Nanjing Great Hotel — Hotel in Beijing

We ended up staying 2 nights at the Nanjing Great Hotel unintentionally. We had initially booked at the nearby "Tainanamen Best Year Courtyard Hotel", but that place had double-booked, and sent us here as an alternate.||||As we arrived at "Tainanamen Best Year Courtyard Hotel" after our grueling 1 1/2 hour taxi ride from the South Railway station through Beijing's traffic, we were told at the front desk that we could not stay there, because "a group of Russians had booked the place for a traditional Chinese medicine convention and the place smelled strongly of Chinese medicine, which other customers had complained about." Even though we insisted that we did not mind that smell (even actually liked it), the reception girl still told us that she had to set us up in an alternative hotel in the same area, and she took us there. She offered us to visit the room beforehand, and took us there with that hotel's staff. The corridors were absolutely filthy (probably never ever vacuumed since they had been installed), and the room stank of sewer. We met a French couple who were also in search of a hotel (they had shunned advance internet bookings), and had the same impression from a visit of another room in the hotel. We told our girl that we did not want that room, and she called her boss for another option. After a couple minutes, she told us that another, nicer hotel still had something left. It was the "Nanjing Great Hotel". When we arrived at the "Nanjing Great Hotel", all they had left for the 2 nights we wanted to stay (we were on the Thursday and Friday immediately preceding the October 1 National Day holiday) was a little windowless room. We accepted to look at that little windowless room, and took it.||||Well, it turned out to be the best one could ever get out of a little windowless room: super clean, super practical (the owner must be from Hong Kong), super quiet, the (included) breakfast buffet was unbelievable (with both Chinese and Western choices, even decently tasting coffee), and the front desk always found some other staff with sufficient English if we needed to communicate!||||We haven't seen any of the hotel's "regular" room, but our basing our opinion on the fact that, if they can make their little windowless windows so nice, then what about the other rooms. and we could still see that the corridors looked clean, and the delicious breakfast buffet is the same for everyone (I was having it both ways: Chinese food and "Westen" drinks). We therefore decided to write a good review of the "Nanjing Great Hotel", and have put it near the top of our list of options next time we...

My impression of this hotel is good - I have seen some negative reviews but my experience was positive and I rather like the feel of it. For central Beijing at this price it’s great value.||I found the staff to be very welcoming and helpful. My Chinese is non-existent and they patiently & kindly gave me various advice and directions in faltering English during my stay. Couldn’t ask for more.||The ¥98 evening buffet is very, very popular (always a good sign) and I was pleasantly surprised. Much of it is cooked as you wait, the rest pours out regularly from the kitchen. From the taste, presentation and texture it’s all fresh and generally good quality ingredients. And the ‘endless’ portions are certainly seized upon by most diners, much as I quickly latched onto the similarly ‘endless’ self-serve beer.||It is a tad scruffy in the bedroom corridors (nowhere else that I noticed) but the room is well maintained, clean and the staff very pleasant and helpful. Nestled almost next door to Tiananmen Square you are certainly very central.||On a final note, hotel reception were more than happy to let me check in at 10.30 am and cleaned the room just as I arrived - most unusual for any hotel and feels very accommodating.||All in all a nice place to stay. Plan to return next time I...

My impression of this hotel is good - I have seen some negative reviews but my experience was positive and I rather like the feel of it. For central Beijing at this price it’s great value.||I found the staff to be very welcoming and helpful. My Chinese is non-existent and they patiently & kindly gave me various advice and directions in faltering English during my stay. Couldn’t ask for more.||The ¥98 evening buffet is very, very popular (always a good sign) and I was pleasantly surprised. Much of it is cooked as you wait, the rest pours out regularly from the kitchen. From the taste, presentation and texture it’s all fresh and generally good quality ingredients. And the ‘endless’ portions are certainly seized upon by most diners, much as I quickly latched onto the similarly ‘endless’ self-serve beer.||It is a tad scruffy in the bedroom corridors (nowhere else that I noticed) but the room is well maintained, clean and the staff very pleasant and helpful. Nestled almost next door to Tiananmen Square you are certainly very central.||On a final note, hotel reception were more than happy to let me check in at 10.30 am and cleaned the room just as I arrived - most unusual for any hotel and feels very accommodating.||All in all a nice place to stay. Plan to return next time I...