FURAMAXPRESS BUSINESS HOTEL - Beijing — Hotel in Beijing

I am a student staying here for a summer program at Peking University and chose the hotel based on proximity and decent reviews at the time I was booking. ||||I arrived shortly after noon on a sunday afternoon, and checking in took longer than at any other hotel I've ever been to. There were 2-3 employees at the counter but for some reason, they could not check people in quickly. One Chinese couple came in after me while I was waiting in life and went straight to one of the employees, who helped them without saying anything about how other people were waiting in line to be checked in. Overall checkin took longer than 30 minutes. ||||The first room I was assigned to reeked of smoke even though I had booked a nonsmoking room, so I went back down to ask for another room. The staff was friendly and obliged. I also asked for someone to help me with luggage, and service was rather good. However, the second room had an odd odor but I was grateful it wasn't smoke so I settled for it.||||Throughout my stay, at times there would be a strong smell that came from the pipes or sewer. I complained about it, and they had the floor drains in the bathroom covered with plastic bags filled with water. This seemed to reduce the smell somewhat. However, for whatever reason they removed these on one of the days and the smell was worse than ever. I couldn't stand it anymore and went downstairs to ask for another room. They sent me to two other rooms that were in worse condition (one was a smoking room even though I had asked for a nonsmoking room). These rooms were a different kind from the one I was staying in and paid for. After seeing the second room, I gave up and went back to my room. As I entered my room however, the strange sewer smell was too overpowering. I finally went back downstairs to ask if there was another room similar to the one I was in and if not, whether I could be upgraded and that I was willing to pay extra. The employee I encountered this time was the least helpful and dismissed me after saying there were no available rooms and he didn't know when they would be available. Before I left the counter, he turned his attention to another customer. This made me very unhappy. Despite these experiences, I was still tolerating because the front counter employees previously seemed to at least make an effort. However, this guy was the last straw.||||Furthermore, while I was talking to this last employee and explaining that the smell was unbearable, another customer overheard and said that it couldn't be helped because all the rooms smelled like that. This seems to be a recurring problem for many customers, and I'm sure they receive many complaints regarding this issue. This is ridiculous. ||||After this experience, I would never consider coming back here. While the price was not too expensive and was fairly affordable, what I got was not worth even the price I paid for my 13-night stay. Since I was staying for such a long time, I expected them to help when I had complained so many times about one problem. If you are a summer school student considering this hotel for your stay, I advise you to stay away and book early at the PKU Global Village. My classmates there seem to enjoy it much more than I have this hotel.||||Also, taking a taxi to this hotel is the most difficult thing ever. Drivers do not recognize the name of this hotel, and even when you provide them with the address, it is difficult to find. It is also a long walk to the nearest subway station, although there are decent restaurant options in this...

Me and my friend stayed there for about 3 weeks, for business. So we only slept and ate breakfast there. ||I have to say that the place is poor, yet not horrible or disgusting. ||Let's start from room-service. They don't actually clean the room and replacing the sheets once a week or so. they are putting everything back to the place and replacing the towels and toilet paper. We experienced clogged sewers on our staying, and it was fixed the same day (we got out around 8:00 and were back by 17:00 and it worked). ||The room itself was in bad shape. I mean in terms of stains on the walls, color peeling from walls, old furniture, one of the lamps didn't work (but I'm sure they would fix it if we told them..).||As for the breakfast, there's like a corridor with tables on the sides. We got to learn NOT go to the restaurant between 7:30 till 8:05, because there's an overflow of guests and the waitress can't handle the mess. So basically you are left with no food or drinks. After we learned it, we came there around 8:10. The food was ok (even though we are from the west and it was kinda hard to get used to eat Chinese cousin in the morning). the waiters are very nice and trying to help you with whatever they can understand (like getting you fork and knife..).||From here I want to say something about the staff. They speak very, very poor English which making the whole thing, very difficult.. but most of the receptionists are trying their best (although there's a few that are very ignorant..). For example, there was an incident with our things and the manager took us to camera room and allowed us to watch the security cameras as long as we wanted, just to help us (I don't want to get in details). it was really great!||On the day that we left, it rained like crazy, no one could get outside without getting soaking wet (also the crazy wind that could knock you down). I mean, if you visited China in the summer, you know what I'm talking about. and of course all the cab drivers were taken, So one of the staff members, went outside to catch the cab for us. We didn't ask him for this.||So basically, yeah. The place looks bad, most of the staff membres are great. So it depends on you what you're looking for.||P.s you get free water...

I stayed there for 15 days. What I particularly liked about this hotel is the fact that, when you ask ANYTHING from them (check in, make a complaint, check out, get a taxi, what is their opinion on gay marriage in China (I might be kidding about one of them)), they'll just ignore you! They'll talk to each other, pretend they have extremely important phone calls to make by dialing the phone for 10 minutes, and just start talking to the other people that may come after you. I've tried various techniques to gain their attention: jumping around the reception, trying to speak Chinese... Hopefully, at the point when you think you're a ghost and no one can see you, the mirrors of this elegantly designed hotel, pride of the 1995's, will remind you that you are alive! But finally the best way I've found to get their attention is to SHOUT! They will still have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you want but at least they'll try to understand as they'll be as surprised as you were when you discovered a used condom in the nightstand's drawer. So if you shout "I WANT A TAXI NOW!" the odds are they come with extra towels in the next half-hour (which is good as they are VERY stingy when it comes to towels (I only had one small towel)). As I am Parisian, I'm used to be unfairly mean and to shout every time at everyone so, in this way, I am pleased by their endless efforts to make me feel at home. ||||The room was very average: the numerous cracks on the walls were, somehow, beautiful and gave its charm to the room, the internet was working well enough to allow me to discover what is internet without Facebook or Twitter. Nonetheless, the bedding was dirty. What is actually quite fascinating about the bedding is that they actually change the sheets quite often... to put some other dirty beddings. Yep!||||In the restaurant, the chef has a very personal conception of gastronomy. It's like the cooks were TRYING to make the meals as disgusting as possible. The highlight of my trip was when I ordered a meat dish (the photo on the menu looked nice) and all I got were BONES! One of the biggest anger of the trip! Good times! ||||To conclude,...