Preface: This is another pre-lockdown stay that took place in December 2019.
During our 15-hour layover in Beijing, we decided to venture into the city and checked-into the Ritz Carlton Financial Street. This luxury hotel in located in the business district of the city akin to Wall Street in New York. It is connected to a one of the city’s most upmarket shopping mall, Seasons Place.
I sent a message via the Marriott app messaging service to advise the hotel that we were on our way from the airport at 8am and they responded promptly advising that our room was indeed ready for arrival. As our limousine pulled into the porte-cochere where a huge Christmas tree stood, we were greeted by several Ladies and Gentleman of the Ritz Carlton, then promptly escorted to the reception desk to complete our check-in process. It was a very busy morning! It looked like there was some sort of a convention going on in the hotel.
Within minutes, we were escorted to our room. The room was of a typical Ritz Carlton size but it did show severe signs of aging. Bed was very comfortable and the bath was just perfect for that post and pre flight soak! The only complaint of the hotel was the air-conditioning which was set to a level that was too warm for our liking. Then again, it was winter in China, and I know that almost all hotels in the country regardless of star rating, have to comply with the temperature setting requirement.
The shopping mall was rather deserted except for the restaurants level which seem to be very popular with workers from the area.
All in all, this property seems to tick all the boxes for a corporate executive coming to Beijing but probably not so much for the leisure traveler.
