We spent three nights at the very beautiful Beijing Shangrila. Excellent staff- some with good English!

Our twin-room on the 24th floor was very comfortable and spacious. Powerful shower and TV with BBC, HBO and ESPN for us to catch the US Open Golf!

Breakfast was fantastic. A huge selection of Western and a several Chinese dishes.

They have a beautiful garden with a charming bar where we sat out one night for a midnight snack.

The only quibble I have is with the location. A little off the beaten track for sightseeing. That said, when one got back after a long day, this was the place you wanted to be in to unwind and relax- comfort to the max.

We were part of a conference so our stay was taken care of. For our extended private visit we did moveto a hotel in the centre of the city (The Kapok, also reviewed) to be in the thick of things.

They must have recently updated the rooms and infrastructure as everything was clean and new(ish). The rooms were large and the beds had nice linens. Good bath products and decent towels.

The breakfast buffet is varied if a little bland, but the traditional Chinese fare was very good. Give congee a whirl.

The gym and spa facilities were extremely nice and clean and a great way to work off some jet lag.

Good service and an overall good experience for the business traveler. The 'big' attractions are a $4 cab ride away, but with Beijing traffic is kind of doesn't matter where you stay anyway.

Booked this hotel as an Oceania pre-cruise option, hence I didn't choose the hotel, it was the only one offered. This hotel and its sister in Kowloon where we stayed after the cruise, couldn't be more different.

Where Kowloon was in the thick of it, this hotel is so far removed from the centre of Beijing that you might as well be in another city. OK, so it's not a million miles from the Summer Palace, but you couldn't walk there so that doesn't help much. No, with the exception of the Great Wall at Badaling (where you're nearer to it than from any other top hotel in Beijing, the only problem being that the Great Wall at Mutianyu is far superior and is in the opposite direction!) there is NO reason to stay in this location. If I ever return to Beijing (and it would have to be a damn sight warmer for me to do this) I want to stay within walking distance on Tiananmen Square.

Where Kowloon had the world on its doorstep, here there are virtually no worthwhile shops or restaurants within walking distance - although the one eatery we found (where they spoke no English, hence lots of pointing) provided a halfway-edible meal, with several courses and 2 large beers for change out of £7.00 sterling.

Where the staff and admin in Kowloon was a well-oiled machine, this one needed some maintenance. Exception: Justin the concierge who found us a driver out to the Wall at short notice and who knows his stuff.

Where the view from our room in Kowloon was awesome, in Beijing it was ghastly (see photo). Room quality also not up to much, but then it was a better quality room we had in Kowloon.

Where the Kowloon (Horizon Club) breakfast was fantastic, and included in the (admittedly high) price, here it was mediocre and damned expensive for what you got, which is why we skipped breakfast one morning out of two.

Only bright spot was the in-house Chinese restaurant, where we had a nicely presented meal, with a good bottle of wine, for less yuan than I was expecting.

All in all, forget this hotel as a place to stay in Beijing if you're paying and you therefore get the choice. I suppose that if you're in Beijing on business and if you have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what is outside the front door of your hotel, and your contacts come to you, then there might just be some point. But if this is where you fit in, why not stay nearer the airport? Or better still, stay at home and use video-conferencing!!

We spent 3 days here at the end of March. Our room was in the tower and was, by American standards, a little small. In UK terms it was quite spacious. The bed a full kIng size was very comfortable and the room was very quiet. The bathroom had a shower separate from the bath a real personal plus point.

Our view was out of the back of the hotel over the gardens and was fine, I expect rooms on the south side overlooking the highway intersection may be a little noisier. Others have remarked on the proximity of the intersection but we did not find it intrusive. We've stayed in far noisier city hotels elsewhere. In fact on a positive note the location on the third ring road made it easy to travel away from the hotel. But the location is quite isolated - we had transport so for us this was not an issue. But without it I would expect this could be a problem. In fact the only problem with an otherwise flawless hotel.

Service was excellent - attentive, friendly, and everyone we encountered had enough English for us to successfully communicate our requirements.

The breakfast buffet was enormous and I would defy anyone not to find something to eat either Oriental or Western in addition there was an a la carte menu we didn't need to sample. We also ate here - a light meal in the Yi cafe late one evening and even though they were about to stop serving we were not rushed and watched as they dismantled and removed the ice sculptures from the buffet for repacking in the freezers!

Check in was quick and efficient, and I was addressed by name, always a nice touch.

All told this was a great first 'Shangri La' experience and one I would repeat without hesitation.

Booked this hotel last August reason being as my daughter is at the university in that area so location wise it suited us brilliantly, so after reading reports about this hotel after I had booked it I was thinking I had made a mistake..

Not to be , we stayed in the orinal part of the Hotel not the new wing, rooms maybe a tad dated but fine infact the beds are the comfiest...

Breakfast was just brilliant there was such a geart selection that i couldnt even list everything, staff were polite and charming, not hovering over you wanting to be tipped... but Beijingers do not expect to be tipped so dont.

Both restauruants in the hotel were brillant... Blu Lobster was the most probably the best I have had the pleasure to eat in... if its good enough for Celine Dion well.......there you go.

Location wise yes it is somewhat out of the way... taxis are cheap, I wouldnt recommend the subway as we used it but my daughter is used to it and can speak the language, we did the major attractions and the longest we were in a taxi was about 40 mins... in fact I was glad i booked this hotel and not one nearer to the other attractions, beijing is ssooooo big you will always be stuck in some kind of traffic....

as a professional photojournalist I stayed in hotels over 35 countries cheap and very expensive. This is the best hotel I ever stayed in. I wished all the hotels were like this one.

If you need or want to stay in the western part of Beijing, Shangri-la is a great option. Rooms are spacious and well-appointed, and hotel staff is eminently professional and courteous. Restaurants are all great, though pricey-- partly because of the dearth of competition in the neighborhood. Shangri-la is designed to be a small oasis in the city, and it succeeds in this, but as a consequence, you tend to pay for it through high-priced food/drink and other amenities. Still, this is my first choice anytime I come to Beijing for an extended period.

From reading reviews it appears choice of which wing you stay in is critical to your opinion of this hotel. I stayed in the Valley wing during my stay and found it to be and extremely comfortable and enjoyable experience.

From the check in, where the reception staff escorted you to the room for check in, to the check out where same staff escorted you to the taxi, the service was impeccable.

The room was comfortable and practical including king size bed, walk in robe and flat screen TVs in both living room and bathroom (the bathroom a smaller version built into the mirror). For business the desk was set up with multi adapter sockets on the power and the broadband service was free, although a little slow.

The Valley Wing has a business lounge on the 12th floor which serves complimentary food and wine throughout the day with an open bar happy hour from 5-7pm- the scene of a few late nightcaps and cause of a few early morning headaches. The breakfast and dinner(snack) buffets were small but good quality.

The gym is modern and well equipped although can be a little busy in the morning. There is also a great 25m lap pool.

Not matter which wing you stay the hotel is a long way from the centre- approximately 30min by car and the subway is also not convenient to the hotel. There is a travel desk which is efficient in organising either personal or group tours which were good value (personal day tour to Great Wall and Ming Tombs was approx. $150).

Restaurants in the hotel are expensive( very!), and would be better advised to travel outside for dinner.

In all, recommend if staying here that you upgrade to the Valley Wing and enjoy an extremely comfortable hotel experience.

Having stayed at the Kerry Centre many times, I had high expectations for the Shangri-la. While the hotel was okay overall, I wouldn't suggest that others going to Beijing stay there unless they really had to be in that part of town.

I had two rooms: the first was a horizon level room in the Garden wing, the second was a Valley wing room. The Garden wing room was not particularly nice - it reminded me of the Excelsior in Hong Kong. The room is small but adequate. The decor is okay, but not particularly nice. Certainly not as nice as the Kerry Centre or the Peninsula. The real problem with this room was noise. I could hear the upstairs neighbors - kids who jumped on the floor until the wee hours of the morning.

I moved to a Valley wing room at the suggestion of one of the hotel staff. This room was much nicer - larger, more natural light, a much nicer bathroom, a sitting area separate from the sleeping area. Importantly, I could not hear the neighbors. I was much happier with this room overall. However, I still think it's a bit much to force people to pay extra to stay in the Valley wing to have what they should expect: a room that offers the ability to sleep in peace.

The gym is nice - but not any better than the one at the Kerry Centre. I had a massage in the spa and found it to be only okay. The Chi spa chain has a weird way of branding their spa treatments - lots of tea and bells and stuff I don't care about at all. I wasn't there to feel beautiful or whatever they imagined brought me to the spa; I was there because my back never really recovered from the 14 hour trip to Beijing. As elsewhere in the hotel, they tack on a 15% service charge. They also seemed to expect a tip in addition to this, which I found very cheeky.

The food was okay but not great - pretty much what I would expect from a hotel. It was, of course, vastly overpriced. While this is what I expect, it's especially annoying because this hotel is located pretty far from commercial districts where there would be more choice. In fact, it's surrounded on two sides by motorways that are pretty much jammed all day long. That sight, and the thought of being stuck for hours in traffic, did not inspire me to go out and be adventurous, something I always did when staying in Chaoyang (where the Kerry Centre is).

Overall, this hotel is okay in a pinch - when you need to be out in that part of town. But I would not put it on my short list for any other reason.

We stayed at the Shangri-La Beijing for three nights as part of a pre-cruise package. For the previous five days when we were traveling independently, we stayed at The Peninsula Beijing. Though both are 5 star hotels, there is no comparison. The Peninsula wins on all counts.

The Shangri-La is quite far from all of the major sights except the Summer Palace. Because of The Peninsula's central location, we could walk or take short taxi rides to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Wangfunjing Street, the Back Lakes, Drum Tower, Jinshan Park, the Temple of Heaven, and Lama Temple wasting almost no time in travel. From the Shangri-La these must-see sights are 45 minutes to over an hour away by taxi.

The room at the Shangri-La was in the older tower. It was quite large with a comfortable bed. The bath had a tub/shower combination. Unlike many newer hotels, there was no separation of the sinks/toilet/tub areas. Rooms in the new tower may be more modern and luxurious in appearance and function. Much is made of the hotel's location in a park-like, garden setting. In fact, the hotel surrounds a small green area made to look like old Beijing. It is nice but in no way a real park –– just hotel hardscape and landscaping.

Except for an ample buffet breakfast which was part of the pre-cruise package, we ate only one meal in the hotel. Surprisingly for such a large hotel, no full-service restaurant was open throughout the day. We settled for deli fare beside the larger lobby restaurant for a late afternoon meal. The charge for two hot sandwiches with fries, some slaw, and two cokes was $55.00 –– quite expensive for what it was.

Like the Shangri-La hotels in Bangkok and Hong Kong (Kowloon), this one seemed more oriented toward large groups attending conferences or on tours. It lacked the distinguishing personality and character of many 5 star Asian hotels. But more important its location gave no hint that the visitor was in Beijing. It could have been in any busy, commercial area surrounded by freeways in Asia. For anyone who prefers easy access to sights and freedom to walk to at least some of the sights that they want to see, I would not recommend this hotel.

Had a 4 night stay in March and these were our observations.

Staff - Wonderfull - nothing was too much for them.

Food - Buffet breakfast superb - plenty of western and eastern choices both of very high quality. We also ate in the bar 1 night with very good "nibbly food" which was actually hideously expensive.

Rooms - we had a room on the top floor with a great view - seperate walk in shower , lovely amenities , slippers , robes , spotlessly clean.

Location - not a great deal for tourists in local area - there is a supermarket in the basement of the shopping mall if you come out the hotel at the front entrance turn right and walk for 2 minutes. Taxi to the local subway station was 15rmb ( £1 ) or to Tiannamen square was 44rmb ( £3 ).

Facilities - Had magnificent couples massage at the spa which was out oif this world - best spa we have ever been to oozing class - swimming pool pretty small and a big let down for what is a super hotel.

The Shangri-La Beijing acts as a beautiful and idyllic retreat from the hustle and bustle city that is Beijing. The rooms are more than just clean, or neat, they are amazing. The cuisine is better than fine, or nice, it is exquisite. The staff surpass all expectations of what one defines as service, the staff are simply brilliant. The physical hotel itself is marvellous; the lobby with its marble floors heighten the sense of luxury and grandeur. However, the greatest aspect of this hotel is the beautiful gardens which are kept to perfection. The Shangri-La Beijing really is an exceptional hotel and any chance to stay here should not be missed.

Got into a wide and beautiful room with lots of light and an unusual lay out for the worktable and the fridge area. Hotel is top fly but I realised I was west of the city when all my biz partners are actually located east of Beijing.

the buffet restaurant is one of the best I've been in Asia, service was a little unprofessional at time. Great experience overall.

We stayed at this hotel while on a tour of China thru Ritz Tours. We stayed at 5 star hotels all over China and this hotel had the best beds and most comfortable rooms of all. It has a beautiful garden area, wonderful breakfast buffet.

I would definitely give it 5 stars.

I stay here whenever I travel to Beijing, around 5 or 6 times a year.

I stay in the Horizon club rooms and the service in the lounge is absolutely fist class, as are the cocktails and canapes on offer every evening.

The Horizon Club rooms are no different from the rest of the hotel however, large, comfortable, clean and well serviced.

The staff are, without exception, polite and helpful, without being pushy, and I have to mention, especially, Wilsun Arabind the head chef, who has spent time at my table on a number of visits and always offers to make anything I need, whether it's on the menu or not.

The quality of the Cafe Cha buffet is, again, first class with a huge and diverse range of dishes on offer, I think there is probably something to suit every taste imaginable.

Room service, on the occasions I've used it, has been prompt and efficient.

During a visit in 2005 I was suffering from a heavy cold. I was asked by a member of staff in reception if I needed anything but declined, saying I would try to sleep it off. Five minutes after I arived at my room there was a knock on the door, another member of staff with a Chinese cold remedy. Typical of the staff trying to go out of their way to help.

One small gripe:

The new tower is currently under construction and it can be noisy during the day - but it isn't intrusive enough to make me move.