Back Lakes (Hou Hai) hotels & places to stay

Location: This hotel is not located at Backlake (Hou Hai). In fact, this is very misleading when I first arrived Beijing. The taxi driver had to call the hotel front desk to confirm. Apparently, the location of this hostel is in one of the lanes - which they called "Hu Tong". So do imagine, big cars may not be able to access through the Hu Tong easily. Amenities: I stay in single room which hotel provides most of all you need. They also have bedroom slipper if you need. This hotel provide basis services, WI-FI is in the entire courtyard and room. But speed is not stable, the signal keeps dropping. Restaurant: There is a bar and restaurant...most travelers staying in this hostel will hang out together in the evening. A ice cold beer and chit chat in the courtyard.

A really great little quaint hotel .everythibg was excellent and the staff very helpful however their English is almost non existent . If you are willing to communicate via charades and Phone translator apps then go ahead but if this annoys you then don’t come here .i loved the beds, the glass showers and all the quaint details. Well located amongst aone back lanes which are close to lots of shops and subway system .

Usually so-called 5-star hotels in China managed by Chinese groups turn out to be 4-star. But this one is well-managed and live up to the 5-star requirement. Room is big with 250 sq ft. Heat is great. Even hot water comes within 10 seconds rather than letting the water running for 1 minute before hot water comes. Very good location in a busy local neighborhood near Nan Luo Gu Xiang. For this kind of price, I'll stay there again, so let's hope it won't become more expensive with increasingly more reviews that are so positive

We were a small group of 3 travellers enjoying our 3 nights stay at Sofu hotel. The location of the hotel is perfect for those who want to experience the little small ecentric street - “Hutong” of Beijing. Within 5 minutes walking distance is a bunch of small cafes and restaurants. There’s a 24 hour mini mart by the Ping An Li subway station entrance. The staff is friendly and willing to help. Some of them, however, are lacking their English speaking skill, but we found there’s no issue since we can converse with mixed basic Mandarin. The room is not big but comfortable. The only drawback of the room is that there is a big safe deposit box placed on a table that occupies 1/4 of the table space. The heater in room 303 doesn’t function properly. Cold air can still be felt thru inside the room and we’ve reported to the front desk. To remedy this, we used bunch of towels to “seal off” the windows. In conclusion, we found Sofu hotel to be excellent value both for money and location.

Some said this hotel is hard to find, but I think was easy on foot and with map of the area. Street is quite small, so most taxis don't like to drive here and to get taxi, must walk to main street, but it is not too far. Staff was friendly. Hotel is quite small, looks nice. But rooms/bathrooms very small, and winter time cold, must have air con heating all time. Often also come bad smell from sewers. Also doors/windows are very thin so not much privacy in room, can hear everything what is going on at hotel. Hou Hai lakes, Luogu Alley and drum/bell towers very near. So shopping and eating is easy.

Location is near from Subway, only 10mins walkinh distance. Supermarket, laundry, restaurant is everywhere, can't even decide where to eat. This area is very Muslim friendly as well, you'll be spoilt with choices of foods. And if none of them suit your taste, just take the subway, one stop away to DongSi station where you can find a mosque and lots of places to eat nearby. Hostel’s manager and staffs are friendly and did their best to accommodate your needs. There's nothing that they won't do for you. But then again, downside is that the room, wall esp is kinda old with lots of cracks and hole which obv needs to be repaired. Hot water dispenser is nowhere to be found eventho there's a signage (of course the staff will me more than happy to assist but how often do you need em to fill up your jug when you can actually do it on your own if only it's visible & accessible?) Overall, you get what you're paying for.

Booked the hotel a few days ago with my partner father living in a comparatively more expensive hotel called shadow art hotel, the previous stay was very nice and comfort with good location, so at first we were worry that this one will be a huge settlement financially. But it's not, not at all. Though not as stylish as the first one, but this one is way bigger and standard. Mostly importantly, they are 10 mins walk away from metro, 10 mins away from Nanluoguxiang hunting, 10 mins away from Wudaoying hutong, all must go in Beijing, so we basically spend 60 dollars a night and live in the entertainment center!!! So If you want a good budget central located and a very clean and comfortable room, this is a good choice.

Fabulous, I really enjoyed my short stay there, I wish I could have stayed longer and will definately return. From the minute I stepped through the door, even though it was 2.45 am as my fllight was delayed, the staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful, even though they should have gone off duty at 1 am! The hostel had a great atmosphere, homely and friendly, this reflected the staff,who all got on very well together and between them, they were very knowledgeable. As a new solo travelller I really appreciated the friendly, informal but professional atmosphere. Even though the lounge/dining area was ,compact, it was cosy and it managed to accommodate everyone who wanted to be there as, most of the guests where out being tourists. Or there was ample space in a cafe, next door and connected to the hostel via a corridor., again a great design, creative and relaxing in design with a tree in it's midst, much nicer than the picture with great food and drinks. All this in the midlst of a buzzling lively conurbation of small streets and typical tourists shops, eateries and bars with a beautiful relaxing man made lake in easy walking distance, not to be missed, I say!

I stayed for over a month at this hotel as short-term rentals in Beijing aren't easy to find. The room was rather small to fit a large suitcase, but otherwise totally functional, with a hot water pot for boiling your water and free tea bags. The staff speak enough English to deal with basic requests. The real highlight is all the cheap hole-in-the-wall hand-pulled noodle restaurants lining the hutong, of which I never tired. And the gorgeous Houhai lakes are a quick walk away, while the subway an drugstore are right around the corner.

i am a frequent traveler to beijing. i always stay in the 5 star hotels in financial district. one of my friends is a producer for a british travel show called monumental adventures. she told me about the hutong experience of beijing. simply stated, i was overwhelmingly pleased. jerry and sam are these cool, hipster chinese hosts and speak perfect english, and were very hospitable and warm hearts. i will never go back to my 5 star hotel. incredibly charming room set in a ming dynasty courtyard, at the end of a hutong in old beijing. internet was free, and with 5 bars. tea pot with green tea in the room. very comfortable bed. literally hundreds of quaint old school chinese eateries within 5 min walk. this is the best way to see beijing. the very hip houhai area is 1 kilometer away. jerry and sam even arranged for a car to take me to the airport, and didn't even charge me. this is my new home in beijing. the best endorsement i can give is this: i can hardly wait to return with my wife.

“The room was very clean, cosy and spacious. The location is 10 min (walk) from beixinqiao subway station, which c also close with the airoport directly by the airport express. reception very sweet, hospitable and helpful. even they don't speak good English,and very convenient for taking coffee to near hotel ,downstair there is one supermarket very convenient . So i would really recommend this accomodation to other travelers.”

Good room, cleaning was provided everyday with fresh sheets. 4 choices of breakfast, quite good portion. Staff was friendly and we could converse easily with them. We reached late at night about 11pm and found out that the hotel was overbooked. Staff said something about not checking the agoda platform... So our booking was not seen by them. Was placed in a sister hotel of theirs not too far away (3km) and they compensated by providing us with free breakfast . Next day, we still had to pay for our return trip to the right hotel + top up for breakfast for some weird reasons. Didn't wish to pursue that further. Thought that the hotel should have gotten it all covered though...

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here in this gorgeous and leafy courtyard boutique hotel. The staff here is incredibly helpful and makes us feel very welcomed. The rooftop area is a lovely spot to hang out, especially after a long day of exploring Beijing. Breakfast food is one of the best hotel food we have ever tasted, a perfect mix between Beijing and western style. There is a great little dumpling restaurant just across the hotel which satisfy our craving for yummy noodles and juicy dumplings. We so wish we can stay for the whole week here! If we ever come back to Beijing, this would be the only hotel we would go back to, we are very fond of this hotel! Thank you for looking after us :)

This is one of those hotels which do not permit foreigners to stay, but the hotel failed to put that on their Agoda listing. The staff did try to put me in a room instead of turning me away, but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I spoke Chinese, and that I had already paid. Even then, my payment for a part of my stay was mysteriously refunded into my account, and I had to pay the hotel in cash and spent the next two days calling and emailing Agoda to figure out if I had been scammed (I did end up paying less than what I originally paid for that part of my stay though). My room was dark, small and smelled bad, but that's typical for the hutongs. The only redeeming qualities of this hotel are the price and the short walk to the hutong attractions.

Green Tree Inn Beijing Olympic Village Hotel has a well-lighted spacious lobby and clean rooms with good amenities. We had a hard time communicating with the hotel staff since they can't understand English very well. Inspite of this language barrier, they were very courteous and really tried to communicate with us. They even gave a complimentary city map.The hotel is located far from the nearest bus stop or subway train stop. One time when we couldn't get a taxi, we had to walk a long way back to the hotel. But it's a good place to stay if you have a car. There was a very good food selection at the restaurant and the food was great tasting.

I enjoyed it here. It is about a 5-10 minute walk to the metro (Ping'anli Line 6). My room was good for 150 RMB, however I didn't have a bathroom or shower and had to take a shower on the 3rd floor and use the shared bathroom on my floor. But, I paid 150 RMB (about $24) for the night, so this was to be expected. The manager from Hebei was friendly and professional and I liked the staff overall. They asked for a 300 RMB security deposit, which I got back the next day without incident. I can recommend taking the subway to NanLuguoXiang (on line 6) for a night of relaxed drinking in the hutong area of NLX.

Had a great stay at this hotel- beautiful traditional Chinese architecture, two peaceful courtyards surrounded by the rooms. Rooms are large and clean with great bathroom. Delicious traditional chinese breakfast, menu changed everyday. Hotel offers activities at night for either free or 60rmb depending one which one- included calligraphy and dumpling making etc - we didn't get a chance to participate but looked great. Staff are really friendly and spoke better English than the previous 4 star we were staying at in Beijing. Place is a little hard to find so make sure you have it sorted on the map, once your down the right hutong there are signs for it. Most taxis won't go into the hutong so your on your own from the main street. In a great location, plenty to see and lots of great restaurants around. Near the back lakes and CBD, not too far from forbidden city Will definitely stay here again if we come back to Beijing

P Loft is a standard backpacker with a lot of room options - you definitely can pay more for a single room, but the 6 bed dorm is best value for money at 60yuan a night, a basic bunk with good wifi. Location is next to Yonghegong Lama temple, many restaurants in the area and convenient to the subway and most central lines. The hostel is a renovated factory, but it is clean and warm. Staff come to remove rubbish and mop floor daily. Shared bathrooms are basic but very clean with Western & squat options. The showers are also clean. The bathrooms and showers are not gendered but very private and secure. Common room is large and warm, lots of tables and reliable wifi throughout the entire hostel as well as that room. Coffee and some cold drinks available as well as free hot and cold filtered water. There's also luggage storage if you check out but cannot leave until later etc. Staff are very friendly and helpful, and speak both English and Chinese. Only thing to be wary of is the shared dorms do not have any place to lock valuables - but the rooms lock and you can store something in your suitcase and lock that as well.

The hotel locate nearly to Nanluoguxiang street where is a famous local waking street and also not too far away from the subway station . Service. The staff are friendly and very helpful on ours trouble ( we forgot a backpack in the restaurant nearby the hotel and they help me to find and also help to transport my backpack to ours country. This are much appreciate indeed The room seem ok but they have one thing to improve is they should be checking the customer from agoda earlier like the others hotel and should be show in the option that they have no window room in the hotel so that it will have no problem to the people who book long time earlier which always got cheaper price And they said the cheap price deserve to stay in the no window room which they booking option are all have a street view!!! ( we 'd got cheaper price due to the long time earlier booking so they try to let's us to stay in the no window room , Finally they 're give us only one window room ) Ps. Don't want to post any negative review to this good hotel but i worry this problem may occur to the others traveller if they're not improve this problem.