Shangda International Hotel

“Some improvement”

4th year in a row at this hotel with sporting group. Big improvement is that Wi-Fi is now available throughout the hotel so you are not anchored to the desk. Nothing much else has changed, coffee still terrible, lack of English at front desk but bearable. Western style bakery next door godsend. 6... more

4th year in a row at this hotel with sporting group. Big improvement is that Wi-Fi is now available throughout the hotel so you are not anchored to the desk. Nothing much else has changed, coffee still terrible, lack of English at front desk but bearable. Western style bakery next door godsend. 600ml coke for 60cents! Hutongs next door, market over the road, Wal Mart round the corner and Redi Teller for conveniences across the road. Hard beds but soft pillows

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“Adequate hotel for the price”

The hotel is clean and comfortable, a 15 minute bus ride from Tiananmen Square. The staff is professional with at least one person at the front desk who speaks English at a given time. There are two restaurants on the premises, including an excellent Japanese restaurant.

“Barely any staff knows English”

For an international hotel the place had barely english speaking staff. Found only 1 staff that do in the 3 days I've stayed Bed is definitely in the firm side. The room is clean however the carpet is in bad shape. Definitely wear slippers. Shower is somewhat decent with working hot/cold. The ... more

For an international hotel the place had barely english speaking staff. Found only 1 staff that do in the 3 days I've stayed Bed is definitely in the firm side. The room is clean however the carpet is in bad shape. Definitely wear slippers. Shower is somewhat decent with working hot/cold. The ambiance of the place is definitely worn down. It has a motel 6 feel to it. For the price and location it is great value, just don't expect 4 stars quality. More to 2.5. Subway is about 10 minutes away. Also a famous restaurant near by for lamb halal hot pot thats 800m, 1st one in dianping with almost 7000 reviews. You can use the pictures top 10 dish to help yourself to order. Also a supermarket is next to it.

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“Nice hotel with both pros and cons”

My boyfriend and I stayed at this hotel for 7 days in early May 2013. We had mixed feelings about our stay. Pros- *Close to the Cashikou subway station which connects you directly to the Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo. A change at Xidan will take you to Tiananmen and the other major stations. ... more

My boyfriend and I stayed at this hotel for 7 days in early May 2013. We had mixed feelings about our stay. Pros- *Close to the Cashikou subway station which connects you directly to the Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo. A change at Xidan will take you to Tiananmen and the other major stations. *The subway system is incredible and very easy to navigate. Cheap as chips too! A single trip is 2yuan (30c AUD). *There is a great bakery downstairs to the left of the entry, similar to the Bread Top style bakeries back in Australia. *The room (suite) was spacious with a separate living room to the bedroom. The bathrooms were spotless and very stylish. *There is a WalMart just up the road from the subway station which is great for picking up nibbles or supplies. *Staff were relatively verse in English at reception, and what couldn't be understood through English could be communicated through myme (which is the part I love most about travelling to non-English speaking countries). *The breakfast at the cafe downstairs (internal to the hotel) was relatively cheap (50yuan $8-9 AUD). It is the basic buffet style brekky with a range of foods. Id recommend having breakfast around the city, not just in your hotel. *There is a bus stop just up the road where you can catch the 109 bus to Tiananmen square and down the road. I believe it runs to the Temple of Heaven, but we didn't travel down it so I can't be certain. The bus is only 1 yuan (16c AUD), paid by cash to a conductor or in a ticket machine. Cons *The air con in the hotel is shocking. We arrived and turned the aircon on as the room was fairly warm. Within 30mins the temperature had risen by 5 degrees and we couldnt sleep. When we paged reception the response was very prompt, but they could not find any error and suggested we just wait.... I objected and we were moved to another room. The air con in the new room was almost as bad. We had the temp set to the lowest possible and it is only just comfortable. Id recommend another hotel if you are easily affected by the heat. *Reception staff seem rude. I am not sure if it is just the Chinese manner, but there seemed to be a lot of eye rolling and huffing when speaking to them. *The fridge in the room is useless. Drinks need to be in there for 1-2days before they become cold. *Room does not have any drawers or a wardrobe in the bedroom. We had to live out of our suitcases for the week. *The room didnt have an iron or ironing board. One was brought up immediately when we asked reception. *The bed is hard as rock, but expect that from every hotel in China. *There is only one English TV channel which is Business news. But who the hell comes to China to sit in their hotel and watch TV?! *The fitness centre is tucked away in a backroom on level 5. It has 4 machines and 2 treadmills. The roof is so low that if you were over 6foot you would not be able to use the treadmills without banging your head on the roof. It does have a small selection of free weights which can be tailored to suit a 'holiday gym routine'. *The hotel is not very well known. I printed out the name of the hotel in Chinese and English, and provided a google map print out and driver still didn't know where it was. I would recommend printing out directions in Chinese. -BE WARY OF TAXI SCAMS AT THE AIRPORT. We left Beijing airport via the official taxi rank and were expecting the taxis to be legit. We were directed to a dodgy looking driver by the security guard at the rank who offered to take us to our hotel for 600yuan ($100 AUD). If travelling to this hotel, the taxi will only cost 130yuan INCLUDING tolls ($22 AUD). Do not accept any driver telling you that it is too far or should cost anything more than 130-150yuan. *Although the Chinese powerpoint plugs are the same as Australia, none of our electricals will insert all the way into the point. The room has a second point that is a multi region point (with no earth point). I am just thankful we had a Japanese adaptor. I hope some of these points have been handy for you. Overall I would recommend this hotel if you are on a budget, but maybe not if you are expecting everything to be the same as a hotel back home.

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