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Recently renovated and cheap given the location. Rooms are simple but clean, and surprisingly large. Staff are more pleasant than is usual for a Chinese hotel.

Chinese-managed hotel in a hutong close to Wangfujing. Staff speak little English, but rooms are bright and airy with clean bathrooms. Those on upper floors offer pleasant views.

Good value in the heart of one of Beijing’s most vibrant hutongs. It’s also minutes from the lakes, and myriad restaurants and bars. Offers clean single rooms, doubles with attached bath, and 6–8 bed dorms, plus bike hire and laundry.

Two blocks north of the famed Night Market, the location is hard to beat. It’s a fairly modest place but looking quite spruce after a 2005 refit.Staff are well used to dealing with foreigners and there’s a travel advisory service, booking center, bicycle rental, and internet.

The city’s most charming YHA hostel, with dorms and private rooms in hotel and courtyard settings. The area was an imperial-era red-light district and remains lively.

Buried down in the hutongs southwest of Tian’an Men Square, this is possibly the city’s cheapest old courtyard accommodations (see Feiying International Youth Hostel).

Among the cheapest of Beijing’s HI hostels and the most convenient for transport. Private twins and dorms are pristine, and management are helpful. Facilities include a recently opened bar and restaurant.

Built in 1875 and once home to Chiang Kai Shek (you can stay in his suite) and, later, the Yugoslav Embassy. Today, it still has a bit of a Socialist feel but the courtyard setting is pleasant, and there’s a Japanese restaurant on site.

Although one of the biggest hotels in Beijing, rooms are surprisingly small. Still, service is pleasant, and the Canton restaurant on the 21st floor gets good reviews.