I stayed in this hotel relatively often (and once for a whole month) and had good experience before. Generally the staff are super helpful, especially the housekeeping staff. The rooms were kept clean and the housekeeping staff handle requests really quickly and are always polite. The breakfast was excellent with good selection of food too.

Given my previous experiences, I had higher expectation of the stay but was somewhat disappointed. It seems like the hotel has had quite a bit wear and tear lately (furniture, carpet, bathroom etc) - the toilet was blocked in the room I was in. And some guests seem to have been smoking in the room (despite a smoke-free hotel), leaving the rooms smell really bad (the smell travel through the vents too).

The room was spacious and comfortable. Very nice diverse breakfast. The location is perhaps not ideal for central Beijing, but was perfect for a visit to Beijing Normal University. The subway stop is 15-20 min walk away and manageable with a small bag (the subway from the airport is very easy to navigate at non-peak hours).

English language skills of most of the staff are poor, however the staff are very helpful and will use an app for translation. This works reasonably well, but not so well for more complicated requests. I tried to request an early check-in through booking.com, but was told this could only be handled on arrival and I had to wait for a while with not very good understanding/explanation through the translation app. The bar on the ground floor is very expensive!