Peking Youth Hostel — Hotel in Beijing

The title says it all - I loved this place. I (and kids) were in a private room, not the dorm area. The rooms were basic but comfortable - large king bed. Facilities were very basic - no toiletries which surprised me considering we were paying 500-600 a night. But the place was continually buzzing, the flower cafe is really cute and peaceful (and busy from morning till night). So this would be a 5 star rating but I found better value at the old "Prime Hotel" where I payed the same price but had a 5 star bedroom which was triple the size and was so well stocked and equipped that i felt sorry for the developers which would have been charging quadruple the price when they first opened the place. Having said the above, I WOULD recommend Peking International Youth Hostel as a friendly place to start your trip in Beijing. Great staff, basic facilities (but its a hostel so that's expected) and wonderful cafe and probably the BEST LOCATION right bang in the middle of buzzing hutongs. This place has CHARACTER, and it's this intangible thing (and the location) which allows them to charge what they do. Simple supply and...

The entrance to the hostel is around the corner! The front door is for the cafe. I was surprised to find nobody in the hostel speaking English, considering it is called INTERNATIONAL hostel. Also no support to open the roof terrace door, the staff just said I would have to wait 1 hour until the cafe opens. After five minutes of discussion I simply asked the cafe staff (who was already there) and they friendly agreed that I can use the terrace via their door. Night staff was nice though and tried to help me getting cash.My impression might be little bit too negative for Beijing relations because people are less hearty than in Europe. The hostel itself is very nice. Big chill out area downstairs, just in the middle of the touristic street, and the room upstairs was good enough: clean and functional, twin beds. Facilities same clean and functional. Hairdryers available. No laundry option unfortunately, only hand wash =)In case you are non-Chinese: be aware that you need reservations for most of the tourist attraction like Tian anmen square and forbidden city. Get help from locals, that's my tipp. Beijing Zoo with aquarium is...

Really lovely hostel right in the centre of the hutong area.||4 bed female dorm was very tiny with a small window, but aircon was brilliant!||||There were reviews about the bathrooms being dirty and smelling.||Everywhere in the hutong area smells, due to the drainage systems. So you can’t get away from that. I saw cleaners every day cleaning the bathrooms. The one shower curtain wasn’t great, but got changed when I was there.||||The common area is beautiful down stairs, quaint and quiet with a lovey cafe.||The cafe is expensive, but the hostel has a fridge at reception where you can buy simple snacks,drinks and beer for cheap.||||It’s a perfect area to get about and explore Beijing and I felt totally safe as a solo female traveler.||||The reception staff speak basic English and although I checked out at 10am, they allowed me to use the shower facilities on the evening before my very late night fight Home. ||||They hostel also run lots of great cheap trips especially to the wall, although I had already done this prior to my visit. ||||Thanks for a...