Beijing Hyde Hotel

Location, hotel architecture and staff were good

Small rooms, walls in bad condition, the breakfast was poor. Clothes were hanging in front of the room.

To anyone who is weighing up whether to stay at this property let me give a fair and honest assessment: - It's cheap (you wont get much cheaper in BJ) - Location is great lots of good places to eat and near many tourist sights + two subway stations. - Staff are very friendly and will do all they can to help you - It's clean - the property is essentially being constantly cleaned throughout the day by some very hard working cleaners. - They have a nice bar / restaurant area. - They have a kind of travel / concierge service if you want help organising your time in BJ. - It's a old Hutong building which is in many ways good (pretty) and very typical of 'old Beijing'. - they let me check in super early which was nice. - people say the breakfast (Chinese style) is very good, it looked and smelled pretty good but I never tried it. I can vouch for it's freshness though as I watched it being cooked each morning. - The property has a cute cat.

Okay let me first start by saying "what you pay is what you get" if you want a 5 Star hotel, go pay for one! With that in mind let me tell you the negative aspects of staying here: - The beds are very hard (even by China standards), however the staff did what they could to make my bed more comfortable, if you sleep on your back - you'll be fine! - It's in a hutong, meaning the building is old, it's still pretty clean but it's facilities are well worn! My room didnt have a bathroom so I had to use the commual bathroom. Eastern toilets - are clean but not very private, the showers are powerful but also lack privacy. There are also actual Chinese families who live in amongst the hotel rooms, don't mistake this for a complaint, but it doesnt have a hotel or even a hostel vibe - it's literally like you're living amongst the Chinese - take that as you will. - Staff don't really speak English... okay for me as I speak Mandarin, but expect a conversation through google translate... - All guests have to do a pointless security check where the receptionist looks inside your bags, don't mistake this for being overly invasive, it's more pointless as he just looked at my pants and shirts and was like "meh... okay". - No where really secure to leave your stuff, i.e. no lockers and their luggage storage room is just "leave it under the table in the main reception". - My room only had a tiny window - and the decour was lacking - but like I say - you want the ritz... go pay for it. - No laundry service, I found this odd as most Chinese hostels offer a laundry service as a payable add on. There is a laundry place about a 5 minutes walk away, but they are pricey and again - only speak Chinese. - Don't stay here if you are allergic to cats.