Shichahai Shadow Art Performance — Hotel in Beijing

I love this hotel. It's in a hutong area of Beijing and therefore you'll certainly get a more "authentic" feel of Beijing as you go to your hotel in this area. So if you enjoy being in a very local, very residential, old area of Beijing, you'll be in the right spot and find it hard to find another hotel in the heart of the hutong. The room I was in was very spacious and the bathroom was even more spacious! Plenty of shower space, I LOVED the shower room so much. The hotel has a dark, Chinese decor to it. Its in the lower area of the hutong and was once used as meeting spot for certain groups of people in the cultural revolution. ||||So its probably a good thing to know that unless you get the 2nd floor, you'll probably get little to no light. And I'm not sure how much light the rooms on the 2nd floor get. But it's safe to say that it's not that much. The lobby makes up for it though. It's spacious, plenty of seating, has a run roof and plenty of lighting. And it can be used anytime there's nothing occurring. It's also the place where you're going to want to do any work you have on your laptop or phone or any mobile device. From my personal experience, the wifi connection was GARBAGE. That's one big flaw. I found myself either going to the lobby a lot. Which wasn't much of a big deal because it was better sometimes and I got to interact with other guest. Or I ended up leaving my door open for wifi connection (which I don't like doing). So wifi connection sucks from my experience.||||The shadow art performance is wonderful and is every Tu, Thursday, Saturday at 8pm. So beautiful to see and I highly recommend people take time to come and check it out. Support the artistry of shawdow art, its really beautiful.||||I'm a sucker for free breakfast but I do think the breakfast here is very good. It's a mixture of traditional chinese breakfast and western breakfast. A great blend of both and I personally enjoy. VERY MUCH. Probably my favorite part of the hotel, hahaa. And the coffee is quite good too!||||The distance to the train is very good. You're about 10 minutes walking from Behei North station or 15 minutes from Shichihai station. All depending on how fast you walk. So you can make it to plenty of popular destinations within minutes. 15-30 minutes. And there's actually some great places to eat within the area!||||If you're a runner, this is a GREAT place to run. Between the hutongs and the parks and lakes around the area, you're in a perfect place to run. ||||And god bless the cleaning ladies. ALWAYS clean up really well. My room is never really a mess and I'm a neat freak. But they always manage to still clean up better than I did!||||Overall, I highly recommend this hotel for anyone visiting Beijing! It's affordable and covers all the bases of a great hotel. ||||||NOTE: If you're trying to bring multiple women (or maybe men) over for sexual encounters, this may not be the hotel for that. Unless you have one person that you're seeing and will continue to see, I wouldn't recommend this hotel for hook ups. Since its small and if you're there for a week, the staff will know whats up. Even if they seem oblivious, they are NOT. Trust me, I know first hand, hahaha. So take my advice. If you're with someone or hooking with only one person, fine. But other than that, not a good idea to try to bring other people home with you if you're hooking up. They will catch on.||||Pros:||-In an authentic and very residential area of Beijing (if you like that)||-Train stations very close by and close proximity to many attractions||-Good breakfast||-Great Shadow performance||-Nice staff||-Small and usually quiet||-Great area to run if you're a runner||-Lots of nice residential things to see and do around town||-Great design inside a hutong||-Great cleaning staff||||Cons||-Wifi can be pretty hard to get at times, connection sucked from my experience||-Rooms can be dark with little to no window light (on the lower levels). After a few days, it gets to me being in the dark so much.||-If you're near the lobby, it can possibly be a little loud ||||Not a good or bad thing but:||||-Not recommended for trying to hook up with multiple people. Its more family friendly and should be...

Unique place to stay among the hutong (old Beijing alley) that was comfortable and in a convenient location. It is a half mile walk to the nearest subway stop. There are no restaurants in the immediate vicinity - have to walk north to Houhai or towards the subway - and they are local.||Had a room on the 2F to the left of the theater. The windows of the room face the theater area, taking in both the light from outdoors and the theater area itself. It can be noisy if kids are in the theater area so avoid rooms around the courtyard if that bothers. ||The curtains block out the light pretty well. The bed was comfortable (not as hard as Chinese beds can be) and was 2 twin mattresses put together to make a king size bed. That also creates a dip in the middle. Bathroom was a little tight between the shower and the sink, but the water gets hot quickly. This particular room had some water damage to the floor outside of the bathroom, but it is not a deal breaker.||The main thing to note is that Trip Advisor lists free breakfast. Breakfast is not free, but probably worth it for most people considering the sparseness of anything immediately nearby. There are little shops close by to get fruit, drinks and snacks.||Shadow puppet performances are on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights. This should be on the list of things to do if you are staying here. I didn't have time to take part of any of the classes, but they are good for kids as well as adults.||There are no elevators, but the staff is very helpful in carrying luggage up the stairs.||The place has character and gives a chance to live in the midst of the locals without overwhelming the neighborhood. I would stay again, especially to explore more of the alleys and Houhai on foot or in a bicycle rickshaw (have to...

My friend and I stayed for 10 days here and it was great! The rooms are a good size and the bathroom is lovely and posh feeling. Water bottles are provided everyday in the room, and there is free tea and coffee in the foyer. I saw a previous review complaining about lack of teabags, toothbrush and other items in the rooms - but if you read the sheet they give you upon arrival, due to Chinese regulations they can't put them in your room but if you ask at the front desk they'll provide these things for you!

Laundry service is £3 (30 yuan)

Breakfast is £4 (40 yuan)

Paid via Alipay/weixinpay at the bar when needed!

The aircon is good and I slept well every night with no complaints.

The hotel is situated in the Shichahai Hutongs, a small walk from the Shichihai lake which has a huge cultural area, restaurants and shops. Do not stay at this hotel if you expect to be in central Beijing city, as this hotel is in the cultural area in the Hutongs!! You can get a cheap taxi at the front desk of the hotel with 1 hour notice, or download the DiDi app and order one yourself (though it is a tight squeeze, they will pick you up from the Hutongs!).

The shadow puppet show by Master Maomao and the workers was spectacular and truly worth seeing if you're going to Beijing for the cultural History.

From a British perspective this is a great hotel and worth the money (relatively cheap compared to hotels in the UK).

I was lucky that my friend speaks Chinese well, but using a translation app would...