Lavande Hotel (Beijing Asian Sports Village,National Stadium,National Coference Center)

For the price, this was a much better stay than we’d had at other hotels in China. We’d first booked another Lavande in Beijing, not realizing as tourists that we couldn’t stay at just any hotel. A friend who lives here had made the booking. The staff helped us find a nearby branch of the same company that was licensed to host tourists. It’s a busy neighborhood with plenty around, though it’s not downtown. During our five days, we found everything we needed: a winter hat a few blocks away on the way to breakfast, local and chain restaurants, a coffee shop a couple of blocks off, a big convenience store around the corner, plus pharmacies and banks. It’s a good place to get a feel for everyday Beijing. Staff also helped us get taxis to other parts of the city. Nobody spoke English, but they seemed used to translation apps, and communication was easy enough. A tip for visiting China: U.S. credit cards don’t work everywhere, and some places won’t take cash in yuan either, since phone payments like WeChat and Alipay are common. Most of those apps seem to require a Chinese bank account. We were lucky to have a local friend who could take our cash and transfer money to us through the apps. There may be another way, so do your research. Debit cards worked at some ATMs, and most places accepted cash, just not all. ICBC ATMs worked well for us. We went into a bank with our friend to exchange cash. Security seemed very on edge when two white American men came in with a Chinese man, apparently worried we might be making him do something against his will. We managed to exchange the money, but using an ATM was much faster and easier.