Note: This is long; skip to the bottom for the bottom line.

OK, I too was wondering about this hotel and unable to find any reviews anywhere online. I'm currently in Beijing staying at the Zhong An Hotel (see my review) and wanting to upgrade, but I'm on a tight budget.

Today, I decided to journey north to the Holiday Inn Express Minzuyuan to take a look for myself and see if they'd show me a couple rooms (to compare their "standard" single with their "superior" single).

The hotel is close (very close as the crow flies, but about a ten minute walk) to the Beitucheng subway stop, near a lot of the new Olympic buildings. The entire area, unlike much of Beijing, is VERY new and clean. That's a nice change of pace but, because of this, it's also a bit sterile. The neighborhood doesn't have a lot of outdoor markets and neighborhood restaurants like other parts of the city do.

The hotel is actually down an ally around the corner from the subway stop. The entrance is a bit hidden and I saw nothing resembling the picture of the outside of the hotel shown on the Holiday Inn website. All of the other pictures on the website were accurate. That part of the hotel may have been covered up by the nearby construction. There is a very large building going up right next door (really touching) the hotel. When I first walked up to the hotel, I assumed this explained the cheap rates, and I almost didn't go inside.

But I did. And I'm glad.

The hotel is brand new and really beautiful inside (if you're into modern). I asked the woman at the front desk about noise from next door and bluntly asked if this were why their rates are so low. She was speaking rapid-fire Mandarin, but I caught something along the lines of, "No the building isn't a problem (actually, she seemed to look at me as if to say, "What are you talking about?"). The reason we are so cheap is because we're a Holiday Inn Express, not a Holiday Inn...we're newer and nicer than the Holiday Inns but cheaper." I'd also guess that the rates are low post-Olympic/paralympics, especially in this area.

She gladly took me up to see a room (a "superior" single wasn't available). She first showed me one that was in a corner and said, "Oh, wait, this isn't the normal size of the small room." But that room was actually fine. The normal ones were even more spacious. I didn't need to see the "superior", which other than size (32 sq meters rather than 24), she said was no different. The rooms were really gorgeous; I actually think the pictures online don't do them justice.

On leaving the room, I bumped into three American women and asked them about any noise or other problems. They said there was no noise and raved...and raved...and raved about the hotel. They were obviously extremely pleased with their stay.

So, in brief, this is a brand new sparkling hotel in a nice area near a subway stop. The rates, at least right now, are ridiculously low. I just reserved a month at the equivalent of $49 a night (plus a 5% tax and 10% service charge adding up to about $55 total). However, I just noticed that some nights can be gotten for as low as $42 (plus the added 15%). I may need to split my month-long reservation into multiple reservations to get the lower rates.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have questions.

Hi Danimalist

I'm looking into hotel accommodation for my family (2 adults & 2 young children) in Beijing in April 2009 for 7 nights. I think this was one of our options. Since you have visited the hotel, would you mind sharing your opinoin on its suitability for a family, location wise? Are there local amenities near by, ie, shops and restaurants?

thanks for this

I have not stayed at this HIX in Beijing, but have stayed at others in China. Generally they are new, with a bit smaller than four-star hotels, all the comforts you expect in a western hotel, and free Chinese-western breakfast. Expect HBO and other English channels, CNN, ESPN, Discovery, National Geographic, nice amenities, slippers, good a/c and polite personnel. One thing HIX hotels have over their Chinese counterparts are that you are assured at least one of the front desk personnel speaks English very well.

Don't expect a lot in the way of concierge services, maps, recommendations, etc. You need a Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza or above to get those services.

mfw1981,

I would say that location wise, for a family, it is not good; that is assuming that you are going to see the major sites downtown. It is on a subway line, but it requires transfers to get downtown and some of them are actually a bit of a hike. There also don't appear to be many restaurants and stores nearby.

I think it's a better choice for businesspeople and those with a longer stay in Beijing.

Many of the subway maps online show the Beitucheng stop as at the intersection of lines 5 and 10; IT IS NOT. If it were, it would be a bit more convenient. It is at the intersection of lines 8 and 10. Line 8 simply goes to the nearby Olympic venues.

One possiblity is to take line 10 to the Guomao station and then line 1, which goes to Tiananmen, Wangfujin and other tourist sites. This would be fairly simple, but takes a bit of time (I'm guessing 30-45 minutes).

One slight advantage is that by being somewhat north, you are closer to the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace, then you would be staying downtown.

Having said all that, in the end I wouldn't recommend for a family with a brief stay because you simply wouldn't get the feel for Beijing there.

Thanks both for your valuable information. I must say that I'm struggling to find hotels that would fit us all in one room and might have to go for a serviced apartment instead.

We do want to see the usual sights so I guess we should look at properties nearer to the centre.

Thanks again!

(sorry, e42047, for hijacking your topic!)

Is it easy to walk from this hotel to the conference center? How long would it take?

Hey Joe,

There are more than ten "conference centers" in Beijing. Could you give the Chinese name or the address? If you mean the Beijing Conference Center (Guang Ying Xi Rd.), near the fifth ring road, it would take you all day to walk there (only slight exaggeration). If you mean the International Science and Convention Center, that's a lot closer...probably a 25 minute walk.

We ended up staying here for the Paralympics in Septembe after all. A very mixed stay in terms of the hotel.

First the good:

1. Hotel seemed very new, the rooms were very clean and well maintained.

2. Compared to other hotels we looked at this one was cheaper and a great value for the money.

3. Breakfast each morning in the lobby was great - Although it was the same each day, and after 10 days I was tired of it!

4. subway stop right by the hotel

5. free internet in the lobby

The Bad:

1. The front desk spoke little english, so was not able to help with getting around the city.

2. It is located in a dark back alley, so it is hard to find. the picture you see from the website is not the main entrance, so it is misleading.

3. There is not much around the hotel when we arrived. It looked like a mcdonalds was being built so that woudl be a bonus at this point.

4. When we checked out the front desk would not call us a cab, so this was problematic getting to the airport.

In short - I am not sure this is the place to stay if you do not speak the local language, or have a family. I was difficult to find things to eat by the hotel for the kids, though the mcdonalds that is being built would have been huge!