Reviews of 9 Dragons House (Xinmao Hostel)

25 July 2011

Liked: Location, but it placed in a very narrow street whats why most of the taxi drivers refused to drop us near the hotel and we has to walk through the whole street to get the hostel.

Disliked: Expensive pick up from airport (150 rmb). I simply caught a taxi for 90 rmb. Poor wi-fi connection (it was unavailable last half a day then it's really needed). No breakfast included even in deluxe rooms. The restaurant was always closed (I tried 2 times - 7 pm & 0.20 am), but the staff always was there sitting with laptops doing nothing. Very slowwitted reception staff, bad English speakers. I think it's enough for not to chose this place what cost's pretty expensive for such level of service.

24 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Good location - close to subway

Disliked: Desk staff had no idea about Airport Express timings. I was given conflicting information and had to confirm things myself. Double room - makes no mention that you will be staying with someone else in the room. I did not enjoy the fact that I had to spend a night in a room with a stranger.

24 July 2011

Liked: The location is fantastic.

Disliked: The smell of smoke everywhere. Also the cleanliness of the rooms however when we asked the house keeping staff to clean, they were very obliging.

23 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: very good location. one room we stayed in a double bed private room and it was a good value for money. as stayed 2 times, we were in 2 different rooms. one of them was nice and new, the other was old and definitly required renovation. But everything was still clean. and we enjoyed our stay

Disliked: we were hoping to have a help in booking train tickets, but no :(

22 July 2011 Harry would recommend this property

Liked: Friendly travellers there. Great wall tour was amazing, they take you to a very scenic spot.

Disliked: The man on the great wall tour (Jeff was otherwise occupied) spoke little English and told us the wall is 10 km long and 500 years old.

22 July 2011

Liked: Good location.

Disliked: Lazy staff, different room, etc...

21 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: staff are very friendly, even the bar, restaurant lady is very friendly

Disliked: no

19 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Nice staff, not so bad location , good tour on Great Wall but not as fantastic as i had read in the reviews.

Disliked: Not very good internet connection, bad cleaning

16 July 2011 Mattias would recommend this property

Liked: Really nice place to stay with good location close to the metro taking you anywhere around the city for 0,2 Euro. Helpful and friendly staff that organize a really good Great Wall tour to a less populated place (Highly recommended). Internet works well. Laundry service was good. A bit high priced food but you can easily find places in the vicinity. A little hard to find maybe the first time you go, the sign by Zhanzizhunglo subway stations is quite small so you easily miss it. I'd definitely recommend the place to any traveller, backpacker like myself or even families.

Disliked: They are too popular... hard to get rooms if you're not booking early for high season ;)

15 July 2011 Robert would recommend this property

Liked: The staff were extremely nice and helpful.

Disliked: The bathroom was in need of some renovation.

14 July 2011 Bruce would recommend this property

Liked: Clean hostel in good location. Better than their sister hostel.

Disliked: Nothing to note.

13 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Perfect location, great staff, very relax and fun. I couldn't have asked for more.

Disliked: The bathroom didn't smell that nice but it was clean and, after all, how many common bathrooms really smell good?

07 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Cheap

Disliked: The rooms were peeling from the damp, and the bathroom was a bit dirty. They did not change the sheets or gives us new towels while we were there, and the third bed in the room was a camp bed and was not comfortable.

06 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Great location block away from central subway stop, english-speaking staff is helpful and kind. Room is amazing for the price, big with air conditioning, TV, comfortable bed and large bathroom. Effort is made to keep noise down in the hallways that people are sleeping in. Planned events including Great Wall and other tours. Bottled water and snacks are available in convenience store with close proximity, also a mix of Chinese and a few western restaurants are within walking distance. Convenient laundry service is offered for only about 2 euros. Have been here for a week and would recommend to anyone who has never been to Beijing, or is returning here to see more! Best, Phil

Disliked: Wifi is a bit sketchy in the dormrooms, for best signal must bring laptop to common room

05 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Great to be so close to subway and living in a hutong. An interesting area to walk around. Good to have a cafe on site. Friendly atmosphere.

Disliked: Very basic so dont expect too much. Threadbare towels with holes in them. At times the water was cold and down to a trickle. Staff just said, 'try again now!'

04 July 2011 Martina would recommend this property

Liked: -bar -balkony -atmosphere

Disliked: it was a nice stay, but i was disappointed by the showers, which were pretty dirty. The bar and the balkony are cool, but the a/c on the rooms are powerless , what is a pity. shower, uninterested staff. The matratze was very very hard and uncomfortable...

03 July 2011 Bart would recommend this property

Liked: The wall tour they organise by themselves is a must-do.

Disliked: The reception staff isn't really friendly. The rest, 'business-desk'-staff and restaurant staff on the other is hand is very helpful and friendly.

03 July 2011

Liked: Free baggage storage.

Disliked: 1. The location in GPS map& direction is totally wrong which made us lost the way to hostel and lost our time. 2. EVERYTHING cost money EVEN A (supposed to be) FREE SINGLE MAP. 3. Internet and computer are slow and cost money too. 4. High scoring results from just some free beer 5. Arranged tour is extremely expensive considered from self traveling. 6. The pictures in website is much more beautiful than actual ones 7. Noisy sometimes

03 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The rooms are comfortable and large with all the facilities you need. The staff are all very helpful and friendly and the tour to the Great Wall was good fun and value for money. We also enjoyed the bar, there was always someone to have a chat with over a beer. Good services included such as DVDs, books to borrow/exhange and and comfy lounge. Thanks Florian and Jeff for a great stay in Beijing!

Disliked: The room wasn't cleaned during our stay - not a huge problem and I think if we'd asked for it to be done it would have been fine.

02 July 2011

Liked: The tour to the great wall was very nice, no other tourists and a nice walk. the The hostel has bikes for rent wich are in really good condition.

Disliked: Even though the tour was good, the guide didn't do anything more then walk with us. Sometimes I got the feeling the staff was just saying stuff they didn't actually knew. We booked the Deluxe, but there was no different's between the deluxe and a normal double room.

30 June 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: really fun, not new but so just freaky friendly, whatever ur from ur just gonna have a new family here!! clean and friendly and cheap!! i was just not expected this in the first look but the surprise it's just so much worst it!!! love it!!

Disliked: just all the bad stuff (i cant just personnaly find one but nothng is perfect i suppose) are drown and forget by all the good one!!

28 June 2011 Michel would recommend this property

Liked: The offered tour to the great wall

Disliked: That I couldn't stay longer.

27 June 2011 Astrid would recommend this property

Liked: Great place to stay! have been here for a week, and it feels like home!

Disliked: nothing

27 June 2011 Elsa would recommend this property

Liked: A really good hostel, close to the subway and there are lots of restaurants around. The staff is very friendly and helpful and there are lots of nice people staying there.

Disliked: There are not that many bathrooms if you stay in a dorm.

27 June 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The easy access to other places : very good located hostel. Good to meet people from all over the world, especially nice to share your experience with people that are from the same country as yours. Nice staff that are always here to help you when you need to!

Disliked: They don't clean your room during the day... especially the bathroom that needs new towels and more toilet papers for instance.