I loved this hotel. It's 3 min walk to Forbidden city and 5 min walk to the main shopping street.
The room was spacious and very modern and clean. Staff was friendly and helpfull.
The hotel is not big, boutique. Hightly recommend it to everyone.
You can book directly, remember to negotiate the price!

My experience with the Days Inn Forbidden City was excellent. I stayed there while on a trip in February, and highly recommend it if you're looking for a reasonably priced hotel with decent amenities in a great location. I arrived late at night after a delayed flight, but the cab driver did not have any problem at all finding the hotel, and I did not have any problems checking in. Do be sure to print out the address in Chinese characters before leaving, as most cab drivers do not speak English. You can copy and paste it from the Chinese version of the website. Many of the hotel staff also did not speak much English, but there was always one person at the front desk who was proficient, so it was never really a problem for me.
This hotel is far from luxurious, but was clean, comfortable, had free high-speed internet, and is in a fabulous location -- walking distance to most major tourist attractions. The staff are also very helpful -- they called a cab to come take me back to the airport when I was leaving, and helped me with daily itineraries and booking a trip to the Great Wall. My only complaints are as follows:
1. The hotel seemed to be under construction while I was there, which caused a lot of noise, dust, etc. Not a huge deal but kind of annoying.
2. I booked a trip to the Great Wall through them, and decided on the cheapest option -- a small group tour which was about $25 for the full day and included lunch. They told me it would not include the tourist trap diversions my guide book warned me about , side trips to a jade factory and a "traditional Chinese medicine" demonstration -- scams, essentially. But, it did. This was frustrating as it detracted from the experience of the Great Wall, and if I had known we would be taken to these places, I would have chosen a different option. I wish that the Days Inn worked with a more legitimate tour agency. But that is my only major complaint and would still recommend that people stay here -- just not use them when booking tours!

I cannot imagine a better hotel for the money in Beijing. First off, if you're from the States, don't think of this as a typical Days Inn. It's much more like a stylish boutique hotel.

PRICE - Excellent. It's not a five star hotel, but you're also not paying 5-star (or even 4-star) prices. Great deal for the money.

LOCATION - Perfect! Right smack in the middle of everything, on a quiet street, right next to a nice hutong. Walking distance to the Forbidden City, night food market and shopping street. Arguably a better location than the expensive 5-stars.

ROOM - Small, but it's Asia. There were some slight stains on the carpet, but I wasn't rolling around on it. The bed is hard, but I haven't found a bed in China that's not. Modern amenities.

BREAKFAST BUFFET - Excellent.

SERVICE - Here's where this hotel skyrockets in quality. The service was absolutely fantastic. Almost everybody at the front desk can speak English fairly well. Everybody is very nice and well-trained in hospitality. They also go above and beyond the standard services. Here's a perfect example of how great the service in this hotel is: Moments before I left for my trip to China, my laptop unexpectedly crashed and went into a coma (thank you, Microsoft Vista). Since I was on business, it was crucial that I brought my laptop, and I needed to get it up and running. The IT Manager, and Ricky (the assistant manager) spent hours of their time helping me, and ultimately helped to solve the problem. When was the last time you heard of a Days Inn even having an IT Manager?

Excellent experience, and the only hotel I will stay at in Beijing.

I stayed there over a week in May 2008. Great location, just a few minutes walk to the Tiananman Square or to the famous shopping area - Wangfunjing Street in oposite direction. It is located next to the Forbidden City side gates. Wanderful park paths just for nice walk directly to the Forbidden City main entrance.
The English-speaking stuff is nice and helpful. You can let them organise visits to the most famous places in Beijing and around it.
The air conditioned rooms are clean and comfortable with reasonably big bathrooms.
You can expect avarege breakfast with some Chinese and Continetal food.
Huge advantage of the hotel is free WiFi Internet access!
Pros:
- Great location
- English speaking stuff
- free WiFi Internet access
Cons:
- Breakfast and restaurant food could be better (limited food assortment)