Sihe Courtyard Hotel Beijing

I have stayed at this hotel three times previously, and always enjoyed both the traditional hutong environment and the neighborhood surrounding it. The neighborhood continues to be dynamic and pleasant, but the hotel itself is under construction, and most of its nicest parts were closed or not available.

Having had three very pleasant stays here in previous years, I had no hesitation about booking and paying in advance (non-refundable) for my entire three-week stay. However, when I arrived, I discovered that most of the hotel, including the courtyard, the kitchen, dining room, and outside sitting area, were closed and under (often very loud) construction. The only rooms still open were in a back alley, and while reasonably comfortable, suffered from being in a very confined space where even one noisy guest would disrupt the peace for everyone else. I finally left three days early after a confrontation with a drunk man who was talking loudly outside my window at 1 am. I felt a genuine air of menace from him, and he made a point of continuing to make noise until 3 am. There are no staff on the premises after dark (during my previous stays there was always someone on call). Because the kitchen and dining room, the promised "breakfast" (which on past visits had been a buffet of multiple Chinese and Western dishes) was little more than hard boiled eggs and white bread/toast. No juice, and the "coffee" was an undrinkable concoction with milk and sugar pre-added. The prices charged during my stay were slightly lower than normal, but nearly as low as they should have been to reflect the altered conditions; nor was it acknowledged when I made my reservation that the hotel would be under construction. Building work did not take place every day, but some days began as early as 6 am and on others continued until near midnight. Most of the time there were no English-speaking staff on the premises. Fortunately, I speak a little Chinese, which gave me an advantage over many of the guests, and I was able to ascertain - at least I think this is what I was being told - that the main part of the hotel would be reopening in a month or so, and that it would be "beautiful.