My first impression of the outdoor front desk empty reception made me skeptical,I was early and waiting for a while. Thankfully I was helped by housekeeping using a translator app and she kindly called the manager who came in a few minutes. He took my passport information and checked me in early, he gave me info about food delivery and a car service he could provide, he walked me up the road and into building 4. He explained while in the elevator what floor I was on and where we were going. Very helpful. The door had a keypad and the hallway lights were on a motion sensor. The room was big, spacious, with a balcony, a washroom with a washing machine and a kitchenette with a fridge. He left and after having a look a around I noticed I didn't have towels. We communicated through wechat and after confirming with pictures that I didn't have towels he promptly came and gave me some. I had trouble figuring out if the fridge was working and he helped plug it in.
When I went into Gubei Watertown, I had to pay an entrance fee and then found out some interesting advantages to staying within the city walls.
The reviews I heard about the Gubei Watertown homestay seemed to be a little outdated, reviews mentioned a drone show but as of May 2026, drones are no longer allowed in Beijing. So no more drone show.
I also booked the "scenic view room" and all I saw were trees from the courtyard. I suggested to the manager that for the particular room that I was in, that he may want to change his advertisement to say courtyard view. Because it was very misleading and my expectations were that I would see the mountains or drone show or the Great Wall. But I was in a lower level floor and just saw leaves of trees.
The cost of my stay was such great value, I should have known it was too good to be true. Disappointed a bit, I eventually booked another hotel inside the watertown.
I did enjoy quiet, restful sleep in the hard bed a couple of nights before switching hotels.
I asked for food delivery the first night at 10pm and it was delivered promptly. The food was delicious, I barely ate all day after enjoying the Great Wall. I ordered again another day and it was again very delicious, and with a handsome delivery man haha.
Unfortunately the washing machine didn't work so I hand washed my clothes. I had asked the manager for laundry detergent, clothes hangers and a drying rack. And it was all nicely delivered. He was great at receiving my requests and finding no issues helping me.
Oh, one scary part of my stay was the hallway sensor light didn't work for me most of the time and I had to use my phone flashlight to find my door. The hallway light only came on once I found my keypad and touched it. I mentioned this to the manager and I hope they'll look into it next time especially if they have another solo female traveler.
Overall, service was top notch but other things had room for improvement. Really hard working manager and I'm thankful he helped me as much as possible.
