Memoirs of Beijing

I’m lazy and once in awhile I dream about staying in 5 star hotels and enjoying their benefits. During the tombsweeping day holiday, I stayed at Beijing Pullman Wanda Hotel. I was thinking of doing it once every quarter but towards the end of May, my friend gave me his hotel voucher for a one night stay in a deluxe room at the Grand Millenium Beijing.

Location

Grand Millenium Hotel Beijing is located in Chaoyang District along East Third Ring Road. It’s a 3 minute walk to Jintaixizhao subway station line 10 and if you’re lucky with a view of CCTV Tower. It’s part of the Fortune Plaza complex with a mall beside it.

Deluxe Room

Their website was bragging of city view for deluxe room. When I entered the room, the first thing I see is the bathroom area with bathtub and separate shower and urinal rooms. The main part of the room has a sofa with table, a large desk with chair, a king size bed and a flat screen TV on the wall beside the bathroom window.

The city view? The service apartment in the other building. It was a bit of a letdown considering they said it’s a five star hotel with a five star price. The TV was hooked to the internet with a wireless keyboard. The router they installed cannot handle the load that it kept making irritating noises. I just hooked my laptop and watched House episodes. The TV selection was better than Pullman with more English channels.

A free welcome fruit plate contained two apples, one of which I ate due to hunger. The bathroom is quite spacious and you can also hear what’s on TV as a speaker is hooked to it. Downside is it’s hard to look at yourself in the mirror as they only have vanity mirrors in the side and a full length mirror beside the bathtub wall. The shower area has a seat wherein you can turn it to a semi-sauna. You can give your companion a view of yourself while bathing or you can manipulate the blinds for privacy.

The cabinet is quite spacious with a flat iron if you want to iron your clothes. There’s no coffee machine but a tea kettle. It was relatively sparse that when I brought a bottle of wine, I had to ask them to open it for me.

Breakfast at Deli Café

The voucher includes breakfast for two and you better tell them that you want two breakfast or else they will assume it’s for one if you’re the only one to check in. Since the hotel is near my friend’s office, I asked him if he want to avail of the free breakfast.

The food selection is quite plenty with Chinese and Western choices. Tea and coffee are offered as soon as you seat down while fruit juices are available on the buffet tables. You have the option to have them cook noodles and wonton soup. There’s salad, fruits, yoghurt, rice, dishes, bread and pastries. I didn’t enjoy it that much as it was too early for me to wake up to eat breakfast.

Verdict: 2.5 out of 5

Room was a letdown especially the view, the weird router and sparse furnishings. Breakfast was great and not too much noise in the hallway. No newspaper in the morning or maybe because it was just too early. I wouldn’t say it’s a 5 star hotel as I’ve seen better ones compared to this.