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The details are similar to those in other courtyard hotels, but here they add up to a more comfortable atmosphere. Rooms range from cheap youth hostel-style facilities right up to suites. There’s also a charming teahouse and well-stocked bookshelves.

The stylish new Park Plaza is a peaceful oasis in a fast developing precinct. Rooms feature designer touches and the hotel is convenient for Wangfujing Dajie and the Forbidden City.

Luxurious and recently renovated rooms have large plasma TVs; marble bathrooms also have a small screen. Two terrific restaurants (Huang Ting and Jing), a luxury mall, excellent service, and a central location, make this one of the city’s best choices.

The hotel itself isn’t much to look at but rooms are decent. The Li Yun Theater, with nightly shows of Beijing Opera, is on the hotel grounds. The Temple of Heaven is a short walk away.

A few minutes’ walk from the Drum and Bell Towers and located in a former Buddhist temple, this courtyard hotel is full of character. Simple, cosy rooms have Ming-style furniture.

Beijing’s most uniquely louche hotel, in which those with a suitably fat wallet can live out fantasies of Old Peking, also happens to be a converted courtyard residence (see Red Capital Residence).

Beijing’s quirkiest hotel has just five rooms, each furnished with period antiques and decorated according to a different theme. You can choose from the “Chairman’s Suite” or one of the “Concubines’ Private Courtyards”.

Four-star business hotel close by the International Exhibition Center, also providing access to myriad dining and shopping options on Xiaoyun Lu and the adjacent Nuren Jie. Rooms are large in size, luxurious but subtle.