Where do We Live During the Olympics?

If you are a foreigner who is planning to come to Beijing in 2008 to view

or participate in the Olympic Games or the Paralympics or simply to visit

or conduct business, you may wonder: When should I book a room?

The answer to that question is: right now!

For a city that already has a population of 15.81 million, sparing

enough space for a sudden influx of about 600,000 foreign tourists in a

very short time, along with 2 million domestic tourists, will not be easy. With

70 percent of the rooms of 112 star-rated hotels already allocated to Olympic

visitors by signed lodging agreements with the Beijing Organizing Committee

for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), independent travellers will find

that the remaining rooms are in high demand and in short supply.

So what can you do?

The editors of Business Beijing have studied the accommodations available

for foreign visitors based on various budgets so visitors can begin making

arrangements for a wonderful Olympic trip, but remember: time is short.

The number of hotel rooms available in Central Beijing is rapidly dwindling,

and the prices of remaining rooms are soaring by several times their normal

rate. A standard two-bed room in the Kunlun Hotel, a prestigious five-star

hotel, is now priced at 12,000 yuan per night during Games time. Luckily,

hotel rooms are not the only choice of accommodation. For those with less

generous budgets or for those who have to stay in Beijing long before the

Games, economy hotels, serviced apartments and ordinary apartments are

probably more wallet-friendly.

 

Star-Rated Hotels for Bulging Wallets

It is estimated that before the opening of the

2008 Olympic Games, there will be 800 star-rated

hotels in Beijing offering 130,000 rooms. This

figure includes rooms reserved by BOCOG and the

remaining rooms available in other three-, four- or

five-star hotels that mainly cater to the needs of

foreign visitors.

In terms of location, the best choice will likely

be the remaining 30 percent of rooms in Olympiccontracted

hotels, which are mostly located in

North Beijing where most of the 2008 Olympic

venues are located, along with major commercial

and financial centres. These include famous names

such as the Beijing Great Wall Sheraton Hotel and

the Beijing Grand Hotel.

However, close proximity to the Olympic

venues will come at a high price. The rate for a

standard room at the five-star New Otani Chang Fu

Gong Hotel is 8,000 yuan (US$1,040) per night

three times its current rate of 2,600 yuan (US$338)

per night.

In a random sampling of 23 three-star and

above hotels conducted by The Beijing News,

15 had already started accepting reservations

for Olympics-time rooms with rate increases of

between three and five times their normal rates.

Many hotels are also requiring minimum-length

stays, such as the whole Olympic period, and are

requiring high-percentage deposits or full payment

in advance.

Alas, even if you want to book from one of

these luxury hotels, you will find it difficult; some

of the best are already completely reserved. At

the five-star Kempinski Hotel not far from the main

Olympic site, a receptionist said a delegation of

Germans had already booked all 526 rooms. Phone

calls to the Jinglun Hotel got the same answer.

But there's still hope; some hotels haven't

started accepting Olympic reservations. Experts

believe that they are speculating on the number of

prospective travellers before deciding their rates,

which government officials say they will not try to

control, letting the market decide.

 

Serviced Apartments: Better for

Extended-Stays

Serviced apartments are getting more popular in

Beijing, because with China's improving economy and

business activity more long-term visitors are coming

to the capital city, especially those with families.

Serviced apartment combine the advantages

of hotel rooms and apartments to provide homelike

residence for customers while providing a

hotel-rate service for them.

Currently, most serviced apartments in Beijing

are owned or managed by international companies

that mainly cater to the needs of senior employees

and even owners of multinational companies.

Therefore, the rate of serviced apartments cannot

be regarded as very economical.

Although compared with suites in hotels

with similar facilities and services, daily rates of

serviced apartments are not highly competitive.

However, if you have to stay for a month or longer,

the rate would be more attractive. For example,

the daily rate for a 59-square-metre (sq.m) studio

apartment at the Oakwood Apartment Beijing is

1,400 yuan (US$183), while the monthly rate for

the same room is only 18,000 yuan (US$2,210)-

only 600 yuan (US$78) per day.

Serviced apartments are also available with

two or three bedrooms, which are more suitable

for families than hotels.

Although targeting long-term-stay business

travellers is a strategy of serviced apartments,

taking advantage of the Olympics is just a

natural reaction. Industry insiders predict that

rates for serviced apartments could rise by

about four times.

Telephone inquiries revealed that that monthly

rates for 60 sq.m units at Oakwood in Beijing are

95,400 yuan (US$12,400) during the Olympic

Games, about five times that of the current

price. Daily rates for small-size units in Ascott will

increase from the current 988 yuan (US$128) to

4,500 yuan (US$585) in August 2008.

Some serviced apartments have stopped

signing leases for longer than a year so that they

can be more flexible in their rate adjustments, said

Yue Fenggang, assistant director of DTZ quoted by

China Real Estate Business.

 

Budget Hotel: Bed + Breakfast

For independent backpack tourists or younger

travellers with limited budgets, budget hotels that

provide simple but complete facilities and limited

services could be a realistic choice.

Although relatively new to the Beijing hotel

market, budget hotels have expanded rapidly

thanks to their modest facilities at reasonable

prices. There are 125 budget hotels by the end of

July 2007 in Beijing, but that number is expected

to increase to 200 within 2007, according to the

Beijing Evening News citing the figures from www.

inn.net.cn, an industry Web site.

Compared with star-rated hotels, budget hotels

normally do not have grand lobbies, delicate

furnishings or over-sized rooms; some don't even

have separate bathrooms for each unit. Still, they

can provide TVs, bicycle rental, laundry, Internet,

photocopying, ticket booking and many other

convenient services. Compared with ordinary

hotels, they usually have transparent rates, white

sheets, a cleaner environment and a guaranteed

quality of service, as many of them are name

brand chain outlets.

Standard rooms in budget hotels in Beijing are

normally priced between 200 yuan (US$26) and

400 yuan (US$52) per day. Although most have

not revealed their Olympic rates, it is expected that

daily rates will probably rise by five-ten times. The

international brand Super 8 Hotel has revealed its

Olympic rates-1,888 yuan (US$245) per day for

a standard room, which is steep, yet reasonable if

compared with the rates of a star-rated hotel.

 

Civil Residence: Having a Self-Help

Olympic Trip

Another budget-friendly choice for

accommodation in Olympic Beijing could be

ordinary civil apartments, especially those near

Olympic venues.

Though services may be limited, ordinary

apartments, which are suitable for families and

institutional tenants, are much cheaper than

serviced apartments.

To provide assistance to potential foreign

tenants and better regulate the rental market

during the Games, BOCOG has designated

five large real estate agencies as qualified

institutions who can conduct leasing services

for overseas tenants. The five agencies are

Centaline China, 5i5j, Homelink Housing Real

Estate Agency, Century21 China and Family Real

Estate Company Limited.

Property agency Linkhome even released a

2008 Beijing Renting Manual in August 2007 to

provide guidance for foreign tenants in several

languages, which are available at its chain stores.

Spurred by the Games, both sales and rental

prices in the "Olympic area" (usually means the

area between the North Third Ring Road and the

North Fifth Ring Road, where the Olympic Forest

Park, the National Sports Centre, the National

Aquatics Centre and many other Olympic venues

are located) have climbed faster than those in

other areas. Statistics from Golden Keys suggest

that in the first half of 2007, lease signing in the

"Olympic area" grew 21 percent faster than during

the same period in 2006, with an average 18

percent increase in rentals.

Reports from chain stores of major real estate

agencies have shown that many property owners

are only willing to sign leases expiring before

August 2008 so that they will seize the golden

month to get a good price, and some have clearly

expressed their intention to find foreign tenants

who can pay more.

Many property owners are expecting

increases of five-ten times increase in rentals

during the Olympics, however, analysts from

the Research Centre of Homelink are more

conservative in anticipating 50 percent to 100

percent increases.