Beijing Jiayuan Hotel

The breakfast was terrible, so skip it. We picked up pastries from the bakery downstairs the night before instead. The air conditioner didn’t do much to cool the room, either. We were three people, but the room was small and had just two small beds. We got two bottles of water a day, and only a little roll of toilet paper. The 7-11 across the street came in handy for full-sized rolls, orange juice, and doritos. This place isn’t comparable to American hotels, where rooms are usually bigger. The staff’s English was poor, and they didn’t seem very interested in helping.

The room was clean, though the beds were hard and uncomfortable, as you might expect in a hotel mainly for Chinese guests. Breakfast was good if you’re after Chinese food. Staff don’t speak English and try to help, but the language gap means it doesn’t always work out.

At checkout, all three of us were accused of taking towels and given a bill. We had three rooms on the fourth floor, and housekeeping had failed to replace the towels from the laundry, or even the toilet paper. Not recommended!

With nobody speaking English, I couldn’t even ask for the Wi-Fi password or figure out how to get the fridge working.