SSJ NomWill start with The Good: This is a new hotel, so everything was modern and ultra clean. My bed was super comfortable, aircon worked wonderfully and I had a somewhat-corner room with wide-spanning windows! I visited in summer, so I loved coming back in the afternoons for a comfortable quick rest before heading back out again. Shower was huge and clean, amazing water pressure. I love the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel too? I'm very picky with my shampoos, but I didn't need to bust out my travel packs. Hair was smooth the whole time! Love the robot too. Location is great, within Wangfujing and I could easily walk to anywhere to grab food. Sits right above a subway too, super convenient! They placed water bottles at every floor in front of the elevator, so you can grab more water if needed. If there are none left, just call for some water (in Chinese), and the robot will deliver some to you. Lobby is nice and huge too, if you're waiting for a Didi, comfortable to wait here.
The Meh: Most of the staff do not speak English, which made asking for any help over the phone impossible. At reception, you'll have to communicate via translation app. Anything complicated - forget about it. However staff were nice, and tried their best to help you as much as they possibly can :) There's only ONE elevator, and it's used by everyone, including staff, so waiting times for the elevator can be incredibly long.
The Bad: Location is actually excellent, just the accessibility in an issue. If this was mentioned anywhere in any reviews, I would not have booked the hotel. The hotel was located on the 3rd floor, and even though it has a 'lobby' on the first floor, they blocked the entrance so taxis or cars can't drive in (see pic of hotel lobby with an actual driveway, but it's barricaded)?? No staff on first floor too.
I tried to ask reception the location for Didi pickup, and told that I will need to go by the side of the main road and wait for the Didi/taxi there. The main road is incredibly busy, so this can be stressful. If you have luggage? It's even more stressful. I thought perhaps I misunderstood, but on all the days I stayed there, I notice that that's what everyone checking out did as well - waiting at the side of the road with their luggages, then quickly throwing in their luggage in the boot while getting horned at by the cars behind.
What I eventually did was to set the pickup location to a spot right beside the hotel, so that the Didi would turn into 'Baishu Hutong', and then simply wait by the alley for the Didi and flag it down. A lot less stressful, and the Didi will be able to stop for longer (driver was even able to step out and help load the luggage in easily). Note as well even though it's just a short flight of steps, there is no ramp, so not convenient if you have heavy luggage. If it's raining, you'll of course, get caught in the rain as well, since there are no sheltered paths beyond the lobby.
The accessibility was my only pain point with the hotel, but major enough. So strange that they didn't pay attention to this detail.
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