Beijing Riviera Villas

We lived in Beijing Riviera for 1.5 years and had a great time there. I have 4 kids and they always enjoyed it there. It is a very safe place, just maybe cars sometimes go a bit fast inside the compound.

For us, after knowing many of the other compounds where we had friends, we concluded that Beijing Riviera is the best of all.

The only issue may be that the utility costs are significantly higher than the other places.

It has a golf range across the street, two supermarkets very near as well as other stores, a gas station just around the corner and it is very close to the express way, so it is easy and fast to get in and out of there.

The admin office is very efficient and the club house is very good. The gym is fine and the showers are a bit simple, but ok.

The cafeteria is good, a bit slow sometimes but the food is good. The restaurant has a great tepanyaki and the other part of the restaurant has chinese food which is ok.

One of the best things there is that the streets are very wide, other compounds are very narrow and makes it dangerous and complicated for parking.

As per the neighbors we made many friends and had a good time. Everyone was very respectful and we never had a problem with a single neighbor.

Beijing Riviera is an extremely well equipped international community in a strategic location, adjacent to Sunnyi/Pinnacle Plaza with immediate access to major highways to airport & downtown. The Riviera Villas are located within a safe & secure gated/guarded facility with adequate amenities and now boasts a state of the art health club. Unfortunately, the location and amenities are provided at significant cost and are accompanied by several deficiencies which I'd suggest make Riviera a poor value. Many of the villas, especially the 3 story Type A & Type B, have an abundance of balconies which exaggerate the square footage as the space is practically uselesswith Beijing's poor air quality and temperature extremes. Beyond size for the money, the Riviera is notorious for calculating energy usage and utility charges on arbitrary basis; combine that with un-insulated exterier walls and single pane windows, monthly utility bills in the winter are often over $1000 (yes U.S. Dollars) even while occupants remain frigid. Tack on the occasional lost receipts and requests for repayments (keep your receipts!!), it gets really expensive to live here. Additionally, a number of the residences (including mine) came with recurring black mold from rising ground water, which service personnel typically remedied with a quick coating of paint or other superficial solution. My recommendation from interaction with numerous long timers in Beijing would be QuanFa across the street, where houses are much bigger and higher quality at a comparable price, with real heat and authentic billing practices. Still the same great location, not to mention use of the Riviera club!!

Beijing Riviera is a well managed complex with a lot of facilities.

Located at the outsite the 5th ring you can enjoy some country site still being near the city.

We lived in Beijing Riviera (phase 3) for 3 years, 1 year in a "D" type and 2 in a "A" type. We found it a very good place to live and quite convient to both downtown (airport express extrance is just outside the complex), and Pinnacle Plaza. Despite being an older complex the houses are in good condition, and Maple Place (the landlord) was professional and easy to deal with. There is excellent access to schools and plenty of places for pets including 2 dog parks.