HInn Central Plaza was so disappointing!!
As mentioned in many other reviews, cabbies dont know of the whereabout of HI Zhong Huang (in Mandarin) nor whereabout of Caiyuen jia, the address in Chinese.
The physical property still seems ok. Ooooh the TripAdvisor 2006 trophy takes pride of place in the lobby. BUT this hidden gem of 2006 is fast fading..
Service from porter to check-in to housekeeping is sloppy. And I write factually without any secondary agenda ( in fact just sent a favorable review for their group hotel in Qingdao ).
Evidents : inspite of after 3pm arrival, room was not ready. After check-in at 4pm into room 627, had to call housekeeping to re clean the toilet seat - bits of excrement from the previous occupier left uncleaned!!!!!!!!
The "water not for drinking" sign was unglued n it was left dangling on the basin ledge thru all 4 days of my stay. The shampoo+amenities box pull-handle was missing and again nothing was done. Night lite didnt light up, neither did the desk lamp. Holder for shower head doesnt hold well anymore.
No free internet connection, charged by the minute or abt US$15 a day.
Bedroom slippers - the worse quality I had seen any of their group properties.
The much raved concierge Storm - bumped into him once at the coffee shop - he gave me a map of Beijing. The receptionist had earlier said they dont hv any give away map.
Coffee shop staff and cooks were somewhat a shade off.
And oh the coffee shop closes at midnite; at half-past-ten was told the kitchen is almost closed - except for rice, all dishes on the menu were not available. Not even a pizza, muffin nor cake. No choice, other than a foot massage shop across the driveway, the entire neighborhood is dead quiet after 9pm.
Forget about staying here! For location, there's nothing like choosing a hotel around Wangfujing or Chaoyang Sanlitun.
For once I totally disagree with the high ranking racked up at TripAdvisor for the HInn Central, Beijing. There maybe a root cause for the 'i-cant-be-bothered' looks on the staff.

I booked this hotel based on the reviews. We never met the infamous Storm even though the reviews on his service were the final factor in booking this hotel. The rooms are exceptionally clean and inviting. I do not know about the location and it did not really matter because taxis are readily available and very inexpensive. This is definitely a four star hotel as noted in China (trip advisor lists it as a 3 star). We had no trouble getting anywhere we wanted to go because of the exceptional concergie service. The staff wrote down in Chinese where we wanted to go and numbered each card so we simply handed the card to the taxi driver and off we went each day. I recommend adding the breakfast to the room charge, the buffet is varied and an excellent value. I highly recommend this hotel and would love to stay there again!

My hasband and I had a really relaxing stay at this hotel. I will come back agian!

In April, my wife and I returned from a 7 night stay at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza in Beijing. Always before I have stayed at 5 star hotels such as the Swissotel. We highly recommend the Central Plaza as a less expensive alternative with about the same proximity to Forbidden City. It is located in a nice neighborhood for local color, restaurants, groceries and sundries. Storm, the concierge, is excellent. He understands concerns of those from the west and can provide good advice and make arrangements with a concern for value and comfort. The buffet is first rate and the staff is very attentive and friendly. The hotel management seems to really try to be on top of things. Recommend Club level accommodations, though the service in the Executive Club, though friendly, is not on a par with that in five star hotels. Only other complaint was that we could not get our room sufficiently cooled at night - a common experience in my travels.

However, free broad band access was available in the club level rooms either through Ethernet connection or wi fi. This was in addition to a terminal in the club lounge.

So, that is my hotel of choice as I return, this time on business, in June.