The best hotel we ever stayed in! Really!
The staff was very courteous,helpful, and friendly with everything. The rooms look exactly like the photos depict. We slept comfortably.
Amenities were very, very nice. The restaurant where breakfast was served was superb! Variety of choices. We were pampered!
The next time we are in Beijing we will definitely stay here.

We live in the suburbs of Beijing and recently had our staff Christmas Party at the China World Hotel, so decided to stay at their hotel for the night. Everything was absolutely fabulous!
Great central location - close to everything (with the subway station located right next door)! Fantastic breakfast buffet, brunch buffet and truly the best dim sum restaurant in town. Everything at this hotel is first class and they offer many promotion specials so you often can get a great rate. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a first-rate hotel in Beijing!

My first trip to Beijing was a business trip. Stayed at the China World Hotel at the recommendation of the business colleagues that I was visiting in Beijing. Wow...what a hotel. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this turned out to be one of the nicest hotels I've ever had the pleasure to stay in. The single King Room was large, even by American standards and was warm with lots of wood trim and art work in the room. The service was thoughtful and unobtrusive...nightly turn-down, slippers by the bed, bottles of drinking water (complementary) were placed by the bed and in the bathroom. The bath was large featured shower and separate tub. The lobby and the common areas of the hotel were beautiful, even if they were bustling with people most of the time. Live grand piano music filled the lobby -- a nice treat.
Most enjoyable of all was the morning breakfast buffet. There were multiple stations in the buffet enabling any type of cuisine one wanted to sample...from traditional American bacon and eggs, to European to Oriental. Very well done. With the help of the local business contacts - who booked our rooms for us --all of this cost about the same price as a low-end business hotel in the States. The hotel is connected to a high end shopping mall, for strolls among Versacci and Louis Vuitton, if that is your thing.

China World Shangri La hotel is a bit like a Chinese knock-off of a Western luxury car. From a distance, if you look from a certain angle and squint just right, it almost looks like the real thing. Any closer, and it becomes immediately clear that it is not.

The rooms are very poorly put together. Things do not fall apart largely because of enormous amounts of silicone sealant everywhere. Expensive fittings are ineptly attached and poorly maintained. Most things electrical, even elevator buttons, are not grounded and will give you nasty shocks when touched. Carpets were laid by someone who either hated his job or was in a lot of hurry, and have only seen casual vacuuming since. The airconditioning makes the air as dry as in an airliner, and sounds like one too. I actually woke up from being dehydrated on my first night there. To make the experience complete, the cleaners use the smelliest chemicals available. Spend a night in the room, and in the morning you would call Beijing smog “a breath of fresh air”.

Oh yes, speaking of staff. They routinely ignore “do not disturb” lights, and do not bother to knock before entering rooms. What's more, they are quite difficult to chase away once they're in and have started going about their duties. Generally, except for the lovely elevator lady (there to keep undesirables out, but what a smile!) the staff sees the clients as an annoyance. Getting a round of drinks at the lobby bar is a 30-minute affair. Extra marks for uselessness and grumpiness go to the concierge.

I have not stayed at any other Beijing hotels, but compared to Dubai, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur 5-star hotels China World Shangri La is a very unfunny joke. There are lots of supposedly 5-star hotels in Beijing that cost a fraction of Shangri La, and they cannot really be much worse. Stay elsewhere.