Ariva Beijing West Hotel & Serviced Apartments in Beijing

I lived nearby when this hotel was being built. I remember it going up and I remember it being a big deal. It's obviously seen better days. The carpet was filthy and even the bath towels were a bit ragged, they needed to be replaced 2 years ago. The giant window provided a wonderful view of the Summer Palace in the day, and at night it ensured that the room was frigid. In the loft, it was hot and below it was freezing and there was no way to resolve this problem. I could see this as an option if you're staying for a few months and need some extra space, but even then, the rooms should probably be gutted. It's the small things as well, the refusal to provide more than 2 bottles of water per day. The elevator not being level with the floor, the weird bathroom upstairs with an all glass wall (why?). The kids were looking forward to swimming, but the pool and gym were closed for renovation, there was no notification of this prior. The front desk was confused by the lack of a Chinese address when we were checking in, which was the only time in the entire trip this was asked for. This is also rather inconvenient for taxis, as it's extra driving to get in, and the pickup location is not visible. Most don't want to bother driving in to drop off. It's a place that has seen better days and those days were 10+ years ago. Shame it's not been maintained as well as it could have been.