Welcome to the Leo Hostel!

We are a new hostel, opened in 2005, with western and Chinese management.

Our hostel is designed just for budget travellers and back-packers, and we offer the best location, cheap beds, great tours, and great service. Please read below for more details...

Best location: We are the most central hostel in Beijing, only 5-10 minutes walk from Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Qianmen bus & subway center. There is no problem taking transportation to anywhere you want to go in Beijing. Please see our map and compare our location carefully with the other hostels.

Cheap beds: We offer the best value international hostel rooms and dorm beds in the area. We have a wide range of accommodation types to suit all levels of budget. Further discounts can also be offered to long-term guests.

Great tours: We have a wide selection of great tours, including the Great Wall, Acrobatics, Kung Fu, & Beijing Opera, and also some special Leo Hostel tours, like our very popular Secret Great Wall tour, where you will be the only ones on the wall.

Great service: We are a very friendly, family-run hostel, with helpful, English-speaking staff. We also have western management, and so we know how to make our customers feel at home.

We have many *free* services & facilities, not offered by most other hostels...

- Free internet (including a spare connection for lap-tops)
- Free luggage storage, long & short term
- Free local area map, showing banks, post offices, supermarkets, bus stops, subways, and everything else you need to know
- Free Beijing information magazines - letting you know what's happening around Beijing right now
- Free Chinese language guide - made by us to help you speak a little Chinese during your stay, and our staff can help you practice.
- Free bar street map, made by us to help you find Beijing's cheaper/alternative bar scene, hidden off the main bar street.
- Free pool / billiards table, darts board, guitar, & many other fun bar games
- Free Playstation 2 with latest games

Facilities & Services...

- Large DVD bar & restaurant, with western & Chinese food menu and a wide selection of movie and music DVDs.
- Laundry service
- Bike hire service
- CD burning
- Book exchange/sale, some *new edition* Lonely Planet China books available.
- Plane & train ticket-booking service, and advice on getting to international destinations, such as Mongolia, Hong Kong, Tibet and Vietnam.
- Security lockers, big enough for cameras and lap-tops.
- International telephone call facilities
- Forward hostel booking service for other popular hostels in China (and we also can arrange for them to pick you up direct fom the station)
- Airport pick up and transfer

More Details...

We have a prized location inside the Da Zha Lan hutong market streets, which are the most famous in Beijing, with centuries of history. The Da Zha Lan markets are filled with bustling character, with interesting shops, restaurants and stalls, leading right up to Tiananmen Square itself.

The Leo Hostel 2 is a traditional Chinese hutong hostel, beautifully decorated with traditional furniture and fittings. As an escape from the busy market streets outside, inside the hostel are several peaceful, green seating areas, where you can relax with a good book or quietly socialise with friends. Art and calligraphy exhibitions are placed throughout the hostel, and you can watch our in-house artist paint new works every day, or even take one of his kung fu / tai qi classes!

We are the most convenient hostel for transportation links. As we are so close to Tiananmen Square and the Qianmen subway & bus center, there is no problem taking transportation to anywhere you want to go, including the train station and airport shuttle bus terminals. We can provide you with our free Leo Hostel bus and subway map when you arrive. Many tourist sites are also within walking distance, such as Tiananemen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Mao Mausaleum, Bei Hai Park, Liulichang Art/Culture Street, and many more...

Along with the normal Beijing tours, we also have some special Leo Hostel tours. Our 'Secret Wall' tour is very popular. You will be the only ones there and you will see the Wall in its most natural form, without cable-cars or people selling T-shirts! You'll also have the chance to meet a local village family for a delicious home-cooked meal. We also offer special Leo Hostel tours to Beijing beauty spots, where you can climb mountains, drift through natural gorges, go horse-riding, and try bungee jumping. And if you want to make your own private tour, we can arrange transportation for you.

Customer Comments...

Here are a few of the latest positive comments from our satisfied customers:

30th March 2006: Awesome hostel! The staff all speak English and are so helpful. There is a great communal area with dvds, plus free internet and pool! Rooms are good too. They organise some great tours also. Just a great, friendly, cheap place!

16th March 2006: I found Leo hostel to be a great, friendly place. Fantastic location, great service, very helpful and informed staff. Very clean environment. Great friendly atmosphere in the bar. A travellers oasis in the heart of Beijing.

17th March 2006: A great central place to find your feet in Beijing and explore the centre of the most populous county's capital. Great social bar with cheap ass Banjui rice wine to kick the engine into gear. Good tours, helpful and friendly staff and jsut a superb location to walk to Tianamen Sq, Forbidden city and the likes. Outgoing, like minded, social travellers will lovethe atmosphere and especially the helpful bar map of Sanlitun bar area. In all honesty, a great place with something for everyone. Go there and have a Tsingtao beer with Simon the pom (why? cos simon says so!) (hostels.com)

Please read the ratings section to see what our other satisfied guests have said about our hostel!

ABOUT LEO...

Leo (Liu Yue Lai) has worked for over 10 years in Tourist Information & hostel management. He is now very proud to welcome his old friends and new guests to his very own, family-run hostel.

Helping Leo co-manage the hostel is Leo's western friend (UK), who has been living and working in Beijing for over 3 years now. As well as providing general tourist and travel advice, he can also give advice to anyone who wants to live, work, or study in Beijing.

For more information, please contact us.

We look forward to seeing you very soon!

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