doublecross Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Hi, Does anyone have any tips for booking accommodation for the Olympics? All the sites I can find seem horrifically expensive, although the tourist authority say that there are twice as many beds in Beijing as the expected number of tourists. There are also some 'homestay' options, but I'm not sure how reliable these are. Regards doublecross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Chinese hotels are strictly continued by authorities, so even if the place is not that pretty, you will still be able to find a decent place for cheap. If you are young enough, I have found hostel prices in the range of 20 to 100 dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I agree - check out the International Hostelling site and go from there. There are some relative 'bargains' such as the Harmony Hotel and others around the $300 a night area. Most hostel private rooms are around $100, dorm beds for around $20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passerby Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Do you have a link to the Harmony Hotel website? What's the best place to book a reservation? on a hotel's website or another site such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, or Orbitz.com? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Try www.sinohotel.com - do a search on Beijing - the Harmony will probably be the cheapest option they have listed. Please note that at least 50% of Beijing hotels are yet to announce their pricing policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beibei08 Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hi, I am also hunting for reasonable accommodation for the Olympics in Beijing. I have heard of homestay options too, but I don't know if they will deliver what they promise! Even the homestays are expensive, I was looking online and found one that was charging $500 a night for just a small Chinese apartment! But I came across this: http://thechinaguide.com/olympic_accommodation/hotel1.html Seems very reasonable and they are offering a Chinese mobile SIM card, 24-hour English speaking hotline. And the location is close to subway. Just wondering if anybody has an update on their accommodation search?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublecross Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I have found (and booked) quite a cheap option to the north of Beijing at Yurong International Education Park. It is good for me because it almost exactly fits our requirements (and so no wasted costs) - you book a room for four people and for either the first 10 days or the second 10 days of the Games, and the total is only 800 euros. It says there is still limited availability at http://yurong-europe.com/en/budget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twipsy Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 In May I was lucky to find a hotel reservation website who seems to have forgotten to raise the prices for the time of the Games. I found a room in a hotel next to the Forbidden City for just $57 per night, paid the room and received a confirmation. Since then the price for the same hotel for the same period has risen to more than $300 per day. Now I am afraid that the hotel will find a way to cancel my reservation, as they can earn much more money if they find sombody who really pays $300 for my room. In Tianjin there a still some cheap hotel rooms available and for just 30 YUAN you can go to Bejing via high speed train (which opened in October) in 79 minutes. I don´t know when the last train leaves Beijing in the evening though. 158 minutes per day in a train can be quite annoying, but save you a lot of money. I booked a 65sqm suite in Tianjin from August 9 to 12 for just $98 a day. The standard rooms are even cheaper of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Sinohotel now has a dedicated page of Beijing Olympic hotels - they are all close to the Olympic Green and all around $150-$300US a night - so not cheap, but better than the handful who think they are going to get thousands a night. More to the point I am actually holding back as the ticket fiasco has shown there are few international tickets available - thus very few international tourists will be heading to China. Much less than the 500,000 to a million originally projected. Local Chinese wont be paying this much for hotels so I suggest holding back until March/April if you can as they will have to reduce prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiejie Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 New poster here. Just found this site last month and have been lurking ever since! I'm a Beijing expat who luckily has some event tickets and won't need a flight or hotel room, but I agree with thatsnotmypuppy. In fact, I've been telling people to wait even until May or June, and not to panic if they don't already have accommodations. IMHO, Beijing will be awash with rooms, esp in the 1-3 star and independent hotels, and this will become apparent when the Chinese domestic and international ticketing rounds are pretty much over in April. Too many rooms, not enough visitors to fill them (except for the top and bottom ends of the market). My guess is not even 500,000 foreign spectators (excluding officials and Team delegates, VIP dignitaries, reporters, and such) will show up--probably way, way less--total over the entire run of the Games. And of the Chinese spectators, probably not more than 20-25% will be needing commercial accommodation. Not only will prices be coming down, but I'd bet the ridiculous minimum booking length requirements (i.e. 2 weeks+) will also disappear. And I recommend NOT booking hotel in Tianjin unless you have other reasons for staying there. Even though the high-speed train between Beijing-Tianjin will be online by the Olympics and cut the travel time to 30 minutes, it will not be a commute you'll want to be making. Beijing will be THE place to be, if you've gone to all the trouble to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chateau Petrus Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Check this video : http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2007...ent_6336279.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiejie Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Just heard (from a usually reliable local source) that BOCOG will release its block on hotel rooms in May. I still think that for those who are willing to wait a bit longer, there will be plenty of hotel rooms to go around when all is said and done, and that prices in most of the middle market accommodations will come down significantly. Same source also says that while BOCOG is holding the exact ticketing status close to the vest, they will be releasing more tickets to the international market, but not until the domestic Chinese Phase 2 lottery is completed. No indication yet whether any additional allotment will contain any "hot" marquee events, and knowing the Chinese, they probably don't want to make any final decisions until they see the complete pattern of what's sold domestically. Release of more allotments may not be until March, if BOCOG waits to get payment for phase 2 tickets. The upcoming Chinese New Year holiday will basically render the country and the process at a dead stop for a couple of weeks in February. BTW, the official website has just posted the photo/ID requirements for Ceremonies tickets won through PRC lottery. They are giving the local market only from Jan 15-Jan 31 to provide info, with non-receipt or incomplete information allowing BOCOG the right to cancel the ticket. For those lucky international Ceremonies-ticket winners, I suspect the various official agents will soon be asking for same photo/info (different timetable, of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Thanks for the update JieJie - my sources confirm your accommodation rumour - while sponsors are flocking to take up their Olympic allotments (after very low attendence in Nagano, Sydney, Athens and Torino) the number of expected foreign visitors is now anticipated to level out at under 200,000 due to lack of event tickets and general unease at the organisation and complications of attending. This means Beijing will be in line with Sydney as far as international attendence goes, and far below Athens (of course Athens is in Europe..). BOCOG have held back thousands of rooms that will be empty - thus good deals will become available. As for ticketing, I have heard rumbles of an IOC investigation inot the small allotments metered out to the NOCs... I think we need to remember that there are close to 6 million or so 'public' tickets and sales figures thus far put BOCOG at the 45-60% sold figure (unofficial of course). At Games time I would expect there to be large blocks of availability to certain sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiejie Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 TNMPuppy, I'm not privy to the actual ticketing status numbers of course, but this is my rough calculation using big round numbers: 9,000,000 (Approximate total number of tickets) - 2,000,000 (Sponsors/IOC/VIP allotment) = 7,000,000 (Supposed total "public" tickets) Of that 7,000,000, original target was 75% domestic China (including 14% low-cost for students), 25% international, which breaks down to: 4,270,000 General Chinese public 980,000 Chinese student low cost (I heard these were going to be mostly the lowest seating category and mostly in the "leftover" less popular events, tbd later) 1,750,000 International public And of the Chinese General public tickets: 1,600,000 Allotted in Phase 1 lottery--37% 1,850,000 To be allotted in Phase 2 lottery (in progress)--43% 820,000 Remaining tickets for live sales starting April or May--20% (expected to be sports less-popular with Chinese, and lower seating categories, but should still sell out) Of the International public tickets: 1,000,000 My guestimate of what's been released--57% of intl allotment but only 14% of total public tickets (it may be even less than that, sounds like most countries got only 50-60% of request.) 750,000 Remaining tickets to be allotted--(exact sessions/seating released probably dependent on results of Chinese Phase 2) Thoughts: 1) The Chinese said last month or so they would increase the int'l allotment above 25% (as high as 50%???), but I don't see how they could without sending the PRC public into orbit. Demand is incredibly high. Can't see that happening, unless they scale back that student ticketing aspect, which I doubt. This program is partly a "reward" and "incentive" program, but also a way to fill up potentially empty seats. 2) The theoretical 750,000K remaining intl tickets sounds like a lot, but with official agents jawing about how they expect to get very little more, it leads me to believe that this number may end up a lot less--which begs the question...Where are the tickets disappearing to? 3) I personally know two local senior execs of worldwide sponsors who said even their companies aren't getting decent allotments of tickets...They want to know where are those sponsors tickets are disappearing to? 4) I know plenty of people (Chinese especially, not affiliated with BOCOG or any inner admin workings) who are CONVINCED that considerable numbers of good tickets are being siphoned off by officials to hand out to family, friends, and cronies, or for ultimate resale/scalping. Not sure I buy into this myself, but given standard Chinese operating procedure for as long as China has existed, it's one plausible theory and I can understand why there is a lot of cynicism here. I'd love to see an overview analysis by somebody more knowledgeable than me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiejie Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Just realized, above post more properly belongs on the ticketing thread not accommodations one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chateau Petrus Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 I just find that site : http://www.rentatthegames.com/ Maybe it will interest some of you who still search a place to stay in Beijing. There's even some availability for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chateau Petrus Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 50 to 80$ a day Here's the full article from China Daily website Beijing seeks homestay accommodations for Olympics visitors (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-01-25 15:01 BEIJING - Tourism authorities here are looking for welcoming households to provide rooms for foreign visitors during the summer Olympics. Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing Tourist Bureau, said that the bureau would recruit about 1,000 households as "Olympic Family Hotels" to increase the city's guest room supply for the event. More than 500,000 overseas visitors are expected during the summer Games, with the largest daily inflow estimated at 300,000. Xiong said that Beijing has 806 star-ranked hotels that have 130,000 rooms with 220,000 beds. Other lodging houses and inns have another 646,000 beds. "The guest room supply may still fall short of demand, especially for hotels close to the sports venues," said Xiong. She said that the bureau would choose among households' applications in March. "Families should own the apartments that they plan to offer and be able to provide foreign guests with spare rooms, good ventilation and sanitary conditions," said Xiong. She added that at least one person in each household should be able to communicate in English. Homestays are popular in Western countries but relatively new to China. Other requirements set by the Beijing Tourist Bureau include changing of bedding, appropriate dressing by household members and a willingness to help guests find their way around the city and the Games. The charge for homestays will be US$50 to 80 per day, less than most hotels. Xiong said that the price might be adjusted to reflect market fluctuations. The cost of a five-star hotel room during the Games is forecast to be about 2,960 yuan (US$411) per night. For four-star hotels, it is forecast at 2,320 yuan; for three-star rooms, 1,600 yuan and for two-star accommodations, 1,200 yuan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim856796 Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 I found out that a 148 room hotel, the Gong Ti Sports Inn, is hidden inside the Workers Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalla0925 Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 I found out that a 148 room hotel, the Gong Ti Sports Inn, is hidden inside the Workers Stadium. I have got a very satisfied apartment from http://www.easyaccommodationbeijing.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobart Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 I have booked the below hostel and 10 nights is about AU$2700 and they guy i have been emailing has been really good. http://www.qianmenhostel.com/docc/about.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linna Posted April 11, 2008 Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 I know small apartment, just EU150 per day, not far from Tian an Men square,very convience, they are avaible still I have booked the below hostel and 10 nights is about AU$2700 and they guy i have been emailing has been really good.http://www.qianmenhostel.com/docc/about.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linna Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hi,Does anyone have any tips for booking accommodation for the Olympics? All the sites I can find seem horrifically expensive, although the tourist authority say that there are twice as many beds in Beijing as the expected number of tourists. There are also some 'homestay' options, but I'm not sure how reliable these are. Regards doublecross welcome to Olympic! I live in center of beijing, if you need advise or information, maybe I could tell you, leave your questions here please , it is said that you can rent apartment USD160 still, whom are not far from Tian an Men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linna Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 Do you have a link to the Harmony Hotel website? What's the best place to book a reservation? on a hotel's website or another site such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, or Orbitz.com? welcome to Olympic! I live in center of beijing, if you need advise or information, maybe I could tell you, leave your questions here please , it is said that you can rent apartment USD160 still, whom are not far from Tian an Men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linna Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 In May I was lucky to find a hotel reservation website who seems to have forgotten to raise the prices for the time of the Games. I found a room in a hotel next to the Forbidden City for just $57 per night, paid the room and received a confirmation. Since then the price for the same hotel for the same period has risen to more than $300 per day. Now I am afraid that the hotel will find a way to cancel my reservation, as they can earn much more money if they find sombody who really pays $300 for my room.In Tianjin there a still some cheap hotel rooms available and for just 30 YUAN you can go to Bejing via high speed train (which opened in October) in 79 minutes. I don´t know when the last train leaves Beijing in the evening though. 158 minutes per day in a train can be quite annoying, but save you a lot of money. I booked a 65sqm suite in Tianjin from August 9 to 12 for just $98 a day. The standard rooms are even cheaper of course. welcome to Olympic! I live in center of beijing, if you need advise or information, maybe I could tell you, leave your questions here please , it is said that you can rent apartment USD160 still, whom are not far from Tian an Men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiesnacks Posted April 12, 2008 Report Share Posted April 12, 2008 welcome to Olympic! I live in center of beijing, if you need advise or information, maybe I could tell you, leave your questions here please , it is said that you can rent apartment USD160 still, whom are not far from Tian an Men My experience is prices drop in the close run up to the games - from about 2 months beforehand. I paid premium for Athens, then regreted it later when they started releasing unused Olympic hotels they had underbooked. What are the best areas of Beijing to stay in - are there hotels near the Olympic Green? Will there be an official transport service for people with games tickets. If so, where are the routes -I've tried the official gams website but its pretty badly organised in my view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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