I don't know this hotel but Temple of Heaven is not close to the Hard Rock Cafe. But taxis are cheap in Beijing.

Thanks JPDeM. I like to collect their shot glasses so knowing that I can, at least, get there by taxi is very good to know.

Also, has anyone known anything about Holiday Inn Express Wangjing? It seems both hotels are new, and both have pretty reasonable price during the Olympic period.

In China, HI name has good reputation for above average accomodations. In fact, I prefer all the HIs I have stayed in compared with the more expensive Crowne Plaza brand of the same company in China. Express hotels have smaller rooms, maybe 200-250 sq ft. or so, and basic services. Nonetheless, HI Express properties in China are a great value (and better maintained) compared to other facilities in same price bracket.

Thanks, SoBeSparky.

Thank you SoBeSparky. I try to stay at one of the hotels in the InterContinental Hotel Group (to build up my Priority Club points) whenever I travel so it's good to hear that the ones in China have a great reputation.

With this said, I have also found that the more expensive Crowne isn't always nicer. We stayed at a Crowne hotel in Prague and it was absolutely magnificent. However, we booked a room at one in Pennsylvania and it was absolutely horrible. We stayed one night and checked out the next day. So happens we found a Holiday Inn Express (even closer to Hershey Park which was the main purpose of our visit) to check into for the rest of our stay and it was great.

Are you looking for Holiday Inn Express Beijing Temple of Heaven right now? I know where it is, just opposite to the west gate of Temple of Heaven. Very easy to find. 10mins walking you could see it. Hotel link:http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/pegdr?&cm_mmc=mdpr-_-TripAdvisor-_-sd-_-ex_pegdr

I booked from this. It's really a good experience. Value for money. Internet is free.

Thanks for the information but we have gone and returned already. We were in Beijing from the 18th through the 22nd of August. We did stay at that Holiday Inn Express and were pretty satisfied. These were the pros and cons for us:

Pros

-Free Internet access

-Complimentary breakfast (plentiful and tasty)

-Very clean room/bathroom

-Distance to Temple of Heaven (we did walk there)

-Very friendly and helpful staff

-Cost was reasonble (compared to rates of others during that timeframe)

Cons

-Had a very difficult time getting a taxi to transport us from the airport to the hotel (plenty of taxis were available but most were not familiar with the location of the hotel and/or felt it was too far away). As a matter of fact, anytime we went somewhere while staying at the hotel, trying to get back to the hotel by taxi proved to be somewhat of a challenge most of the time (even with the directions written in chinese). I truly think that this may have been due to how fairly new the hotel is.

-Distance away from most things (good thing that taxis are really inexpensive there)

Overall, I do think that it was a nice hotel (as you can see--we had more pros than cons). However, I think that if I were to ever go to Beijing again, I would stay at a hotel closer to more things (i.e. shopping, eating establishments, etc.).

We have tentative booking at this HI Express in October also. If you were to go back to Beijing again, would you stay at HI Express Temple of Heaven, Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven ($30 dollars more/day) or Holiday Inn Downtown ($40 dollars more/day).

Also how was the surrounding area of HI Express? Were there any restaurants, shopping etc closeby?

Thanks.

How were the beds? Comfortable or too hard?