HI - Beijing - Far East International Youth Hostel

The Beijing Far East International Youth Hostel is a part of the Far East Hotel and therefore incorporates the little luxuries of a hotel, such as daily room cleaning, but is still a hostel with cheap dorms and a basic kitchen.

The dorm rooms are simple rooms of four single beds (not bunks) and are therefore quite spacious. You're given a locker in your room and the room needs an electronic credit card-type key so your valuables are quite safe and secure. If you don't want the dorm beds in the basement you can check into the singles and doubles in the hotel in the floors above or across the road in the rooms surrounding a typical Chinese courtyard. Around this courtyard you will also find the Traveler's Den, which is a cozy, relaxed restaurant serving very good Chinese and Western food.

The internet room also leads off the courtyard -- there are two computers here to surf the net for free and a telephone to call home. The internet here is a bit slow, so if you prefer a faster connection, the internet in the bar/TV room in the basement of the hotel is an option, though not free. This room is very large and quite impersonal but offers hours of entertainment. They have a great DVD collection, which you can watch for free on the huge TV with a powerful sound system. But if you have a bit of energy there is also foosball and billiards to play for a reasonable price.

The location of this hostel is great, but a bit difficult to find at first as it is in a small hutong (alleyway/street) but it is a lively, busy street with restaurants and shops spilling out into the street. Walking down here is entertainment in itself. The hostel is a fifteen-minute walk from a metro stop and about thirty minutes walk from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review