Orient MGM International Hotel — Hotel in Beijing

On a 7night tour. Went with family and friend's family.||||Location : about 40km from centre of beijing. Nice if you manage to avoid peak hours. Getting to tiananmen square took almost 3hrs (mainly due to traffic) but every other time, we got to destinations within an hour and a half.|| no shops around within walking distance(a sign says there is a shop in the hotel but due to the remoteness of the area it no longer existed). ||Great potential once the surrounding development area is more established.||Good mountain air :D||||Food: Generally the restaurants close early as most people seem to be tour/bussiness who have organised dinners in the city. Room service(pretty much the same food if you went to the restaurants during open hours) was available so that didnt matter that much. On our first night, we found that only the italian restaurant was still open.(9pm-ish). Not an expert on italian food but it was nice.||Didnt have time to try the chinese restaurant..||Breakfast buffet ws very nice .good variety of western and asian food. Eggs(boiled,fried),bacon,sausage,fried rice, fried noodles, assorted vegetables, freshly made noodle soup, miso soups, range of congees, some fried food e.g. spring rolls&hash browns, waffles,pancakes, muffins,bread(diy toast machine), yoghurt, fruits,diy salad.

On a 7night tour. Went with family and friend's family.||||Location : about 40km from centre of beijing. Nice if you manage to avoid peak hours. Getting to tiananmen square took almost 3hrs (mainly due to traffic) but every other time, we got to destinations within an hour and a half.|| no shops around within walking distance(a sign says there is a shop in the hotel but due to the remoteness of the area it no longer existed). ||Great potential once the surrounding development area is more established.||Good mountain air :D||||Food: Generally the restaurants close early as most people seem to be tour/bussiness who have organised dinners in the city. Room service(pretty much the same food if you went to the restaurants during open hours) was available so that didnt matter that much. On our first night, we found that only the italian restaurant was still open.(9pm-ish). Not an expert on italian food but it was nice.||Didnt have time to try the chinese restaurant..||Breakfast buffet ws very nice .good variety of western and asian food. Eggs(boiled,fried),bacon,sausage,fried rice, fried noodles, assorted vegetables, freshly made noodle soup, miso soups, range of congees, some fried food e.g. spring rolls&hash browns, waffles,pancakes, muffins,bread(diy toast machine), yoghurt, fruits,diy salad.

For fellow reviewers who rated this hotel during the conference in May, I am putting my today's feedback. ||||True, the airport journey is a long way - 1.5 hours by highway which is the l-o-n-g way round, but you can trip via downtown after downtown errands, then check-in like I did. So that 's not so bad, and thanks to the reviews warning, so I planned my journey. And from downtown, 45 min is OK, at least for me, If I stay downtown, I'll get stuck in traffic anyway. ||||Lobby - 1st impression - I expected somewhat Italian, or Swiss or whatever - no worries there, for me it's a matter of taste and my companions went 'wow' and started clicking away, with good impression and intentions I suppose. ||||Front desk check-in was fine. Usual hassle of scanning passport etc. But that's OK and normal in China, and the staff there were sincere in doing their job properly. So a few minutes wait was not anything to cry over for me. ||||The room - Wonderful. I am writing this AFTER I checked out the facilities of in room. It's clean , dust free and windows and mirrors are spotless. Shower and water pressure was ok for the hand held, good for the rain shower. Amenities are good. Nicely co-ordinated stes and sufficient. ||||I am writing this on hotel wi-fi and its working - - right? Have not check out the bugs in the bed yet, but I don't suppose they are there anymore. And the rooms are beautiful. Beds very inviting. May be a bit warm in a July Beijing with the duvet, but I am not fussy sleeping without the duvet. Nope, no alternative lighter covers - just checked. And too lazy to call for one anyway. CNN works, HBO as usual repeat movies, so no loss there. I'm not a Brit so no sentiments about BBC for me. Good enough to know what's happening in Gaza and the unfortunate MH17 flight. Good enough to hear it in English. I don't need Cinemax neither. ||||Tried looking around the room for wallpaper falling off - guess since May, they've come a long way and worked hard to fix the issues. It's a nice hotel now. did not notice any corridors with peeling wall paper unlike some similar grade hotels in the US). Nicely scented, clean, staff are pleasant and not intimidating, just happy to welcome me, the guest.||||And not forgetting the Chinese meal with my companions - sumptious and extremely well done. I've eaten all over China, and I really find it hard to fault the food - mmmm say no more. It's just right (for me). I did pig myself, sad to say. And I'm waiting to grab a good sleep and look forward to BF tomorrow. ||||Besides the hotel being in the location as it is today, I think the BJ Fengtai area will grow and bustle in due course as with China all over (I first visited BJ in 1998 and it was 2nd ring road at max back then) - I give the developers credit for confidence and foresight, and the management and staff for doing their utmost despite the difficulties they face. ||||Sorry people, I;ll give this hotel an excellent - in effort and enthusiasm.to do it right by customers like you and...