Try Home Inns, which is an economic hotel chain store. Reach: http://www.homeinns.com/

if you could read Chinese. It has 30 locations in Beijing to be chose from. The price is about $30 per night.

Home Inns is good and clean?

And you can also see http://www.jj-inn.com/Default.aspx

I stayed at Beijing City Central Youth Hostel and I was very happy with it. Dorm accommodation for less than 8USD a night (there are other, slightly more expensive options available if you want more privacy), free internet access, adequate bathrooms and very well situated in the city!

Check it out at http://www.hostelworld.com (you’ll have to run a search for “Beijing City Central” – it won’t give me a direct link).

Enjoy!

I am a student in Institute of process engineering,CAS, Beijing.

You can contact to me and I can find a hostel for you. My email is: lihongqiang@gmail.com

I have stayed, visited or known people in most hostels in Beijing and can recommend mainly Sweet Garden Hostel which is in Dongcheng District, close to the 2nd Ring Road (East), in walking distance of main bar districts like SanLiTun, shopping areas and attractions like TianAnMen. It’s also in walking distance of a subway station, DongSiShitTiao on Line 2.

Other than that Zhaolong Hostel (behind a 5 star hotel of the same name) is pretty good, except for the toilet facilities, but the hotel lobby of the hotel has excellent ones ;)

If you prefer a hotel, the previously mentioned Home Inns is okay, but quite expensive. I would probably stay in a hostel and find an apartment ASAP or move to a cheap Chinese hotel in the area.

BTW, to book hostels go to hostelworld.com

Hope that helped!

When I was there last May, I stayed in Liyun Apartotel. It’s called “Apartotel” because you can stay for a few days (as in a hotel) or for months (as in an apartment). Many of the foreign students attending Beijing Normal University stay there. I was traveling with two friends of the opposite gender, and so we booked a suite. The door opened into a hallway/foyer area, and the suite included a large bathroom with a shower, a large bedroom with two beds, and a small bedroom with one bed. Both bedrooms had TVs, cable internet access (for a small extra fee), hot water pot, tea set, electronic safe (you make up your own code every time you close it), desk, closet, shelves, and fluffy white bedding. It was very clean and comfortable. There was a convenience store in the lobby, a small cafeteria in the basement, a McDonalds across the road and another convenience store and some small restaurants down the street. We weren’t within walking distance of any major attractions, but taxis were everywhere. The Apartotel gave us their business card and wrote directions back to the hotel on them in Chinese so that the two of us who weren’t so great with the language wouldn’t have to be afraid of getting lost forever. I’m not sure how much it cost, but I remember it being a great place to stay. The international students living there year-round and greeting each other in the hallways and elevators gave the place a friendly feeling. The cleaning ladies were also college-aged, and they were very sweet and sympathetic toward our lack of fluency in Mandarin. The bed was the most comfortable one I’ve slept in, and my bedroom had a wonderful smell that was like a mixture of tea and fresh laundry). The furniture in the bedrooms was obviously very new, and it was IKEA-style. I’m not a student anymore, but I’ll stay in Liyun Apartotel again if I’m ever back in Beijing (thought I don’t plan to go back… Xi’an and Shanghai are next on my list).