Not being a resident of Beijing (or China in that matter) I found the Raffles Beijing Hotel to be an excellent hotel for people wishing to see the sites of Beijing. Located in the center of the city, the hotel is only about a 10 – 15 minute drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. On top of this it is only a 5 min walk to the subway station, which is a must, due to Beijing’s extremely dense traffic.
Regarding the inner workings of the hotel, I must first say that the staff was very warm and eager to help, even with my mundane questions on how I would obtain a map on bus routes and where I can go to get an international calling card. While the Raffles hotel does sport some great restaurants, I was out and about in Beijing due to the city’s great specialty restaurants. But the hotel breakfast was great, sporting a mix of a Western and Asian buffets.
In all, this was a great hotel with excellent staff who were eager to help a first timer get their bearings in a new/foreign city. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to see the historical sites and the bustling city of Beijing.
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