This place is wonderful ...... in all respects. It's a little out of the way, tucked away in a true neighbourhood location of Beijing. Only a short 5 - 10 minutes walk to the Jishuitan subway, which is on the line 2 loop. Not much to look at from the street, or should I say laneway, but step inside and the feel is warm and welcoming, mirroring the staff greetings. Rooms are really comfortable, the courtyard is great. What makes this such a special place is the staff - happy for a chat, and very knowledgable - always happy to go out of their way to help.
In my view, you should not be concerned about being a little out of the way - taxi's are plentiful in the area, and it's certainly close enough to the subway. Relax and enjoy.
A final note, to the girls on the desk - I'm sorry for taking the room key with me back to Tianjin, it's being couriered to you ....

Out in the Neighborhood, down a side street, left down an alley, and you come to a nondescript looking place. Inside, however, Michael's house is a cozy, renovated, and ultra friendly, B&B. The working class neighborhood location, is a short walk to the Subway, where all of Bejing is at your fingertips. If you like value and a friendly and helpful staff, try Michael's house.

Sophie and Amy make you feel very welcome. The hotel decor is really cute. We stayed in the Emperor's Suite which was well worth the reasonable extra amount paid. There are at least three fantastic restaurants really close by. We did find it a little far from the main sights such as the Forbidden City. The subway is close but taxis are hard to get and they were our preferred mode of transport - sooo cheap!! They'll organise tours and pick-ups, and deliveries to the fast train to Shanghai for you. Breakfast is good. A delightful stay.

When we first pulled up at Michael's House after 15hrs travelling you are a bit dubious as from outside it's not that great! But then you get in and it's lovely.

Warm, friendly, cosy, great staff - Sophie and Amy. This was my first trip to China and it the nicest thing turning up to such welcoming people!

The rooms are really well done. They make the most of the space and look lovely. Plus spotless with good showers. We had TV problems but that was nothing to do with the hotel. Usually we were able to get English channels easily.

As with all courtyard hotels the rooms come straight off them. It's more of a ski chalet feel where if you want you can be social. The place felt really secure. I was in a room on my own and didn't at anytime feel concerned. There is someone on the desk 24hrs.

I stayed here on and off over 10 days and travelled around China using it as my base coming back every few days for a couple of nights. The staff let us leave our luggage there which was great. They also sorted taxis, translated flight information, wrote instructions for take out soup as one of our party was ill! They really are great.

Once you've stayed in other courtyards / hotels in china, you realise just how warm, how comfy the beds are and how relaxing the place is. It was freak -12 conditions in Beijing when we went and would have never known (believe me you did at other places!)

And randomly, Tilda Swinton stayed there!