First of all, this hotel is really far away from the centre of Beijing (ie Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City etc). I'm talking a 30 minute ride in a taxi. Yes, taxis are extremely cheap in Beijing, but I didn't enjoy spending 5 hours a day in them getting to an from our hotel.
Also, being in this location, there are no restaurants or shops anywhere nearby. Nothing worth visiting is within walking distance, so you need to be aware you are very isolated, but to be honest, I was relieved we weren't staying in the centre of the city. It was a relief to get back to our peaceful hotel each day.

The restaurants in the hotel were superb. I don't usually like eating in the hotels too much, I think it's important to get out there and 'be with the people', but we had so much trouble finding restaurants where menus were written even partly in English (KFC was really our only choice-if you're a fan, you'll be in heaven in Beijing), so we ate in the hotel every night. The food was amazing - I was never disappointed. It's not cheap though, so bring a credit card with a big limit.

The hotel itself is nice. We were in a suite, and it was ok. A little dated, and the zebra print on the walls was a bit hard to get used to, but having 2 bathrooms was fantastic.

The Horizon Club was ok (staff were fantastic) but next time I'd stay in the Valley Wing. Much nicer for a very similar price.

The only bad thing I can say is the service in the lobby lounge broke my heart. We went there one day after going to the Great Wall, and the girls working there wouldn't let us have a table (perhaps because we looked too 'touristy' compared to all the business guests). I was furious and absolutely mortified. I went up to my room and got a bit upset and had a bit of a teary moment, but the girls in the Horizon Club were really nice to us, so it wasn't everyone in the hotel who was rude. The guys on the door definitely deserve a mention - they had the best English of anyone in the hotel, they were funny and a pleasure to see each day.

All in all, this hotel is probably more suited to business travellers than tourists. We did not see one other tourist in the hotel for the entire week while we were there and we were told they were running at about 80% capacity, so you may feel like a fish out of water if you're on holiday.

If you need or want to stay in the western part of Beijing, Shangri-la is a great option. Rooms are spacious and well-appointed, and hotel staff is eminently professional and courteous. Restaurants are all great, though pricey-- partly because of the dearth of competition in the neighborhood. Shangri-la is designed to be a small oasis in the city, and it succeeds in this, but as a consequence, you tend to pay for it through high-priced food/drink and other amenities. Still, this is my first choice anytime I come to Beijing for an extended period.

From the outside it doesnt match how the inside looked like.
The front desk, concierge desk and the restaurant at Cafe Cha were great. They were all very helpful. The rooms were so environmently friendly with their key card as a slot for turning on the lights to a friendly reminder of where your key card is. Everything was labeled with what switch goes to what. Their use of furniture is so smart and friendly. The beds to their roll away bed are comfortable. Even if you are there for one night, you must try their jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. Their heath center spa was a great bonus! they have a swimming pool that is beautiful, you wouldnt think it was a swimming pool. They have all these amendities for you. They're breakfast buffet is out of this world and their dinner buffet Desserts are incredible. If you venture out remember to ask the Concierge desk to recommend places to go for a bite. They are prompt, safe and clean. I would definitely go back the Shangri-la.

We first stayed at the Grand Hyatt Beijing, then transferred here rto begin our Viking river cruise experience.
NOT a 4 star hotel, even in China. Maybe a 3. Staff did not really understand English, and were a bit surly. Room certainly was not 4 star. Food not much better,although breakfast buffet was quite good. Right on a major highway, more polluted than most locations from auto smog. Lousy location also caused us to have to taxi for dinner quite a distance.
Bed not very comfortable, AC marginal. Avoid if you can.