Beijing Hotels used by Princess for Overnight Stay

[spunkymoldy]

Does anyone know what hotels Princess has been using for the people that are require to stay overnight before leaving the next day?

[Sumar76]

Hi Spunkymoldy....can't be 100% sure, but I remember seeing somewhere that Princess uses Sheraton Great Wall in Beijing. You are going on the 3 day Great Wall trip after the cruise? Sue

[spunkymoldy]

Actually I was asking because we had some other people coming with us who was not coming on the 3 days Great Wall Tour. They wanted to know the names of hotels Princess used and the location. I'm hoping the people who went last year will remember where they stayed.

[wharf rat]

WHat cruise are you taking that ends there? I am taking a Princess cruise that ends up there in June and I will take the 2 day extension to see the Great Wall. Any info would be appreciated.

[director]

HI

 

We just took the Bangkok to Beijing cruise and were put in the Swissotel. The other passengers were put in the Sheraton Great Wall.

People doing an operational overnight went to another hotel, but I cannot remember the name.

 

Steph

[stingraynz]

I was on the April 2005 sailing from Beijing to Osaka on Sapphire Princess. We did the pre-cruise tour with Princess and stayed at the Great Wall Sheraton. I was a little concerned with the hotel from some on the reviews (not on cruise critic) but it was an excellent hotel. Really enjoyed it. It was about 20-40 min ride from airport (traffic always is a factor).

 

Hotel is in the embassy district so it is a fairly nice area. Really nothing much around the hotel itself that is walking distance. I saw a Hard Rock Cafe and a starbucks but when in Beijing right?

 

Taxi's are plentiful. Make sure you point to the meter and don't close the door until they start it. generally the taxi drivers were very pleasant and fun even though they do not speak english. Taxi fares are cheap cheap.

 

Our room was quite nice and very comfortable bed. We were on the 15th floor which was the Starwood preferred floor. I am a starwood guest member and we along with one other couple were the only ones on this floor. Most were on the 4th floor I noticed. I wondered if they checked their database and noted who was starwood or not. Perhaps we just lucked out.

 

I am in the process of writing a lengthy review - so I will be posting shortly I hope. I have been home for months and just finished organizing the hundreds of photos I took.

 

In short, loved the trip - fantastic cruise and cruise tour! One of the best! I came back with fond memories of the people of China & Japan.

[ratherBcruzin]

The most current operational overnight used the New Century Hotel in Beijing.

[raringtogo]

hi stingraynz - I was wondering if you booked through the spg site? I'm curious because we stayed at sheraton in Xian. I booked through the site and got a good deal, but we are on the Diamond cruise in december from Singapore to Sydney and we are staying five nights at the sheraton in singapore pre-cruise,

but I got a much better deal through an on-line booking office. Obviously I will not get points or upgrades so, when you mentioned being on the spg floor I assumed you booked direct?

I regret not staying at the Sheraton in Beijing - my daughter wanted to be 'in the middle of all the action" so we stayed at the Novotel and it was horrible.

[digby]

"I regret not staying at the Sheraton in Beijing "

 

Why the Sheraton? We are considering the Grand Hyatt or the Peninsula Palace?

[raringtogo]

both of those are excellent- just that I have starwood membership and I have always enjoyed staying at Sheraton

[stingraynz]

We did the cruisetour through Princess so they selected the Sheraton and booked our rooms etc. We just paid. I did not go through SPG at all that is why I found it curious that we ended up on the Starwood floor with one other couple when everyone else seemed to be on the 4th floor altogether.

 

The Hilton and the Kempinski hotel at Lufthansa centre were close to the Sheraton in the Chaoyang district or embassy district. Nice area but similar to embassy areas in all cities, don't expect to walk out of the hotel and be in the middle of the action. The Lufthansa centre was a huge shopping centre very high end and not where the bargains were of course. This place is where you would find the real thing.

 

The hotel I liked the best was the Grand Hotel Beijing because it was full of history and quite beautiful. All the tour guides mentioned this hotel as the bus went by and it is also where Princess had their big banquet on the last night for all the cruisetour guests. So we did go there and I was inside and it was very palatial and had beautiful Chinese decor. It is one of those older grand dame hotel but I noticed it did have a new section of rooms.

 

The best part about this hotel was location, location, location! It was basically beside the forbidden city and kitty corner to the railway station and tien'namen (sp?) square. On the other side of the hotel was some of the best shopping streets in Beijing very walkable and just walking distance down the street towards the convention and trade centre was the silk market. My favorite of all the markets. If I was to go back to Beijing I would stay there because of it's location, history and it would make me feel like I was staying in a Chinese Palace.

 

I think the Penninsula Palace was near the same area but can't remember for sure. They seem to have the same zip code. Another beautiful hotel.

[raringtogo]

thanks for that information Stingraynz -

 

We loved the Silk Market too - also fantastic was the Pearl Market-

We actually stayed opposite Peninsula Palace - our hotel (Novotel) was in a great position but was not very nice to stay in - I would not recommend it

[MLinFL]

We are debating between 3C (Beijing and the Terra Cotta Warriors) and 5C (Beijing, Xian & Yangtze River Cruise). Which tour did you take? Our cruise is Beijing to Bangkok - which itinerary did you cruise? If you have a review, I would LOVE to read it!

 

Thanks,

 

Mary Lou

[arizonaartie]

We dock in Tianjin in March 06 and want to book at trip to Xian and Guilin with a start and end in Beijing since our air is from their. Any suggestions on a Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Beijing post cruise on our own or with a group?

artie

[dd@sea]

We did those three cities, Guillen, Beijing, and Xian more than ten years ago as a precruise before our Marco Polo 14 day China cruise. Unless things have drastically changed I would book a tour (individual or group) and not do it on your own. At that time we had two nights in Xian at the Sheraton. The terracotta warriors are quite a drive from Xian but the museum is in the walled part to Xian. Guilen, we again stayed at the Sheraton for two nights with trips to the reed caves, a water tour down the Li River which is beautiful. Bejing was three nights and so much to see.

There were many other side trip too at these different cities. Enjoy your trip.