Where to stay in Beijing: a hutong courtyard, Wangfujing or the CBD
How to choose a Beijing hotel for a first visit: what a courtyard hotel in the hutongs is really like (and when it is a bad idea), the big-hotel districts and who they suit, distances to the Forbidden City, the Wall and the two airports, and the questions to ask before booking.
Beijing is a city of ring roads and long distances, and the choice of hotel changes the trip more here than in Shanghai. Stay in the right place and the Forbidden City is a ten-minute walk and the Wall a 90-minute drive; stay in the wrong place and both start with an hour in traffic. This is how we choose for the Beijing half of our Shanghai to Beijing tour.
The quick answer
| You are | Stay in | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First visit, want the atmosphere | A courtyard hotel in the hutongs (Dongcheng) | Walk to the Forbidden City and the lakes; the Beijing you came for |
| Families with young children, or mobility concerns | A big hotel in Wangfujing or near the Drum Tower | Lifts, pools, predictable rooms, still central |
| Business | The CBD (Guomao) or Financial Street | Offices, the big international hotels |
| A late flight or an early train | Near Beijing South or the airport you use | Beijing is too big to cross at 6 am |
The hutongs: Dongcheng and the lakes
The hutongs are the lanes of grey-brick courtyard houses that made up old Beijing, and the best-preserved stretch runs north and east of the Forbidden City: around Nanluoguxiang, the Drum and Bell Towers, Houhai and Qianhai lakes, and east toward Dongsi. Staying here means walking to the Forbidden City in 15 minutes, eating in the lanes, and hearing bicycle bells rather than ring-road traffic.
Courtyard hotels (siheyuan) are converted traditional houses: rooms open onto a central courtyard with a tree, a tea table and, in the better ones, heated floors and proper bathrooms. They range from four-room guesthouses to luxury compounds with a dozen suites. The experience is the point, and for a three-night stay it is the one most guests remember.
The honest caveats: rooms are smaller than hotel rooms and can be dark; there are steps everywhere and no lifts; the lanes are too narrow for a car to reach the door, so luggage is wheeled the last hundred metres; sound carries across a courtyard; and in January the courtyard is bitterly cold between the room and breakfast. For couples and families with older children they are wonderful. For a pram, a wheelchair, or anyone who wants a pool, choose a conventional hotel nearby.
Wangfujing and the east of the Forbidden City
Wangfujing is Beijing’s traditional shopping street, a ten-minute walk east of the palace, lined with large international hotels: the Peninsula, the Waldorf, Hilton, Marriott and others. This is the compromise most families choose when the hutongs are too rustic: a pool, a lift, a club lounge, a breakfast buffet, and the Forbidden City on foot. The street itself is a tourist mall, so dinner means a short taxi north to the lanes or south to Qianmen, where the restored street of old shopfronts has good duck houses.
The CBD and Financial Street
Guomao, the central business district east of the Second Ring Road, is where the glass towers, the embassies and most of the five-star business hotels are, with the Sanlitun bar and restaurant district next door. It is 25 to 40 minutes to the Forbidden City by taxi in normal traffic and longer at rush hour. Financial Street, west of the city centre, is the same idea with fewer restaurants. Both are right for a business trip with meetings in those districts and wrong for a holiday, unless a particular hotel is the point.
Other areas worth knowing
- Qianmen and Dashilar, directly south of Tiananmen Square, is a restored old quarter of shopping streets and courtyard hotels, convenient for the Temple of Heaven and Beijing South station, busier and more commercial than the northern hutongs.
- Sanlitun is the embassy and nightlife district: good hotels, the best Western food and cocktail bars in the city, and a long way from the sights. For a last night out, fine.
- The Summer Palace and Haidian in the north-west is university land; the Aman next to the Summer Palace is extraordinary and an hour from everything else.
- Airport hotels. Beijing Capital is 30 kilometres north-east of the centre, Daxing 50 kilometres south. Neither has a reason to stay nearby except a dawn flight.
Distances that matter
From a hutong hotel near the Drum Tower, in normal traffic: the Forbidden City 15 minutes on foot or 10 by car; the Temple of Heaven 25 minutes by car; the Summer Palace 40 minutes; the Great Wall at Mutianyu about 90 minutes; Beijing South station 30 minutes; Capital Airport 45 to 60 minutes; Daxing Airport 60 to 75 minutes. Add half again between 7 and 10 am and 4 and 8 pm. The Beijing itinerary is built on these numbers.
Hotel types and what they cost
Beijing is cheaper than Shanghai for equivalent rooms outside peak weeks:
- Courtyard hotels run from budget guesthouses to luxury compounds. The mid-range ones with heated floors, good bathrooms and an English-speaking front desk are the sweet spot and the ones we book.
- International five-star in Wangfujing and the CBD: comparable to a good Melbourne CBD hotel, with excellent service and large rooms.
- Four-star chains around Wangfujing, Dongsi and Qianmen: good value and the category on our tours when guests prefer a conventional hotel.
Peak weeks are the first week of October, Chinese New Year and early May. The best time to visit guide has dates.
What to check before you book
- Heating and air conditioning. Beijing winters are below freezing and summers over 35°C; confirm both work in the room, especially in courtyard hotels.
- Steps and lifts. Ask directly; “ground floor” in a courtyard can still mean three steps at every doorway.
- Luggage access. How far is the car drop from the door, and will staff help with bags?
- Air purifiers. Many good hotels provide them; worth asking in winter.
- Noise. A courtyard room away from the lane and the kitchen; in big hotels, a high floor away from the ring road.
- Registration. As everywhere in China, hotels register foreign guests with their passport at check-in. If you book a private courtyard rental, confirm the owner handles the registration; it is a legal requirement.
- Breakfast. Courtyard hotels do a small Chinese or Western breakfast; the big hotels do buffets. Beijing’s breakfast street food (jianbing, baozi, soy milk) is a five-minute walk from either.
How we place guests
For the Beijing nights of our tours we default to a mid-range courtyard hotel in the Drum Tower and Dongsi lanes, because that is the Beijing people fly for. Families with children under six, anyone with a pram or walking difficulty, and guests who want a pool get Wangfujing. Tell us who is travelling and we match it; the quote names the hotel.
