I have stayed here several times, it so far is my regular hotel in Beijing. It is badly 30-minutes from the airport (quicker in good traffic), close to a diplomatic enclave with a very expat supermarket and some good restaurants (e.g., Samadhi, a terrific vegetarian restaurant), close enough to Sanlitun, and right on top of a station on Metro Line 10 which gets me to my office in Guomao conveniently. As a platinum member I usually get a smooth upgrade - a recent stay was at the corner room 1919 - and staff is pleasant enough.

The reason I almost gave this 3-stars and definitely cannot give it 5-stars is the "software": there is room to improve. E.g., on my recent stay I arrived close to midnight and there was one person at check-in who spent 5 minutes on some idiot guests and their direction needs - she should have sent them to the concierge and attended to me. Next, 5 people lined up behind me and for some reason my room was taking longer to allocate or prepare - she gave me one and then changed my room and gave me another. I asked the girl to call a colleague to handle the long line and she tried, and the person behind me who went to the newly-opened counter got his keys and left BEFORE I was done. It was all I could do not to blow my gasket. These little things should come automatically. Ordering room service can be a painful experience having to repeat words like "juice" or spell out "salt" and "pepper" to get them to understand. Yes, I know, I could do the right thing and learn Mandarin but I pick an international chain and pay up for a reason, right? The breakfast at the executive lounge is great enough, but similarly, the service can be patchy and you may never get asked if you want coffee or even if you were, may not get served for a long time. Don't get me wrong, these are mostly annoyances, rather than issues, but I am writing to hopefully provide some constructive criticism.

It is simple things like these that the hotel needs to work on to improve a well-located, new, pleasant and well-connected hotel to its true potential.

(If you want to get a sense for what exceptional, cosmopolitan service in China is, you should check out the Peninsula in Shanghai - now *that* is a hotel everyone else can learn from.(

This may be not the sexiest spot in Beijing, but it is certainly very convenient.
Staff is very attentive, tho their English is not very good or clear.
That's Beijing, anyway.
Rooms are very big. Nicely decorated and equipped.
Restaurants are fine. The bar is decent and has a very good burger on its menu.
Service is the big question mark here.
For this visit, once I dropped my bags went to the bathroom, just to discover there was some discarded toilet paper in the trash bin. Not fun. But again, service in China is something that will take some time before it gets to an international level.
If you are visiting for business, it's great.
Celebrities seen here: Will Smith, his son (probably shooting Karate Kid) and lately the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I have stayed here many times due to its proximity to our Bejing office.

The hotel is good but could definitely improve in some respects.

Impressive lobby, good sized rooms with large bathrooms, good gym, decent on site restaurant.

It falls down in a couple of respects: (1) the rooms look good at a superficial level but even though the hotel is only a few years old, the wear and tear is obvious on closer inspection - cracking on the floor in the bathroom, wardrobe doors that dont quite shut properly etc (2) service. I appreciate that service in China generally is still work in progress but a few examples of the things that let the Westin down - one time I checked in and was given the room key, went to the room and let myself in only to quickly realise someone was already using the room!! I went back to the lobby to fix the mistake, which they did and were very apologetic but I was quite mortified that such a mistake could be made. It was lucky the person whose room it was, was not actually in it at the time but it could have been most embarrasing and/or dangerous. Another time, I had booked a hotel car to the airport and they got the dates mixed up and did not have a car ready for me and were unable to hail a taxi as it was peak hour and raining. I was going to miss my flight and they didn't really seem to know what to do other than say they misunderstood the booking instructions. I really had to start giving them a hard time about their mistake before they tried harder to rectify the situation and finally the hotel manager himself drove me to the airport to ensure I did not miss my flight. That was very good of him but if I hadnt made a bit of a stink, i think they would have just let me miss the flight and have to stay another night.

I stayed two nights in the Beijing Westin, mostly because my room in the Beijing Kempinski Lufthansa Hotel across the street was not immediately available. It was really very nice, but not “exciting” or stimulating. Though excellent in many ways, perhaps it is just not my cup of tea for a Beijing hotel.

This Westin is a 5-Star Hotel, and their rooms are clean, comfortable, and as expensive as Kempinski. It is located near to the Beijing Capital Airport, and within a pleasant 15 minute walk of Lady’s Street shopping area (which every Westerner should experience as it can provide cheap cell phones, souvenirs, flowers, fruit, snacks in a fun, colorful and informal setting). Subway terminals are right outside the hotel entrance, and that is really convenient.

Maybe my only complaint is that Westin seems culturally insipid. As an American, I prefer more of a foreign ambiance when I am traveling outside of the USA, and Westin felt comfortable in the same boring way I find staying in a Westin or Sheraton in the USA.

Their lobby bar was nothing special: decent food but bad ambience; after a lunch there with a Chinese friend, the next day I elected to walk across to the Kempinski Lobby bar to meet another friend for lunch: better atmosphere and good wines and snacks.

If you want a sterile, “American” hotel, then this is your cup of tea. If you are a Western visitor, who wants cozy comfort, you will find that here. If you want local spice and cultural flavor, look elsewhere.

This is an excellent hotel. I will probably stay again. But it is just not favorite taste in the context of so many alternative hotels with more of a flavor of China.