Review: W Hotel Beijing Chang’an

Hey Ben, great detailed review of W Hotel Beijing Chang'an.

Maybe it's just me but is it very common during hotel breakfast to offer juices in such bottles? It reminds me of good old days when we had milk bottles like that 🙂

I came across such bottles a few weeks ago when staying at IC Park Lane and the Cookbook Café had juice offerings using such bottles..

Smoking room in China??? No tks!!!!!! I am not a big fan of W hotels. It feels too much for me. Too much of lights, colors, patterns, designs, etc... Sometimes, less is better.

Amazing hotel! Gotta convince my parents to cash out them $220/n for my stay in October.

This brought me thinking: why didn't you take your father/mother with you given the ridiculously cheap fare? Might as well make more people happy, you know? 😉

It looks like a fantastic hotel!

I would have enjoyed the chocolate fountain!!

Hi Lucky,

Thanks for the great/thorough review as always!

On an unrelated note, any chance you can do a review of Las Vegas hotels in the future or a review on your more recent stay in Vegas? Would love to get a sense of their Hyatt status recognition for guests through the MLife partnership and also to get a good idea of what the Delano are like for Vegas goers!

Thanks so much!

Yes, that buffet certainly looks decadent. I wonder how much of that food they have to throw out each day? I seems like a lot of food would get wasted. I certainly enjoyed my share of breakfast buffets while traveling, though.

Well, I actually think W Beijing is better than W Taipei, because people are more friendly there.
Taiwan hotel industry need more competition. Literally, there are only two decent chain hotels in Taiwan, one being W another is Hyatt. No expectation for new Marriott

I was there for 1 night a few weeks ago. The platinum menu is actually more than 7 drinks, you have to swipe the ipad to see the rest of the menu. I had a Spectacular room. The circular sofa could actually turn left or right using it's remote.

I love it! It's very Blade Runner.

"since clearly the rooms aren’t designed for people who want to get any work done from the rooms."

It's a W hotel, it isn't made for people who work.

Hi Lucky;

Great report. Did the hotel say the ice was safe to consume? I didn't think the water was safe to drink in China.

When I was there 10 years ago, the Westin Shanghai had a gorgeous pool, along with complimentary antibiotic eye drops that they recommended you use after each swim. I decided against swimming because of that. (Also, I kept my mouth closed during showers).

Blade Runner is right. It looks very 80's with all the neon and underlighting. With each successive photo I found myself wondering how many more kinds of neon they could jam into each room. Your hotel room looks like a porn studio with that spotlight and the red neon wall behind the bed. No thanks. I like my room to have natural light, not feel like a poorly lit night club and/or porn shoot.

Lisa, totally agree with you. There also seems to be a massive waste of space. Is the TV like 9 miles from the bed or is that just an illusion from the photo?

The open bathroom concept baffles me. More bad retro. Who is the target demographic? I don't like feeling like I'm on display even if I'm the only person in the room. It looks like the toilet and shower are in enclosures, thank god.

Lucky - one of your better reviews. Well done!

Excellent report Lucky. You really are a pro at doing this!

Hi Ben. Did you uber to the hotel or hailed a cab? Sending my wife out there next month and I'm a bit uneasy with transportation especially with the language barrier and all

@ John k -- I used a taxi to the airport and then an Uber on the way back. On the way out the driver had to call the hotel several times to figure out the location, so just make sure you have the hotel's phone number.

@ tara -- Yup, the TV was indeed pretty far from the bed.

@ beachfan -- Can't say I asked about the ice, sorry!

@ wwk5d -- Hah, seems like a limited market they're going after with the rates they charge.

@ lcpteck -- Whoops, wish I had known about the other drinks!

@ John -- Indeed, can't imagine how much leftover feed there is every day.

@ FlyerGuy -- Thanks for the idea, I'll see what I can do!

@ Abdel Rahim Abdallah -- Hah, not sure how well my dad would adjust to American first class after ZHE amazing service in ZHA Emirates first class.

@ ffore11 -- Not all that common, though I do see it once in a while. Find it to be a nice touch, as it's quite retro.

Always stay at Kunlun when I happened to be in Beijing. Provided I haven't gone to Beijing for about four years.

I think this looks over-the-top, and I wouldn't appreciate having perks handed to me in the form of coupons, probably makes me feel like I'm at a Stop-and-Shop scouring for discount eggs.

Try staying at The Rosewood or The Aman next time you're in Beijing.

So, not so "style over substance" overall? 😉

I stayed at this properly about 4 weeks before your stay, and (Platinum) service was atrocious. No room upgrade, no Platinum amenity discussion at checkin, couldn't process Amex cards at checkin in, and the breakfast options were pretty poor (chocolate fondue and various ice creams are pretty cool, but no one is interested in that at breakfast time). Additionally, the email address for the W Inside was wrong on their website, and I never heard back from her once I DID get the right address.

I had a huge bitch about the poor performance of this new property, so it's good to see that they have taken some proactive steps to improve the experience for guests. It's just a shame I missed the good experience you had, Lucky, because I sure won't be back to the W Chang'An after the hell I went through.

Just a word of warning for those who are considering this property. (I personally found the St Regis Beijing to be miles and miles above the quality of this property.)