Purple Courtyard

I spent 5 days at the Purple Courtyard. The staff was kind, and picked me up at the airport. I booked a trip to the Great wall, and it's been simply amazing.

I asked for guides in town, so to have some indications and company during my tours in Beijing. I was answered that I could easily go around Beijing on my own.. f course it is true, but with someone who teaches me stories it would be much more interesting. Moreover, the Purple Courtyard does not have a common area where guests can meet each other.. Luckily I got to know people in my excurision to the Great Wall. If you come here, I suggest that you take trips as soon as possible, so you can meet new people and make friends for you next tours in town or other places.

The location was excellent, down a quiet hutong so it was easy to sleep, but close to a bigger hutong and the bell/drum tower. The room was very comfortable - the single beds were simply huge! Carrie, the girl on reception for most of our stay, saved us a lot of time by booking train and plane tickets for us, which was great service.

To get to the shared shower/toilet you had to go outside, which was fine for us but I suspect could get very cold in the winter months. Also, the hotel wasn't very good at providing directions and didn't have maps - not a problem, but worth being aware so that you can pick a map up as you go! We made use of the Backpackers Hostel on the main hutong to get information about bus numbers, directions etc.

It was located in Hutong, which mean that after long day you can have nice food near the hotel.

The bathroom was kind of outside. In october is cold (especially in the evenings) and it felt like doing staff just outside. You actually could get sick after having shower and walking in cold to your room. Shower was a bit dirty and it stinks. That makes it difficult to use. The toilet was often blocked and there was no toilet paper. Hotel is about 20 minutes of fast walk from metro station which is a big issue. Staff speak english very poorly, therefore they are unable to help in anything. They try but there is just no connection. The courtyard it's not realy place to sit and it just look nice on the picture. I would not recommend this hotel because of shower and toillet issue and long way to metro station.