The Lakeview Hotel — Hotel in Beijing

I have been to over 25 countries and have NEVER received the level of service that I did from Lakeview. The check-in process was a nightmare and they weren't able to even help show us where we needed to go. The only saving grace about this hotel was that the room is extremely large and the bed is really comfortable and there are movies in English on TV. We went down to the bar to get drinks and ended up having to go upstairs to have them call a bartender. So I ordered a martini from the menu that was most like a Cosmo. She said, "no have that" and I said, "Ok, why?" and she said, "ok, we make for you". My boyfriend ordered an old fashioned which she also seemed confused about even though it was written in Mandarin as well. When I got my drink it tasted like rum, rubbing alcohol, and a mix of some weird fruit juices, and they made my boyfriends old fashioned with vodka. So we told the bartender they were wrong and she brought over the check which we said we were not paying because we were not going to drink the drinks. They called a manager down who said we had to pay and we said no, we were not going to drink the drinks. After 2 managers came down and they were yelling at each other in Mandarin they finally said ok. The next morning we went to the breakfast Buffett, sat down with our first plate and they said we had 10 minutes until they were removing the food although before we sat down and gave them our room number to charge they did not tell us that, nor did they have any posted time for the brunch. As we ate our first plate and went to get our first bite they were already taking away all the food. There was a Chinese man that they brought boxes of food too for him to take it to go but it seemed as a westerner, we would not be provided with the same courtesy. So we had the end of some bread and old butter, and cold bacon. I was furious as the service had already been terrible the day before. We asked to see the manager and they refused to take the breakfast off our bill or provide to go boxes so we could even have something to take back to the room their reason was that we got, "free drinks the day before". There was no arguing as everyone was yelling at each other in Mandarin, nobody knew where the manager was, when she came down she didn't speak English and had to have the desk clerk translate, she even rolled her eyes several times as we were standing in front of her listening to all of this happening. The neighborhood is far from anything. There was supposedly airport transportation but it cost more than a taxi or an Uber to the airport. I can't imagine the ordeal it would have been to arrange it anyways. The man at the taxi stand was nice but seemed helpless as they weren't able to call for taxis for us but instead had to wait in a remote hotel to hope that one would drive by. I felt bad for him and we still tipped him as he was the only one in the entire hotel that was helpful. They also treated us like complete thieves when we asked to see the pool area and they asked, "why?"........ wellllll....... we are staying at the hotel and want to see if we want to use the facilities. I am happy we were only staying one night as this experience was awful and the worst customer service in China. Not to mention the wifi was useless and didn't load or work anywhere in the hotel, totally frustrating when you need to still work and you are paying to stay in a 4+ star hotel. Disgraceful. Shame on...

That was my second stay there, and after one year it went downhill. Positive: they renovated the gym/pool area. That's about it, although a/c does not work well in the gym which is an issue when it's 36C outside. Negatives: service. It's an ostensibly 5* hotel, can they get a single person at the front desk who speaks English? Also it's a 5* hotel, can they let people settle their bills upon departure? They phoned me one day before I left and insisted that I settle the restaurant bill (I had a couple of lunches and dinners there so it was very modest) immediately. The problem is, the first person to call you does not speak English beyond 'come to the front desk'. Then they keep calling you every 15min while you are working in some faint hope that perhaps you are going to learn Chinese in those 15 minutes. Also, it's a 5* hotel, so after a full day away I was once surprised to find my rooms not cleaned. Explaining this to the staff in the evening, where even those who pretend the speak English are gone, was a challenge. Finally, I told them I would be leaving late in the evening (had a night flight) but my room was paid for that night. So they started calling me telling me the checkout time had passed - even though I still had the room paid for the next 24 hours! Trying to explain it to the person whose English vocabulary didn't extend beyond keywords "deposit" and "downstairs" was a daunting task. ||||The bottom line: avoid, unless you have a magic way of spending time there without ever having to communicate...

Excellent location, guest-facing staff that was lovely and as helpful and cheerful and professional as could be. The room itself had very stained carpets and broken and rusted portions in the bathroom. But was otherwise comfortable and had a nice view and a perfect temperature. The cleaning staff frequently would not replace things - we were there for 12 days. So no replacement bathrobes or teacups and sometimes not enough water in the room. They took our room key once but I think it was an innocent mistake. It feels like a lot of untrained folks working this department with not a lot of quality control discipline. The food was awful and oily. Definitely some reusing of old food going on. It was a chaotic mess, with food everywhere and somewhat rude, young staff and grumpy elder chefs. Sometimes it was tough to find a seat to enjoy your meal. The last straw came when I poured my tea into a clean cup and there was a residue of oil on the top. Solid nope.I tried to get my prepaid meal back for my teen daughter since she refused to eat downstairs after a few days. They refused but sent tea, cakes and fruit to our room every day which we found to be a nice and relaxing compromise from the frustrations downstairs. I can’t compliment the front desk staff enough!! They were always lovely and friendly despite the language barrier. We really appreciated it.I’d stay here again especially since it’s so close to the subway, to the summer palace and Peking uni, but would advise other travelers not expect it...