Review: Sunrise Kempinski Beijing (Deluxe Lake View Suite)

What benefits to expect when you stay at Sunrise Kempinski Beijing as a GHA Discovery Titanium member?

The property opened in 2014 with a total of 302 guest rooms.

I booked this stay at a price of just CNY 999 with breakfast included, as part of the hotel’s 11.11 offer (still available as of the time of this article). This is about 70% cheaper than the usual Standard/Flexible rate!

I also redeemed D$80 during this stay, which brought the total nett cost down to just US$57. I’d received most of this Discovery Dollars balance as a birthday gift and by participating in the loyalty program’s surveys. On top of that, I earned a further D$23 after this stay by booking this stay through the mobile app and earning 14% back in Discovery Dollars during this promo period.

Related: Beginner’s Guide to Travelling in China as a non-Chinese speaker

Location

Finding out about the property’s surroundings before arriving was challenging. Due to the uncertainty, I booked the stay for my last night in Beijing, as it is somewhat close to the airport.

This hotel is also a great option if you intend to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall. In which case, you should probably stay at least 2 nights.

• 35 mins drive to Mutianyu Great Wall entrance (dining options here)
• 50 mins drive to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK)
• 1 hr 10 mins to downtown Beijing
• 1 hr 35 mins to Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX)

Arrival

We arrived by car from downtown Beijing, and were assisted with our luggages upon arrival.

As we’re celebrating a special occasion, we received a 3-category upgrade to the Deluxe Suite with Lake View, instead of the 2-category upgrade to the suite with City View.

Personally, I would rather take a non-suite upgrade with a lake view, over a suite with a city view.

The receptionist mentioned that we can take the pretty wooden key cards home!

Deluxe Lake View Suite

This suite type is about 70sqm (753sqft) in size.

View from the room was magnificent on a clear day! Furnishing was okay; I spotted some maintenance/quality hardware issues like loose wardrobe doors, incomplete mini bar and stained windows. But at this price point, the view was enough to keep me happy.

View from the room

In-room dining menu

Breakfast

Breakfast was held as a buffet at Elements restaurant.

Food quality was good for a hotel at this price point, but nothing like the fantastic Kempinski hotels in Southeast Asia.

Other facilities

This hotel has an indoor swimming pool and a large gym.

My ratings

This is how I am rating my stay, considering what I paid:

Bottom line

I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful architecture of Sunrise Kempinski Beijing and the magnificent lake and great wall views were nice bonuses.

Paying just US$57 out-of-pocket (and getting D$23 back) for this feels like an illegal hack; definitely one to remember for a long time. However, it’s hard to recommend this property at its usual non-promo rate of at least US$400.

Furthermore, if you are used to the amazing hospitality and F&B standards in Kempinski hotels in Indonesia and Thailand, you may be disappointed by what you receive here. But again, it all depends on the rate that you’re paying.