Hotel near Beijing Normal University

[justeraren]

I know flat hunting has been discussed before but Im still not sure of where to stay

the first few days, but I'm thinking close to the university. Does anyone have a name

of a hotel, hostel etc. in the area so i know where to get dropped off.. I could walk down the street from the university i guess, but i hate dragging around all my luggage.

thanx!

[roddy]

This isn't really a comprehensive list, it's just a few places I happen to know. There may well be better options, and hopefully someone better informed will help out.

The student accomodation at the east gate of BNU rents out rooms when they have them free. For location, this is probably the best.

There are two youth hostels / cheap hotels that I know of reasonably close - not next door by any means, but a reasonable distance. One is the Red Lantern House Hostel, the other the Downtown Backpackers. The first I don't know much about, but have heard it's ok. The second has a very good reputation among backpackers. Both have cheap single rooms.

The hostels you can book online - just Google the names - but I wouldn't be surprised if they are booked up at this time of year. I don't have contact details for the place at BNU, but I'll see if I can get a phone number next time I'm passing.

Incidentally, BNU is fairly near the subway - maybe a 10-15 minute walk - so you could feasibly stay anywhere with access to the subway.

Roddy

[StealthyBurrito]

Adding on to roddy's suggestion, you can also stay at the Lanhui Gongyu (兰蕙公寓) near the small west gate. They are just like the foreign student "apartments" near the east gate where they will rent out rooms to students for a short time period if they have rooms free (and I bet they will). I know at least a couple students who arrived a couple days early for our program and Lanhui just rented out the rooms early for them.

[roddy]

Not sure if this is too late for the OP, but I was passing the BNU east gate accomodation today and stopped in to get a business card, in case anyone wants to phone ahead and ask about availability. 010 6220 7565 / 5151, fax 010 62200567, no email given. I asked what the single room rate was and they said 160Y.

If you just want to get there, then just ask for the east gate of BNU (北师大东门) and look for the reception desk in the lobby of the building with the McDonald's in.

[justeraren]

Roddy, thats actually exactly where i ended up staying the first 4 nights! then i went thru one of the agents down the street and found a place.

thanx for the advice guys!

Niklas

[roddy]

Cool, glad it worked out ok. I'm sure there's plenty of people who would be interested to hear about the apartment-hunting - what kind of place you would up with, how easy the agent was to deal with etc - got time to tell us?

Roddy