The Orchid — Hotel in Beijing

When you stay in Beijing, you can either stay in a large, somewhat characterless hotel, or you can choose to stay in a more boutique offering. The Orchid is a slightly funky boutique hotel located within a hutong. You get a different sense of the city staying in a residential area with all the sights, smells, and sounds of local life.

We bracketed our trip to China at the Orchid, staying in two different rooms. The first was a large room with two separate sleeping areas, with a kitchenette and projection movie screen. The second room was a more basic Courtyard Room, though it had a small outdoor seating area, behind a beautiful antique Chinese door, outfitted with a classic brass Chinese lock. Definitely the most unique room key I have ever had. Both rooms had a modern Chinese look. Beds were comfortable and bathrooms adequate.

There are two standout things about the Orchid, the friendliness of the staff and the choices for breakfast. We interacted primarily with Lisa, who helped orient us to the technological mystery of visiting China. She helped us book Didi's, and made other recommendations that improved our stay.

For breakfast, you have two choices, either the Mediterranean restaurant Toast, or a Chinese breakfast at Furongji. We tried both, but I tip my hand to Furongji. So nice to get a good cup of coffee and very good Chinese food. We sampled both there excellent Congee, dumplings, steamed buns, and youtiao and soup with shrimp wontons. Everything we...

We stayed at The Orchid for 3 nights in Beijing, and we really enjoyed it! It has a great location, with easy access to subway (though the subway in Beijing is pretty well-connected everywhere), and near great restaurants, bars, and sights. It is in the classic "Hutongs," but nestled away so you don't hear all of the cars and motorbikes (which unfortunately are quite frequent nowadays even in the narrow alleys). It was a bit expensive though for China, which is maybe why we only saw other foreign tourists (even though $100-ish USD per night would not be crazy elsewhere, it is more of a luxury price in China). Pros: Free breakfast at either their Mediterranean restaurant or the dim sum restaurant. We only tried the Mediterranean, and it was quite good. Really cozy feel, loved the architecture. Amazing location. Helpful front desk staff! Cons: As mentioned, rooms are a bit small (you can see in picture), but do-able for a couple. Another thing that may be present in other hotels in the area is that they asked to NOT flush toilet paper given the old plumbing (you can imagine this can cause issues with #2..). Also not the greatest sound insulation, especially since all the courtyard rooms just face in towards the same place. If people were talking outside, we could hear it pretty clearly, though given this is such a small boutique hotel, there were not many other guests. Recs nearby: Modernista (live bar, speakeasy) just down the street. Little...

When we travel, we prefer to stay in local places or vacation rentals. This little boutique hotel was the perfect find, especially since vacation rentals aren't an option in Beijing. What the rooms lacked in space was overcompensated for by their exemplary service and the little extra touches of comfort. Fruit baskets, excellent tea, early breakfast or on the go options, a couple of lazy plump cats wandering the courtyard or sleeping on the shelf - what more could you want? They even mailed out my old school post cards for me! We made the god awful mistake of visiting in early August. We paid for it severely by almost dying of heart stroke daily. Air conditioning in China is minimal if it exists at all and good luck finding ice anywhere. My room stayed cold the entire time! The AC was fabulous. And the front desk filled my ice cup daily. The bathroom shower was great and the bed (I had the loft bed in the garden room) was the most comfortable I've ever slept in! If you plan on hiking the wall, be aware that that loft bed will be challenging to get in and out of afterwards! My bathroom door didn't shut completely ever but my room door would if you slammed it hard enough. Btw, breakfast is excellent on the top floor! And even though you have to go down a tiny alley, don't fret - it's a delightfully busy and interesting neighborhood, though very safe. We loved the experience here, especially staying in the old traditional...