Reviews of Qianmen Hostel

17 July 2011

Liked: The location was absolutely terrific!

Disliked: The staff was very snippy and not helpful or friendly. Also, most of their English was very bad and communication was difficult.

16 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Our start was not good as we booked 2 beds in dorms and when we arrived they had just one bed available (it seems that they practice overbooking). After discussion they offer us this bed free of charge and changed us to 2 beds in a dorm the days after (50 yuans per bed in a 4 beds dorms, with A/C). We liked the atmosphere, they a good common room, cheap beers, a room to watch DVDs and the food is alright. The staff was polite and helpfull and the boss is very friendly (he helped us to stay longer even if they were almost full). The hostel is very well located, just few minutes fro Tiananmen place.

Disliked: There is no locker for the luggage in the dorms, but you can lock the door. Some bedrooms are around the courtyard and can be very noisy as a lot of people stay late at night talking and drinking beers. Just be carefull as they overbook in high season.

09 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: location

Disliked: nothing

08 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Good atmosphere, helpful staff

Disliked: Minor technical problems, but the staff was quick to respond.

06 July 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: very good location

Disliked: none

28 June 2011 Sandra would recommend this property

Liked: Location, friendly staff, good breakfast and coffee, laundry service

Disliked: rooms were not cleaned every day, we did not get any new towels for the 8 nights that we stayed (had to ask for it ourselves). Also, our reservation for 2 additional nights was a bit of a problem at first as the staff said we had to just see if it was still available on our last night of the initial booking, which could mean that we had to move. In the end they managed to secure the room for us after all, but only after we asked several times.

26 June 2011 annette would recommend this property

Liked: The hostel was in a really good place on the main street with easy access to the subway and rail to get to all the sights, although alot were in walking distance anyway. Staff were extremely friendly and helpful, including booking buses to move onto the next place. Room was good and clean and the atmosphere was really excellent to meet other travellers. Would definately stay here again.

Disliked: Nothing

24 June 2011 Kate would recommend this property

Liked: This was a very easy place to get to know other travellers, and attracts interesting people on interesting trips. Otherwise, the place was clean, the room was quiet, the air conditioning was good, the staff were friendly and helpful, the information was pretty good. The location was good, it's on the central ring of the metro, in walking distance of tiananmen square/mao's tomb/the forbidden city and the temple of heaven (really worth getting up early to see the tai chi and all the other activities at 7am, and the 120 bus makes it easier. It stops up the road, you can see where to queue because the number is written on the ground) and near a whole amazing mess of hutongs, where you can get away from the tourist stuff and be around locals, and also buy good fruit and street food such as amazing dumplings which kept me going after some restaurant food didn't react well to me.

Disliked: Having to go down a flight of stairs to the bathroom was occasionally an issue, but it wouldn't stop me going back. My mattress was very thin, but that's standard in China, and just made me glad I travel with an extra pillow. Qianmen station is frustrating; you need to know that you can't walk around the intersection. Two roads have underpasses, which means that as soon as you get up out of the station you have to look for another set of stairs back down. To get from the hostel to the station, you have to make sure you cross the road early, before the pedestrian barriers start, or you'll end up in the wrong underpass. But now you know, you should be fine!

18 June 2011 Chalamphol would recommend this property

Liked: I love staff passion here. The location is very good.

Disliked: Look a bit dark & not secure. I think it will be good if they turn on more lights.

14 June 2011 Doug would recommend this property

Liked: Great character, great location, super helpful staff.

Disliked: Didn't honour our booking, a little tatty.

22 May 2011

Liked: Location

Disliked: It needed a good clean and the staff were the least friendly/helpful we've met in most of Asia

07 April 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Authentic looking, lovely staff

Disliked: nothing

25 February 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The location of this property can't be beat. Tienamen Square, the Forbidden City and Mao's tomb are all within walking distance. So is a very convenient metro stop, and lots of good shopping. Most of the staff were very friendly and spoke English very well, with the exception of one older woman who seemed perpetually grumpy and less than helpful.

Disliked: There are two *major* drawbacks to this place. 1. The bathrooms/shower room are located across a courtyard from the rooms, and they are not heated. Going to the bathroom and taking a shower in the wintertime are awful experiences, bordering on painful. Don't stay here in the winter. 2. Some of the dorm rooms border a neighboring establishment that plays music loudly for most of the day, to the extent that you can feel the bass while laying in bed. They quit before a reasonable bed time, but forget about quietly reading or grabbing a nap in the middle of the day.

17 December 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: a well-heated hostel,best location ,friendly staff

Disliked: To be hostel,i think it is good place.

06 December 2010 Jacqueline would recommend this property

Liked: The place was clean (except for a heater problem, read 'dislikes') and was close to the main attractions. Wan't too far a walk from the subway. Beds were comfortable and beds were big.

Disliked: The description of how to get there from the airport could be revised. I had a hard time getting to the place, it's hard to get by without speaking mandarin, not many people can read ping ying either. The staff weren't very friendly or helpful at all. Except for one girl. There were a lot of staff hanging around but they'd jsut point you to another staff member when youask a question. They'd also be on the computers all the time playing games. The bathroom is downstairs so when you need to pee or shower, you'd have to go downstairs and across the courtyard - not very pleasant during the colder months. The shower seems to malfunction after a shower. There was no hot water the first night i tried. The second night, it was only luke warm - also no pleasant during the winter months. The third night i finally had a decently hot shower but after about 10 minutes it started to run cold again. I'd switch more hot water on but then it'd be pure hot water. There is no wifi in the rooms, or it was very very weak. The rooms were clean except my bed was right under the heater, and one night it spat out debris all over the bed. When you would go to sweep it off it'd just ash the white covers. Happened constantly throughout the night.

28 November 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The location is great - within easy walking distance to Tian'an Men Square and Qianmen subway stop and tons of bus stops. Plus, other sites. Really can't beat the location. Great water pressure with hot water. Good breakfast.

Disliked: The floor of the bathroom has peeling paint which might turn some people off, but it is clean. We had two beds in our room - one was comfortable, the other was not.

28 November 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Central location. Plus it has a small cafe that serves western style food... albeit, a bit overpriced.

Disliked: Customer left no negative feedback.

24 November 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: The rustic quality of the architecture and the central location to major attractions in Beijing. The staff was helpful in all mater pertaining to travel. They serve good quality food in the restraunt not to mention serving a nice beer. The toilets were very clean and there was water for showers all day.

Disliked: I have no bad comments about this property.

18 November 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: great location, very clean always had hot water. provides free cards whith a map and please take me to qian hostel in chineses very usefull when geting taxies after a night out.

Disliked: the wi fi is a bit ricity and went down for a few days

10 October 2010 Mirko David would recommend this property

Liked: the rooms were nice, the inside courtyard were good for smokers.

Disliked: the bathrooms were too far from the rooms, you gotta go down one floor walk pass the courtyard (where ppl generally sit around) make two turns before you reach the toilets or bathrooms. staff were helpful in giving out information. Tour to Great Wall was overpriced, ppl in the same tour from other hostel paid about 40 yuan less for exatly the same package

08 October 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Good location. Near metro. English speaking staff. Character about the hostel.

Disliked: No lockers in rooms.

05 October 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Old style building, close to qianmen station

Disliked: Sheets slightly dirty, could see from courtyard into room directly through door window

01 October 2010 Timothy would recommend this property

Liked: The location was nice. Restaurant is cheap and convenient.

Disliked: Timothy left no negative feedback.

28 September 2010 LIHUA would recommend this property

Liked: localtion

Disliked: LIHUA left no negative feedback.

27 September 2010 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Everything! The people working here are very nice and helpful. While the essential items like water sold here is much overpriced, there's many places within 2 minutes of walking distance that sells them for much cheaper. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

Disliked: Sinks in the bathroom area. There were two sinks in the girls bathroom while none in the guys bathroom and one outside for everyone to share. They need to add more public sinks for the guys to use.