I would be very grateful for any advice or suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.
Sooooo...we are 50+ looking for either a hutong, bed/breakfast or quaint hotel that is quiet AND inexpensive in a residential area. We MUST have private bathrooms with showers. Any suggestions for where to stay or neighborhood preferences?
What is "inexpensive" in dollar or RMB terms? I've had some travelers tell me their version of "inexpensive" is $150 per night.
Any of the following would get you what you want, though some may be slightly above budget unless you can snag a special (fairly easy to do, surprisingly, www.booking.com has a lot of good deals):
Kelly's Courtyard Hotel
Courtyard 7
Sitting on the City Walls Courtyard House
161 Lama Temple Courtyard Hotel
Shichahai Sandalwood Boutique Hotel
Many of the better hostels have private rooms with bath/shower, at some of the lowest prices in the city. One thing to inquire about is if the shower is a separate enclosed area (as opposed to Chinese style which is no enclosure just a corner of bathroom).
What time of year? Some of the most atmospheric hutong courtyards do not have central heating, although most have little AC units. They are very nice April to October, but miserable November to March.
For neighborhood, I usually go for Dongcheng around Dongsi subway station. The intersection of line 6 and 5 is a great place to be for almost anywhere you want to go. It's less touristy than Wangfujing and has great local restaurants. Houhai/Gulou are a little more atmosphereic(and touristy) but lack the same transit locations and IMHO the great food.
Thank you. Hostel would be great as well. Can you suggest one of the better hostels (and perhaps relatively quiet) hostels, for an older couple? We can do a private room with bath/shower.
By the way, we do not mind a Chinese style shower (in the corner of the bathroom), it just needs to be an en suite/private...
October? Make absolutely sure not to go before October 10 as it will be too crowded before this date due to the national holidays.
I also think Dongsi has more character these days than the touristy area around the lakes, beautiful as that area is.
Note there's usually quite a drop in hotel prices in Beijing November 1, some places November 15.
I've never had problems with those A/C heaters. Indeed, you've got more control over them than the steam, which comes and goes when it wants.
What is bad are the places that give each room a separate hot water heater. It's usually small and easily exhausted. So a place with central hot water is important, especially when two or more are travelling together.