Memoirs of Beijing

Wouldn’t it be nice to stay in different hotels for free, be paid to give a review about the place?  If only that’s possible for me, I’d grab that chance.  However, since I can’t, I’ll just make do with hotel stays that I get for free from my friends who don’t want to use their vouchers or avail of the off-peak and discounted rates. 

Last quarter, I reviewed Accor hotel, Novotel Beijing Peace near Wangfujing.  This time, I’m back in Sanyuan area to review another Accor hotel, Novotel Sanyuan.  This will be my 5th hotel review this year for hotels in China and the 3rd in Beijing.

Location

Novotel Sanyuan is a mid-range hotel just outside exit D of Sanyuanqiao subway station line 10 or Airport Express station.  For a cheaper option, walk two buildings behind to Ibis Hotel Sanyuan.  Getting a taxi can sometimes be a pain in the area as the hotel staff are nowhere to be found outside the hotel.  If you are lucky, you might be able to grab the cab of a guest who just arrived.  If not, you will be fighting for a cab with other airport express passengers and office personnel.

The roads around the area are quite dusty as construction of office buildings two blocks away are currently ongoing.  Food choices are quite limited and will require walking towards the residential buildings in the vicinity.  There’s not much to see nor places to shop so you might as well hop on the subway to go to a mall somewhere in Beijing.

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This will be the start of my series during my travel to Shandong province.  My colleague and I visited Jinan, Tai Shan and Qingdao.

Going to Jinan

If you plan to travel to Jinan, you can opt for either plane or train.  The train leaves from Beijing South station which is much better compared to Beijing Main and Beijing West Station.

The CRH train which we took will get you to Jinan in 3 hours.  Since we left on Chinese New Year, the train was half empty.   When we exited the station to get a cab, there was a long queue on the taxi stand and taxis were scarce due to the holidays.  Luckily, a cab driver took pity on us or maybe was mesmerized by my colleague’s beauty that he stopped and took us to our hotel.

Going to Beijing and on a budget?  Not keen on staying at a backpacker’s hostel?  Look no further as this Accor member hotel is less than 5 minutes walk to Line 10 and Airport Express subway lines. 

Location and Price

This fourteen storey hotel is an Accor member hotel known for their budget accommodation.  Current walk-in rates are RMB 350 for an overnight stay, RMB 175 for day-use and RMB 25 for breakfast.   Booking online (http://www.ibishotel.com) might get you cheaper rates but not all the time.

This Ibis hotel is located at bldg B of Phoenix City, north of Sanyuan bridge.  Closest subway station is line 10 and airport express.  Subway stop is Sanyuanqiao, exit D.

In this area, there are two Accor hotels, the mid-range Novotel Sanyuan and Ibis Hotel Sanyuan.  Novotel Sanyuan is just outside the subway exit.  Ibis Hotel is just two narrow buildings behind Novotel.

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For the 3 day weekend during Easter, we had our first 3 day holiday which is Tombsweeping Day.  To save some money from travelling, I decided to live in style here in Beijing and checked-in at a 5 star hotel outside the city center.

My choice:  Pullman Beijing West Wanda

Introduction / Location

Pullman Beijing West Wanda is a 5 star hotel located at the west side of Beijing.  It’s part of the Accor Hotel group and has 312 rooms. Getting there is quite easy as you can take subway line 1 to Babaoshan Station.  Take exit D and you have the option to ride a tricycle/tuk-tuk for RMB 5 or walk for roughly 5 minutes to the hotel.

Beside the hotel, there’s a cinema with IMAX, Mcdonalds, KFC, Carrefour and Wanda Plaza.  Across the hotel is the Laoshan Cemetery.  Creepy eh!  hehehe..

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