Reviews of Friendship Hotel, Beijing

Very very nice hotel, a bit difficult to find, but well worth the effort. Exceptionally clean, the beds were very hard and only one English Channel on the TV which only showed drivel!



The breakfasts were quite amazing, but avoid the baked beans (they are as hard as bullets!)



Very handy for the Beijing metro, about a 2 minute walk. A bit of a problem with the language, but with a lot of pointing and gesturing you will manage.



Within walking distance of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, about an hour to the Great Wall (not walking though, you take a bus!).



Overall, highly recommended.

I stayed as part of an organised coach tour of Beijing (& Xian) but I don’t think I was treated any differently to independent travelers. The hotel was good - four buildings on one site (better than it sounds) so it can be a little confusing & getting to breakfast may take a few minutes depending which building you're in.



Over my trip, I ended up staying in buildings 2 & 4. I found them & both rooms clean & comfy with all the things you need in your room (tea making, towels, toiletries, TV, safe etc). Staff were very friendly & seemed helpful although we did ask if they would mail some postcards for us (as I would in any hotel) & they were happy to do so - BUT none of the 8 cards ever made it to England, & who knows why! (Although they speak English quite well I'm not convinced they understand English as well! I asked for an ashtray & got a toilet roll??).



We found 2 bars on site (Georges?) which was dear and a TGI Fridays (I know, not typically Chinese) but drinks were cheaper than Georges & the atmosphere was better (+ they do some rather nice cocktails!). I didn’t think much of the location of the hotel - there didn’t seem to be much of interest around, nowhere just to pop out to for a drink or a look-see.



The hotel complex has a money exchange (& the good thing about china / communism is you get exactly the same rate where ever you go), gift shops, at least 1 pharmacy & mini supermarket on site. Breakfast was included & served in a restaurant in one of the blocks. Amazing selection & quantity & for those who cant do a full-on Chinese meal at 08.00 (& I certainly couldn’t face chicken chop suey after a couple of beers the night before!) then there's still plenty of other (more European) choices.



Would I stay here again - YES. Any real dislikes - NO, the only thing is I wouldn’t bother going to Beijing again - for me I've seen THE sights (forbidden city & the imperial palace, Tian an men square, temple of heaven etc) & enjoyed them, but just didn’t take to Beijing, too sprawly & not enough heart or soul for me - admittedly I might have been looking in the wrong places but I'd much rather spend time in Xian.