Beijing Xihua Jade Hotel Forbidden City

“It's called 西华智德饭店 in Chinese”

We had a hard time finding this hotel because it has been called different names: Beijing Wang Fu Jing Jade Hotel, Jade Hotel, Jade Youth Hostel, etc. Some map apps will take you to the wrong place if you don't put in the exact address. But if you put in the correct Chinese name for the hotel, ... more

We had a hard time finding this hotel because it has been called different names: Beijing Wang Fu Jing Jade Hotel, Jade Hotel, Jade Youth Hostel, etc. Some map apps will take you to the wrong place if you don't put in the exact address. But if you put in the correct Chinese name for the hotel, 西华智德饭店, you will find the exact place without any problem. We like the location. Some map apps will tell you to walk a long way to get to the closest subway station, but there is actually a bus stop on Beiheyan St (北河沿大街), called the 北京妇产医院站, which is only about 3-minute walk from the hotel, where you can take Bus lines 2, 60, or 82 to a subway station or the next exchange, or wherever you want to go, saving energy from walking (you already need to do a lot of walking to tour Beijing). We love the breakfast, but it is only available between 7am and 9am when we were there. The room was clean. But it is an older building, so you won't see it sparkling. I think they do a pretty good job keeping it reasonably clean. AC did work, though I had to ask the front desk how to operate it. We were never able to get the WiFi to work (we weren't able to connect to WiFi anywhere in China). I heard it has to do with our phones and sim cards being from the US. I didn't see it as a hostel, because we did have our private room and private bath, albeit small. Front desk clerks and maintenance crew don't speak English. I do see some foreign travelers get very frustrated with them. If you know Mandarin, you won't have a problem. If you don't, you can use some translation app to translate what you want to say in Chinese, and let them read it from your app. All in all, for the price and the location, I would recommend it for adventurous budget travelers.

less

“did the job as expected”

stayed here for three nights at end of april. i really enjoyed the location as the hotel is in the hutongs. when you exit the hotel the alley leads out to a busy road with a park on the other side in which you will see exercise groups all day and night and the old men walking their birdcages or p... more

stayed here for three nights at end of april. i really enjoyed the location as the hotel is in the hutongs. when you exit the hotel the alley leads out to a busy road with a park on the other side in which you will see exercise groups all day and night and the old men walking their birdcages or playing checkers. some people have said it is difficult to find but google maps brought me precisely to the front door. my room was also on 5th floor. the lift goes to the first 4 only but the lady on reception offered me someone to lift the bag for the last floor if needed. the roms are plain but mine was clean and i had no issue at all with the bathroom. my room was cleaned each day and towels replaced. the one big issue with the rooom is that there is only one available socket to use for charging and to to do this you have to plug out the lamp and their is no overall main room light, 5 mins to wangfujing street, another 10 to Dongsi subway station which was the one i used. forbidden city within 5 minutes also. other users said that the area was a bit sketchy but I'm a solo traveller and never felt any problem in the very traditional Chinese surroundings overall its a reasonably priced hotel in a very accessible area and serves fine as a place to rest the head

less

“Great location, good breakfast, very reasonable”

I didn’t realize this with it was a youth hostel when I booked it but it was a great location. I did not use it but I believe they have a laundromat on site and getting laundry done here in China is very expensive so that should be a big plus. Very nice breakfast was included was very reasonable.... more

I didn’t realize this with it was a youth hostel when I booked it but it was a great location. I did not use it but I believe they have a laundromat on site and getting laundry done here in China is very expensive so that should be a big plus. Very nice breakfast was included was very reasonable. We were on the fifth floor and the elevator only goes to the fourth not a problem for us but if that’s a problem for you make sure you’re on the first through fourth floors. Bed was hard as it has been everywhere except for one place we stayed in China. Couldn’t really get the AC to work but that’s also been the case everywhere we stayed in China. Comfortable temperature with the window open. Wi-Fi was very spotty but worked in the lobby. Bathroom amenities included mounted shower gel and shampoo and toothbrush and toothpaste and soap. Should not drink the water out of the tap and they have a sign saying so. Probably is the case throughout China but not sure didn’t drink the tap water anywhere after that. Shops and restaurants right around the corner.

less