June 4-10 accommodations near Minzu University?

[Wahed]

I arrive in Beijing on June 4th and I will be staying at the dorms near East Gate. (27 Zhongguancun South Avenue in Hainan District, Beijing) But the dorms do not open until June 11th. Can you recommend me an excellent place to stay that is as close to the dorms as possible so I can get a feel for the area? The program that I am in has a strict Chinese-only policy so places that facilitate this and are very authentic is excellent! The resident adviser for the dorms also advised me to stay somewhere that is pretty close to a subway line. So, that is another must if at all possible.

Thank you.

[Wahed]

I actually just found this hotel that is very near to where my dorm is. (thank you ChTTay for the dianping referral!)

http://www.dianping.com/shop/4225339

 

- How do I go about making a reservation for this hotel?

- Are there any potential issues I need to be aware of regarding safety  ie  Is it safe to book in advance online, identity theft, will they actually honor my reservation and have me a room ready?, foreigner friendly, etc. etc. ?

[889]

On its Chinese site, ctrip lists room prices for this hotel as 内宾 "domestic guests" and it doesn't show any availability for this hotel at all on its English site. That means that so far as ctrip is concerned, this hotel does not accept foreign guests, though you can always contact the hotel yourself for confirmation.

 

As to safety and reliability, the main problem is hotels refusing you when you show up because you have a foreign passport, not a Chinese ID.

 

So long as you stay in a regular Chinese hotel and not one of the foreigner-oriented hostels, you should have no trouble remaining in a Chinese-language-only environment. Except that you should use the English websites of ctrip or elong since for the most part they filter out hotels that refuse foreign guests, or use Agoda or Booking.com, but watch out for the "domestic" notations on some of their hotel listings. Also, use the map feature on the booking sites to find the places near where you want to stay.

[Wahed]

Hmm, yes I just noticed that. I noticed that there are different options available on the Chinese website that are not available on the English website. I would assume this is the filtering that you mentioned above. From what I can see, the reason these smaller hotels only accept residents is because the hotel is not able to accept credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard. I think they only can accept UnionTransfer or whatever that is.

 

Moving on, using Ctrip instead of Dianping, I found this place:

北京慧廷商務酒店

 

It's .41 km from my dorm and 2 km to the nearest subway. Seems pretty good to me although I'm not sure if that acceptable distances by Chinese standards. (traffic, street traffic, etc.)

 

Now, back to my questions about how to book a reservation and any safety issues I should be aware:
 

1. How do I go about making a reservation for this hotel?

2. Are there any potential issues I need to be aware of regarding safety  ie  Is it safe to book in advance online, identity theft, will they actually honor my reservation and have me a room ready?, foreigner friendly, etc. etc. ?

 

For #1., I see a "Book" button on the Ctrip but I am not sure if Ctrip is safe for me to enter my information into.

 

For #2., I am nervous about Ctrip in general but moreover I am nervous about the hotels and if they will actually save me a room according to the reservation I make. I'm not sure if I should pay using cash (RMB, of course) or if it is ok to pay using my Mastercard (debit card).

 

* I already have a phone card I bought and I am thinking about giving them a call but I would need to make a forum post about what I would say in Chinese since my Chinese isn't the best.

[889]

No, many Chinese hotels don't accept foreigners not for credit card reasons, but for other reasons. As you will discover if you travel around China, many hotels will not register foreigners as a matter of policy, generally because of local restrictions by the public security authorities.

 

That hotel you're looking at really doesn't seem the best, and at 2km it's hardly near the metro. Search a bit more! You can surely do better.

 

As to honouring reservations and credit card problems, I can only give you my experience: I have been turned back a number of times after booking hotels on the English-language websites because a hotel would not accept foreigners. The booking sites were generally useless in these cases, though I did get a spending credit as compensation in one instance. I've never had a problem with credit card numbers being misused.

 

If you're arriving late, though, note that reservations are usually held only to a certain hour, unless prepaid.

 

If you're worried about whether the hotel will in fact accept foreigners and don't feel comfortable using your Chinese to call them -- and that's not a very good start to your Chinese immersion experience, is it -- then you can either call the booking site for confirmation (they all have English departments) or you can check the reviews. If there's an English review, that means that you shouldn't have a problem as a foreigner, either. (At least that hotel you're now considering does have some English reviews.)

 

Spend some more time searching; it can take a lot of work since there are a lot of options, but since you'll be staying for a week, it'll be worth the effort. Further, since you may not like the hotel when you see it, book only for the first night or two, so you don't run afoul of cancellation penalties with the booking site.

[Wahed]

Is the distance from the subway the only issue you see with the place I selected? Because I was told that public transportation is extremely cheap there. Wouldn't it super easy to just hop in a taxi and go in a straight line to the station? There is another place I see in the area that is located directly next a subway station but it is over 3x the cost of the place I selected. I'm not seeing it being worth the extra cost if a taxi ride of about 2 minutes would only be $1 USD or so. But I could be missing something here, if so, please let me know.

 

and that's not a very good start to your Chinese immersion experience!

Wait, wait, I am most definitely willing to call, it's just that I want to ensure that I am prepared first.

[889]

Frankly, it sounds like a bit of a dump. Nothing wrong with that -- you'll be staying in a dorm later -- but pretty expensive for a room without bath. I'm just suggesting that if you look in a broader, and perhaps more interesting area of Beijing, you might find a decent hotel room for not much more. Remember that the booking sites have a "list from cheap to expensive" button.

 

And why do you say the other place "is over 3x the cost"? A windowless, bathroomless "economy room" (read "hovel") is 146RMB at the one place, while the latest place you mentioned is 242RMB (no window, but a standard hotel room). Note that you have to add 15 percent to those prices for ctrip's fees.

 

And use your Chinese to read the reviews! Especially about the smell if you're near the toilets in the one place. The latest place you mentioned gets much better reviews.

 

Finally, once you've picked a place, it's useful to Google it and check on other websites: there may be cheaper rates elsewhere or for direct booking with the hotel. Have you checked elong as well as ctrip? (Remember that elong's and booking.com's posted rates already include the 15 percent surcharge; Agoda and ctrip do not.)

[Wahed]

Oops, I linked to the wrong hotel. Here is the correct one.

 

I am not sure which places are "interesting" in Beijing and I am running low on time to schedule this so my intention was to get a place as close as possible to the dorms I will be staying at. (near 民族大學東們) This way I will be able to get a headstart on being super comfortable with the area. This is the results of my search. I sorted them by the distance to my dorms. What I do is pick a place and then enter the Chinese name into Baidu maps and see which one is both closest to my dorm as well as close to a subway station.

[889]

On that list, look at the Golden Inns (Beijing Meiyuan Hotel). At 190RMB for a single room w/bath it's reasonable, close to the metro, and gets good reviews, in French even. Not within walking distance to your school, but so what. You'll be spending enough time in that neighbourhood later, and really, as soon as you hit Beijing you're going to want to head in to the city and see the sights, not languish around your hotel.

 

This hotel is also listed on booking.com for the same rate (adjusting for the 15 percent fee already included in booking.com's posted rates), so you can read the reviews and room description there as well. There are complaints about the staff not speaking English, so it sounds perfect for you.

[Wahed]

Ok, looks suitable to me (I read some of the Chinese reviews ^-^ ). This is cheapest that I have found.

 

I'm curious how check-in will work though since my flight arrives at 0500 on Saturday but check-in doesn't start until 1400. I am hoping they will wake up and let me in...

 

Nevermind, I saw a note about this on the booking page. I guess I will proceed to booking it then. I'm pretty nervous but it should be fine hopefully. Thank you, @889!

[889]

If the room's been cleaned, most Chinese hotels -- except for the big fancy ones -- are pretty relaxed about letting you check-in before the formal check-in time without extra charge. It really depends on whether your room is vacant and ready when you show up. And if it's not ready yet, they'll always let you leave your luggage, while you go out and explore Beijing on your first day in China.

 

One caution: many places in China say they take certain credit cards, but when it comes time to pay, there's a problem of some sort, so be prepared to head to an ATM if you have to. Also, most hotels in China want a key/security deposit of 100-200RMB, usually paid in cash.

 

Good luck.