I have stayed at the Grand Hyatt Beijing around 12 times in the last five years, usually for at least a week at a time. I have stayed at other hotels in Beijing, so I have some points of comparison. This is truly one of my favorite hotels in the world. Sure, there are other hotels in Beijing that are more ritzy, glamorous, trendy, etc., but the Grand Hyatt takes the prize for all-around service and functionality. Choosing a hotel in Beijing depends heavily on your location for business, etc. (because of the distances and traffic), but I would certainly recommend this hotel for anyone doing business in the Dongcheng area and for tourists because of its proximity to the Forbidden City.

There are so many good things to say about this hotel that it's hard to decide what to highlight. Certainly the food options are fantastic. The lunch buffet is one of the best in Beijing, the Made in China restaurant is excellent, and Red Moon is one of my favorite sushi places anywhere. The gym and pool are also major attractions. The gym is like a small but well-equipped health club, and the pool is out of this world. I always stay on the "club" floors, and the club lounge is very nice. The breakfast is good, and it's usually possible to make a meal out of the happy hour buffet if you don't have dinner plans for the night.

This is one of the few hotels in central Beijing where you can actually take some pleasant walks in the vicinity of the hotel. It's nice to stroll down Wangfujing (a closed pedestrian street), and Tiananmen Square is about a 10-15 minute walk. If you've never been to Beijing, it resembles an archipelago of massive shopping mall complexes, with most of the hotels and office buildings located in one of these complexes. (The Grand Hyatt is no exception. It's on top of a large shopping mall called Oriental Plaza.) The result of this urban planning disaster is that there is relatively little street life in central Beijing. The area around the Grand Hyatt is something of an exception, and it is possible to walk out the door without falling immediately into the concrete wasteland. It's also located on top of Line 1, the main artery of the Beijing subway system. Its location near the Forbidden City places it roughly in the middle of the city, making it a good compromise location if your business takes you to different places (like the financial district to the west and the CBD area to the east).

The rooms and service at the Grand Hyatt are first-rate. The "Club Deluxe King" rooms are like small apartments, with a living room area and kitchenette. (In truth, the function of the kitchenette area has never been clear to me. The next time the hotel undergoes a major renovation, I would suggest converting the kitchenettes into large closets -- closet space being one of the few shortcomings of these rooms.) The club rooms have their own reception desk on the 17th floor, and the service there is always excellent. The hotel has introduced free WiFi in the last year or two, making it even more business-friendly.