This is a hard one! Before writing this review I tried hard to find other reviews to compare to our experience but could dig up none at all for this hotel which seems odd for what is supposedly a well known and well regarded venue. We stayed at the Friendship Palace overnight on a side trip to Harbin during our stay in Beijing. This hotel is considered a 4 Star establishment and a historic landmark of the area but we were very disappointed and thankful that it was only for the one night. If our stay had been for more than that we would have been checking in elsewhere for the remainder of the time. The building size appears to be quite extensive with old and “new” sections - 2 reception areas on the ground floor – 1 modern(ish) which seemed to be the main reception and the other more “old style” -and frankly far more stylish and inviting - which appeared to be disused with a series of shops and other common areas running off from this part. Before we checked out on the 2nd day we thought we would have a look around the older part of the hotel but it must have seemed a strange thing to do because one of the staff appeared to think we were lost and trying to find anyone who spoke enough English to understand that we were just looking around proved too challenging so we gave up. Obviously if you do not know a reasonable amount of the language you should stick to more international destinations but the ice and snow festival was recommended to us as a must see when we arrived in Beijing so we decided last minute to fly up for a night to check it out – and it was definitely worth the trip. The room was quite inexpensive which was a good thing since it was well below average standard. Dirty, stained carpets, dusty shelves and the most uncomfortable beds which literally felt like any padding had been taken off the top of the mattress and a sheet put over the bare inner springs. We knew that beds in China were usually fairly hard but…. ! The room facilities/mini bar consisted of a kettle and 2 tea bags – but no cups and an empty fridge. The bathroom was clean and functional though. As we were checking out we noticed a brochure which displayed more respectable rooms in what was the older part of the hotel – we guessed that we must have been in the “new” section although you would never have guessed it. Communication was a big problem otherwise we would have requested another room immediately but I think it would have proved too challenging. There were four people on reception when we checked in and out and I’m not sure why but it took all of them to do it both times. At the time we thought that we were very lucky not to have been arriving or leaving during a rush period or it might have taken hours – as it was it still took longer than normal with only one person looking after you. We were sightseeing around the city for the 2 full days and half the night we were there (you have to see the ice sculpture displays at night – spectacular!) so all things considered it was a warm room in what is an extremely cold place. Harbin is well worth the visit for this festival alone but research your accommodation well.