Overnight in Beijing pre-tour

[saddlebrooke]

Hi, Terry and Judy:

 

First, I believe there are two Crowne Plazas in Beijing. I stayed at this one:

 

Crowne Plaza Hotel

Beijng Wuzhou

No. 8 North Si Huan Zhong Road

Beijing, 100101 China

 

It's next to the Beijing International Convention Center.

 

I stayed in a room on the business level so breakfast wasn't included, but my manager stayed on the executive level (or it may be called club level) and breakfast was included. I believe he also had limited laundry and there was a lounge on that level as well.

 

On the days I had my conference I was too tired to go elsewhere for dinner after 12 to 14 hour days, so I ate at all three restaurants over my eight-night stay. I had breakfast at the Asia Cafe everyday. It was very good. Their reasonably large buffet had a wide variety of international food and if was fun to try different things. They had possibly the best coffee I've had in my life!

 

The Asia Cafe had dinners as well and I ate there one evening. It was very good. When I post my photos, you'll see a photo of the dinner I had there that night--the presentation was lovely, so I took a shot of it. Be warned of two things:

 

1. If there are only women in your party, service will be very, very slow. You'll need to be assertive to get served. But, if there's even one man in your group, you'll get service pretty quickly.
   
2. The drinks are strong!! Oh, and try the Jasime tea--wonderful!

The Brazilian restaurant was excellent. They have a good salad bar--though not what you think of as a salad bar in the U.S. It had everything from soup to vegetables to mashed potatoes to desserts. The waiters come around with meat on skewers and cut it right onto your plate. Every cut of meat was excellent (except the mutton--I'm not a big mutton fan, but they love it in Beijing!).

 

There's a restaurant to the left of the Brazilian restaurant down the hall. Excellent! We tried some wonderful things there. The garlic cucumber appetizer was fabulous, as was the stringed potato appetizer. The shrimp dumplings were the best I've ever had. We even tried the deep fried crispy pigeon. It tasted fine, but too many little bones. It was quite the experience since it was served with in it's actual shape, complete with head. At a near table they had lobster, which looked wonderful as well!

 

As far as the hotel itself, I was never concerned about anything but the water and felt no need to take precautions. The hotel is pretty clean--they clean constantly (but, don't look in the corners! :eek:). The king-size bed was incredibly comfortable--I was pleasantly surprised. And, the room was pretty large. There were even rose petals in the toilet every day. :p I was on the 14th floor and the view was great!

 

The lobby is really quite lovely, and the service is excellent. My converter didn't fit their plug--though it was specific to China--and when I called the front desk, they brought me a power strip that my converter worked in. It was there within minutes. The mini bar prices are much more reasonable than in the U.S.

 

There's an ATM in the lobby the dispenses RMB and you can convert currency at the registration desk (all the way over to the left, but if they're busy any of the clerks can help you). The exchange rate at the hotel was slightly better than at the airport.

 

The gift shop is very small, but has a nice selection of items at reasonable prices. The concierge is very helpful and there's always staff in front of the hotel to get you a cab and open the doors, help you with your luggage, etc. The staff is very friendly and I don't believe I every passed a single staff person that didn't greet me with a smile. People smoke everywhere--including the lobby of the hotel and smoking is allowed in the restaurants.

 

Hope that helps!!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

 

 

Hi Jayne:

Thanks for your good reply about the Crowne Plaza. You were very helpful!

This is the first cruise in the Far East and we are looking forward to it. However, there is little to no activity on the boards for this cruise the Princess Sapphire, November 18 from Bangkok to Beijing) which I find to be very strange. It was good to talk with you and get your feedback.

Terry and Judy

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Hi Jayne:

Thanks for your good reply about the Crowne Plaza. You were very helpful!

This is the first cruise in the Far East and we are looking forward to it. However, there is little to no activity on the boards for this cruise the Princess Sapphire, November 18 from Bangkok to Beijing) which I find to be very strange. It was good to talk with you and get your feedback.

Terry and Judy

 

Oh, I wish I could come with you!! :D:p:D My visit to Beijing was for a business trip and it was my first trip to Asia. I absolutely loved, loved, loved Beijing! I did a ton of research before I went, so I think that was helpful. I also work with a team in China, so I was familiar with at least the business culture. Post if you have any other questions about Beijing and I'll do my best to answer--there are several helpful, knowledgeable people on the Asia board. I'm working on getting my photos posted and a review.

 

I've been back only a little more than a week, and I'm sure I've told DH 20 times that we have to plan a vacation in China! DD graduates from high school in six years, which will coordinate with my 8-week sabbatical and after all of my stories and pictures she's declared that we must go to China for that graduation trip I've promised her! LOL

 

Have a great cruise. I hope your roll call fills up!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[Quilting_Cruiser]

JulieJoe:

 

I just sent an e-mail to Catherine and when I looked at her business card I realized I hadn't given you the URL to her Web site. You can learn more about her at this site: http://www.catherine-travelinchina.blogspot.com/

 

I hope you have a fabulous trip!

 

Regards,

Jayne

 

 

 

Catherine's card has two e-mail address:

 

snow_lxh@163.com

Catherine_1130@hotmail.com

 

You can reach her at either one. Please tell her you heard about her from "Jayne at Intel."

 

She's 25 years old and graduated from university. She has a sweet, bubbly personality and never failed to tell us about the history of each place. She's very easy to talk to and we discussed a lot about what it was like to live in China as a young, single person and the cultural differences between China and the U.S. The day we spent with her was truly a highlight of my trip to China.

 

She provided a driver and a van. She chose a wonderful restaurant for us to have lunch.

 

I've attached a photo of Catherine, me, and two of my coworkers. She's very tiny (of course, I'm 6' tall, so she looks even tinier!). In the photo she's not showing the "peace sign." When they do that in China they mean "victory."

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[juliejoe]

Jayne,

 

We're just home today following a 6000 mile trek around California. We were blessed with the most incredibly beautiful weather and had a grand time - but it is good to be home after a month away. I'll be resuming planning for our upcoming cruises as soon as I find my way to the bottom of the dirty clothes pile!

 

THANKS!

Julie