eggs were broken. The sausages taste bad - as if from a package. The cold cuts were horrible. The bread was fine. They would have fried rice and fried noodles, which looked like leftovers from the previous night from the upstairs Chinese restaurant - tasted stale.

Every morning, I would ask for English tea with milk, and it usually arrived without milk. Each time I had to request a teaspoon or stirrer as it was never offered even once with the tea - even though I asked for it every day from the same waitresses! This might sound a little picky, but if I am going to stay in a hotel that advertises itself as 5-stars, I expect a lot better than average attention to detail, and certainly a lot better food. And I expect that a hotel that belongs to a western chain would know how to serve a decent western breakfast!

The Chinese restaurant on the second floor is quite pricy and the food was not very satisfying. My dinner came to about US$70, and was definitely not worth the price.

I think this hotel could use a whole new set of chefs if they want a 5-star rating. By comparison, the Intercontinental Hotel near the Bird's Nest has a terrific Chinese restaurant with great food, and the room prices (with corporate rates)...