Review of Beijing Xuanwumen Business Hotel (Former Beijing Yue Xiu Hotel) by saam

I arrived there sometime after 9:00pm and the staff i met at the reception were very friendly and eager to get me settled in. I had called them while i was in the taxi to let them know that i was on my way and so they were expecting me. Although the guy at the counter couldn't speak English, he tried to listen to my broken Chinese but eventually called his manager who confirmed that i had booked a room and they went ahead to offer me one. Initially i thought they had offered me the Business Deluxe room i initially booked but on arriving there i discovered that they gave me a suit. I was surprised but again, i thought maybe it's the standard of the hotel. I had planned to stay there only one night before moving to the People's palace hotel because they have tennis courts as i can play tennis there. When i discovered that Xuanwumen hotel was strategically located where you have access to nearly all the places i will always be interested in visiting, i decided to stay there longer. I like travelling by subway, not only because it's cheap and affordable but also because you don't have to stand under the sun waiting for a taxi especially in summer. I don't like heat, so at the metro station, i feel cool since the air conditioning is better. This is the primary reason i decided to stay longer in Xuanwumen hotel but it's not the only reason as i think the staff are very friendly and understanding as i'll tell you in the next paragraph. When i made up my mind to stay there longer, i went to the reception in the morning to let them know that i will be staying longer that i planned and they said no problem. So, i gave them the room fee for 3 days, went back to my room and took a shower leaving for my intended business about an hour later. When i came back in the afternoon, i couldn't open my door and so i went to the reception to find out why. The girl whose shift just started informed me that they wanted to change my room. I was surprised as nobody told me this in the morning when i was paying the money or even when i was leaving for my days activities. I asked to see the room and they took me there but it was far much smaller and not as good as the one they had offered me the night before. I went back to the reception and asked them why and i was informed that when i arrived the day before, they had given the room i booked to another guest, so they just decided to give me the suit as it was their fault that i didn't have a room. although i appreciated the fact that they did this, i was mad because at the time no one informed me of this and i wanted to know why they didn't until now. The girl couldn't speak English well so she kept on repeating the same sentence over and over. The hall manager just came out maybe to do something at that time and heard the question i asked and she approached me asking me if they didn't inform me before that they just gave me a different and higher quality room because the one i booked wasn't available. I answered that they didn't and she immediately told the girl who wanted to change my room that they should let me stay for the period i have paid since i wasn't informed earlier and that was it. She just turned to me and said, don't worry! You said you are staying until saturday, right? I said, yes and she said, that's ok and that they won't change my room anymore. I liked the way she reacted to this issue and that has kept a lasting impression on me. In general, i plan to stay at Xuanwumen hotel whenever i come to Beijing because of everything. The staff are friendly though none speaks English, the environment is good, the rooms are cleaned everyday as soon as you live the hotel, that business suit was good for a family getaway, there is a metro stop right there, there are banks, restaurants, you can name the rest. I like the place although i later moved to the People's palace hotel where i spent two more days , the only reason was to play tennis. Between those two, i will still prefer xuanwumen hotel but they should try to find someone who can speak a little English.