Beijing Hubei Hotel

What People are saying

The Twilight Zone is in need of repairs

Ravenshaw on 14/10/2017 18:37

Greetings from The Twilight Zone, also known as the Hubei Hotel in Beijing. Just a few more minutes and we’ll be leaving. Departure could not come sooner. It’s not that this is a bad place, it’s just bizarre and a bit depressing. And the WiFi is slow.

Upon arrival, the first few impressions of the Hubei are negative.
First, it is the terrible lighting. The lobby is not dark. What makes one tense and uncomfortable is the horrible choice of light temperature. Up the elevator to the room and we find the hallways are dark. Again, terrible color. My room was also on the dark side. Even with ALL the lights turned on, there was not enough light. Again, horrible color.

The second negative impression is the smell. The air smells like the air that a humidifier blows when the filter needs replacement. That fouled-filter smell is stronger in the hallways and even stronger in the room. The bathroom smelled the worst, as if they just could not ever manage to dry up the water in all the nooks and crannies and then the mildew took over.

The third thing one notices is that the hotel needs some tender loving care. Wallpaper is peeling off the walls. Paint is cracking. Plaster is cracking. The carpet in the room needed replacement years ago.

The staff of the Hubei could care less about happy guests. They are more concerned with sticking to schedules and processes. And now we enter The Twilight Zone with 2 examples. I'm usually not so long-winded, but this time, I can't help it. The scenes were so bizarre that I had to laugh. I hope you'll get a kick out of them, too.

Twilight Zone Scene 1: The Laundry Process
I have been on the road for >1 week. I was running out of clean clothes, so I needed to have some laundry done. I stuffed the bag and filled out the form. I was going down to the lobby anyway, so rather than call housekeeping and wait for some unpredictable period of time, I brought the laundry down to the front desk. They did not know how handle it. About 5 of them got together to discuss it. After a few minutes, a man came over to me and said, "You go room. Call staff. Staff pick up."
"Or I could just give it to you," I replied.
This did not compute. They had another meeting. After a few minutes, a woman appeared, inspected the laundry form and took the laundry. None of them were happy.

Twilight Zone Scene 2: The Letters

The next morning, I brought some letters for them to mail. Once again, they did not know what to do. The 5 women at the front desk conferred with each other. Then 1 of them handed me her smartphone and said, "You type word."

I wrote, "Please mail these letters and charge the postage to my room."

She looked at the translation and said, "You want room?"
"No. I have room. I would like to mail these letters."
Another conference ensued. They did not know what to do.
I brought my Chinese colleague to help.
After a 5 minute discussion, he told me the conclusion. They need a different envelope to send letters via post.
This was odd because I had used the stationery they provided in the room!

Anyway, we will not stay here next time in Beijing.

Anyway

Solid and spacious

Vlad J on 03/07/2016 13:34

I stayed for a week in a wing that has better and bigger rooms, American standard. Very much enjoyed the room, the views and the service. Daily cleaning and bed service. Wifi shaky. The breakfast can be very busy with plenty to choose and do avail yourself with the freshly fried noodles from the two ladies behind the counter 0- where you can also order eggs. The food, is it Chinese? I don't know, it's a fusion although there are the beautiful bamboo packed rice cakes. The hotel has a restaurant, slightly drafty and the personnel not English-proficient, but no worries -- friendliness is everywhere. Try Chinese wine -- amazing quality, although I was with a European with a 'subtle' palate who said 'yes this is wine.' Ignore him. The lobby is marble, large and not quite pleasant to hang around; this was winter and the temperature was hovring around 15 c in the lobby. Outside hotel, well, it's just one huge street and building after another, but if you have a Chinese guide, ask them to take you just across the street to visit the humongous National Library, worth more in my view than many 'celebrity' places in Beijing. See my other reviews of Beijing landmarks.

Easy to stay.

Beate920 on 14/11/2015 03:50

Chinese hotel with clean roms and friendly staff.
Easy walk to underground in Beijing and therefore you do not need a car.
If you like Chinese food there are several small fastfood like places to eat right outside the hotel.
However the food is prima in the hotel and the Chinese breakfast first class :)

Nice enough hotel; tried to overcharge

ctraveler2013 on 25/11/2013 17:01

Generally a nice experience until checkout, when the hotel tried to charge for too many days, too many rooms, and "a set of sheets" (complete with a receipt showing my name and an unreadable signature) for about 100 US dollars. The total amount they were trying to charge was more than double what was actually owed. 30 minutes of checking and arguing later, the "mistaken" charges were removed from the bill. Whether a mistake or purposeful on their part, not a pleasant way to end a stay.

Good value hotel.

LondonLadyV on 14/10/2013 10:25

The hotel was good value for Beijing and the service was better than average. We booked through hotels.com at the cost of £50 a night for two people. The hotel is located in close vicinity to the zoo and the national library and is also close to a metro station. There is Internet in the room although its through a plug in cable rather than wifi. The bed was very comfortable which made a change from other Chinese hotels. The room was a little shabby but this is nothing new in China. We had no trouble with receiving our deposit back when we left. We nearly didn't stay here because of the 'terrible' review but I'm glad we did.