Liaoning International Hotel — Hotel in Beijing

Just stayed a week at this hotel. The reason was a visit to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is located not far from the hotel. That was the only plus. Let me remind you one thing first: it is supposed to be a 5 star hotel!!! Ok, when we got there i realized that no one at the reception spoke decent English. I wondered but thought it just happened. Off we went to the room. It is ok, but VERY dated. The AC doesn’t work properly and you can hear everything- street, neighbors and so on. Since our window faced the street/railway, it was loud. TV: 3 englisch speaking channels - BBC, CNN and HBO, oh, sorry, and Russia Today, like you might need it... Reminder: international hotel. It gets worse. Location: only for visiting university/ Academy of Sciences, otherwise you are facing a 25 minute hike (and i am a really fast when walking) to the next subway station and then 35 minutes ride downtown, enjoy. There is small 7/11 opened 24/7 on the street next to the hotel. You will need it, because, again, no one in hotel bothers to learn english! One night we decided to eat at the hotel. It was 21.20. Apparently all restaurants were closed. Nice. If there is room service, i can’t even tell, there was no translation in the room/ hence 7/11. Next evening we came early (live it, learn it!!!) to the restaurant. After initial confusion hence no one understood us we got the menu... On the ipad... In chinese!!! We asked if it was possible to view it in English, the answer was ‘no’. Ok, we ordered something which turned out to be chicken with bones, we couldn’t eat it, got a bill for that (!) paid and left. Thank you but no, thank you... House keeping was also working as they wanted. One day we didn’t have any shampoo, the other no toilet paper, go figure... Wi-fi in the room was patchy. Sometimes working, sometimes not. So i went to the reception and told them to check it out. Wrong choice of words as 5 minutes later i realized the lady was checking ME out!!! I tried to explain the issue but she had to go and find someone who could understand me... To exchange money was also a problem, since sometimes they didn’t have cash... The best thing happened to me at night though. I got extremely sick and had no choice but to go to the hospital. It was 4 am. I needed a taxi. So i came to the reception, where a sleepy lady was. I explained to her it was an emergency and i needed a cab, could she please get me one. ‘Go to the concierge’ she said. Really???!!!! Ok, it was across the hall, and he was not there, so i went back to her telling her so. Bear in mind, i was feeling desperate by then. You would never believe what she did!!!! She started CALLING the concierge!!!! Holding her cell phone in the hand!!! If i were fit i would have probably yelled... Turned out, concierge was asleep!!! Asleep!!! At work at the 5 star hotel!!!! And then when i explained where i should have been taken to there was no question, no nothing, he just went back to sleep. The security guy was by the way sound asleep in his chair too. Good job! So quite frankly, if i could, i would give this hotel 0 stars, unfortunately it is not possible here!!! AVOID at...

Looking for positives, the only things I can point to are the size of the room (but this was of little comfort) and the efficiency of the laundry service.

The negatives:

Poor location. Completely inaccessible by foot, and a long walk to either of the closest subway stations.

It’s not a welcoming place. The member of staff who checked me in was grumpy, over-tactile with my passport (bending it and folding pages!) and thrust a key at me, not telling me anything about the facilities, breakfast location and hours. The staff member didn’t even point me towards the elevators, but rather barked at me when I set off in the (wrong) direction I guessed.

No WiFi. It wouldn’t connect. I asked at reception and they said they couldn’t fix it for me. I asked if it was broken, and staff said no. “Sorry,” was all I got. This is unacceptable for a purportedly five star business hotel.

The hotel smells bad. There’s a whiff of sewage or poor plumbing throughout. Particularly in the lobby on the way to the elevators, and in the basement.

The room stank of smoke (despite being a non-smoking room) and of the (leaded) gold spray paint used to cover the arms and legs of all the pieces of furniture.

The room was roasting. No air conditioning (only heat). Yes, it was 0°C outside, but that doesn’t mean it’s comfortable having the room at 30°. Nothing I could do could get the room cooler.

I even tried to open the window (nervously, having looked at the latest Beijing air pollutant levels outside) to alleviate the smell and the heat, but it was jammed shut.

Woken by housekeeping to clean the room at 9:00am (after arriving from a late flight at 02:00am).

No room service.

No iron or ironing board in the room (not expected in a regular hotel, but this is positioning itself as a “five star” business hotel).

Not told where breakfast was when I checked in. Inaccessible by anything other than car (the subway is 15 mins walk away, but there are no sidewalks (even on the hotel’s own grounds) and no signage whatsoever.

Everything at breakfast was greasy and luke-warm, and the tables and chairs were dirty. The vessels that hold fruit juice were sweating with condensation and the juice was warm.

Teapot and kettle provided in the room...but no tea!

‘His and her’s’ sinks, but only one shampoo, one conditioner etc.

Only feather pillows. No hypoallergenic options.

The hotel advertises a gym on its website, and in the room literature, but when one follows the signs all you find is a billboard for it in the basement. Either it’s closed down or it’s not open yet, but why is it advertised as if it’s something guests can use?

How this hotel can class itself as five stars I just don’t understand. Maybe it was once, but it’s now dreadful. It’s up against it with its poor accessibility and the sheer size of the place. It will take a lot of money and a significant improvement in management and vision to turn this around. It’s a wreck. There are so many better...

A short hop from Yuanmingyuan Gardens and a handful of key universities in the area, this hotel is a step away from the press of central beijing and quite frankly benefits from it.||||Of course, this is a Chinese hotel so the staff speak Chinese primarily, but a few were happy to greet me in English and when my Chinese reached its limits, there was always someone just a phonecall away to help out (I had a question for room service, who quickly called reception where I could get translated). Frankly, this is one of the easiest times I've had in a hotel in China and the staff were uniformly pleasant, doubly so when you make the effort to meet them half way.||||The reception is bright anf glitzy without beinh a gaudy as some other hotels I've stayed in. There is a restaurant and bar/lounge immediately accessible with a small selection of shops and restaurants on the bottom floors.||||Keycard access elevators take you to your rooms which while not luxurious, were perfectly comfortable, clean and well appointed ... with the first bath I've seen in a hotel here for quite some time.||||The TV channels were the standard fare, with a handful of foreign language channels (I noticed one other reviewer wondering why anyone would want a Russian channel, obviously not considering the number of Russian visitors to the North of China each year - there were at least two parties in the hotel during my two-night stay).||||The beds were comfortable, if anything the pillows were a little too soft for my current tastes but I can hardly level that as a criticism.||||Breakfast, lunches and dinners mixed a heavy handful of Chinese cuisine with a smattering of international. It was a tad seafood focussed for a couple of meals, so if you don't like seafood be warned, but I was always able to find enoough to eat without a problem.||||Some of the food felt a little heavy on the MSG, which I don't always get on with, but it wasn't overpowering. Breakfast in particular felt like there was enough to cater to Western needs, but much of the Chinese food was delicious anyway.||||All in all, this was a delightful stay, Not quite perfect but pleasantly comfortable in every way. The garden was pleasant to walk in during the cooler summer mornings and we were close enough to other facilities (including the subway) that it would be easy enough to explore the city if we desired. Certainly a place I won't hesitate to return to...