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By: Eckhart Tolle on Wed Apr 23, 2008

The 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics will be held in China between August 4th and 28th, and with all of the visitors many hotels will be booked solid throughout the month. Thankfully, a new and exciting style of hotel has come into its own in the world of Beijing hotels in the past while – the Siheyuan (or Si He Yuan) courtyard hotel. Of all the Beijing hotels, even amongst the boutique hotels, the Siheyuan model offers the Olympic guest the best value, it’s not just a cheap Beijing hotel, it’s a cultural experience!

Many of the international Beijing hotels that the large travel agencies recommend are larger, opulent and well-featured affairs, but often cold and imposing. Multi-storied hotels like the Beijing News Plaza Hotel are favored by the business traveler, and if you’re planning on spending most of your time out at events or on the town they aren’t a bad bet. Such hotels in Beijing are safe, will offer transportation to and from many Olympic sites, and 24 hour services. What is missing is the personal touch: a feel of a China beyond the hyper-driven economics. I like to have my breakfast without suspecting rationing of the butter and jam, for example.

Many travelers aren’t aware of the existence of Si Ye Huan hotels. Si Ye Huan buildings are residences built in the traditional court-yard style of four-buildings surrounding a courtyard, and connected by passages decorated in an ornate, classical style. Si He Yuan buildings date back to the Zhou Dynasty, and are found primarily in Beijing. During Beijing’s rapid growth, many Siyehuan fell into disrepair due to over-crowding, but are now being restored to their former glory and preserved by the Beijing Municipal Administration.

Zhong Tang Traditional Siheyuan Hotel
Built at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Zhong Tang is 500 years old, and was the residence of the feudal Chinese Prime Minister during the Qing Dynasty, just next to the Winter Palace. Located in the Fu Xingmen district, the hotel is a 17 room facility, with meeting facilities, a wide variety of room classes, and, is 30 kms away from the airport, and 5 kms from downtown, and was renovated 2 years ago.

It’s one of the most popular siheyuan hotels in Beijing, given its storied past and is a particularly popular spot for honeymooners. Nonetheless, it manages to retain an intimacy and middle kingdom charm.

Spring Garden Hotel West Garden
Another survivor of a succession of dynastic dwellers (famously, high officials of both the Ming and Qing dynasty called this place home), the Spring Garden Courtyard hotel was built in the Yuan dynasty, approximately 800 years ago, is a 20 minute walk from Tiananmen Square, five minutes from the Financial Street shopping centre. Besides the usual modern amenities, the Spring Garden takes on the role of cultural ambassador – offering lessons on dumpling making, calligraphy, traditional Chinese opera, and Mahjong.

Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel Beijing
This is a 200 year old siheyuan courtyard house hotel with one of the best locations of them all. Located directly in the heart of the downtown area, the hotel boasts a spectacularly well-kept interior, a lush garden, as well as all the modern amenities one would expect of a hotel.

Uniquely, this siheyuan hotel offers a family room – four beds that will easily accommodate a boisterous family. Room prices during the Olympics miraculously rise, as one would expect in any market economy but not in China, but are more than competitive with equivalent hotels in the western world. It’s the Olympics, so you will pay a premium for any accommodations, but if you’re traveling to China, you’re aware that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will come with a heftier price tag than packing the kids off to Disney World.

These are but a handful of the siheyuan hotels in Beijing, but are the most comfortable that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of staying in during my various visits to China. In all of the above siheyuan, the staff have been accommodating, generous, and eager to help. A little bit of digging on your part, and you’ll be able to find other siheyuans to book during the Olympics. A stay at a siheyuan courtyard hotel is sure to make your 2008 Olympics special!

It’s the Olympics, so you will pay a premium for any accommodations, but if you’re traveling to China, you’re aware that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will come with a heftier price tag than packing the kids off to Disney World.

A quick note on China: Navigating the labyrinthine Chinese bureaucratic system is the biggest fear any Olympic traveler has, but as business-class pioneers have traveled in larger and larger numbers over the past 15 years, so has the Chinese government become more responsive to the needs of foreign visitors. You’re far more likely now to run into a young graphic designer with an iPhone than you are a grim-faced bureaucrat, so just remember to be polite and say “xièxie!” (Mandarin for “thank you.”)


Echart Toll is a business-man from Toronto, and is not to be confused with Eckhart Tolle, the Vancouver-based author of 'The Power of Now.' Echar Toll dislikes Oprah, and never lets go.