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THE eye-popping Beijing experience begins the moment you touch down at the airport. Designed by Sir Norman Foster to resemble a coiling dragon, the new Terminal 3 has a floor area of a million square metres and took Rmb21 billion, 50,000 workers and four years to build. Bigger than the combined size of all the Heathrow terminals, it's just one of the many contemporary flights of fancy across the capital. Factor in the imposing monuments of earlier eras and you’ve got a city built to impress.
Beijing is an immense but neatly arranged metropolis. The ancient city was built on two axes, with concentric ring roads emanating from the Forbidden City. The modern city is largely following suit: the 760-hectare Olympic Green lies directly to the north of the Forbidden City, and a sixth ring road has just been completed. It all looks very straightforward on a map, but the traffic is choking so choose your hotel location carefully and allow plenty of travelling time.
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| Bullish in Beijing / photo: Verghese |
With all the 2008 Beijing Olympics hoopla, the Chinese capital has been gifted a number of gorgeous new hotels, with more international heavyweights expected – Park Hyatt in the lofty Yintai Centre; Mandarin Oriental, which is part of the astounding CCTV headquarters; plus the new Westin Beijing Chaoyang, and another InterContinental in the city’s north. The well-loved St Regis in the leafy diplomatic quarter will reappear after a complete overhaul in May, and even The Aman Beijing, a 43-room Amanresort is emerging mysteriously near the Summer Palace with a mid-year opening date.
Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, Swire's whimsy, 99-room small luxury hotel, The Opposite House opens July 2008. Emerald glass exteriors give way to minimalist interiors with ample stretch space and the soothing golden hues of American oakwood. There are 90 studios and 9 suites, many averaging 70sq m. Expect clean Zen lines, simple electricals with just do-all one button switching on the lights, and personalised service. In toilets, the deep soaking bathtubs are constructed entirely of wood and the stone is all the way from Turkey. The hotel is within "The Village at Sanlitun" entertainment and shopping complex, close by the bars between the second and third Ring Roads.
Close by in the Sanlitun area, at Hotel G Beijing (no relative of g hotel in Manila and Penang) things look positively great. In a whimsical departure, the room categories are Good, Great, Greater and Greatest. Take your pick. The smallest is 45sq m. Further whimsy permits guests to choose their own window "mood" lighting resulting in unpredictable, if lively, bursts of colour around the facade. The 110-room hotel offers chic interiors, marrying textures with minimalist design. The lobby is dressed in red sandstone with a pivotal column bedecked in stiched leather. The ensemble launches June 2008. And the Grand Millennium Beijing arrived April 2008 with 521 rooms, spa, indoor swimming pool, sauna, and butlers on the executive floors. On then with our Beijing guide and a look at some Beijing boutique hotels, budget digs, and business options..
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Arriving at Beijing Capital Airport
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| Hotel G Beijing / photo: hotel |
With the recent expansion, Beijing Capital Airport now consists of three terminals and six concourses. Terminal 3 (Concourses C-E). Domestic and international check-in, domestic departures and domestic and international baggage claim move to Concourse C, while international departures and arrivals are at Concourse E.
Airport buses run from Xidan, Beijing Railway Station, Gongzhufen, Fangzhuang, Zhongguancun and Wangjing to Terminal 3, with shuttles between the terminals. Personal vehicles and taxis should take the new Airport Southern Line exit from the Airport Expressway. Check the airport website (http://en.bcia.com.cn) for updates.
As you exit the airport, ignore the taxi touts and jump in an authorised cab (the meter starts at Rmb12 and goes up in Rmb2 increments per kilometre after three kilometres) for the 45-minute or so trip downtown. There is no English spoken so make sure to have your hotel’s address in Chinese characters at hand, or better still dial the hotel phone number and have them direct your driver in Chinese. There is an extra Rmb10 charge for the Airport Expressway toll.
Central Beijing business hotels
Beijing business hotels span all genres and styles. Let’s start with a Beijing grand dame. The present-day Raffles Beijing Hotel on stately Chang’an Avenue close to Tiananmen Square is the capital’s oldest hotel and something of a Beijing institution. When the Beaux Arts-style building opened in 1917, it boasted the city’s first private baths with flush toilets, and telephones in each room. Despite now being sandwiched between more dour wings of the greater Beijing Hotel, a US$12 million renovation by Raffles Hotels & Resorts in 2006 has revived the nostalgia and romance of the hotel’s early 20th-century heyday, complete with Venetian chandeliers, marble staircases and Persian carpets. The 171 guestrooms blend French whimsy and Chinoisserie while discreetly integrating modern toys for today’s travel elite, including flat screen TVs in gilt gold frames, free WiFi and a 24-hour on call valet for every guest. We particularly like the nine Personality Suites, dedicated to luminaries associated with the hotel – from Deng Xiao Ping to Charles de Gaulle (who forged bilateral diplomatic ties between China and France here in 1964).
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| Grand Hyatt Grand Room/ photo: hotel |
Behind the original building, a skylit atrium connects a ‘90s tower, which now houses 77 Raffles Inc Executive Rooms, with access to a sleek executive lounge, gym and indoor swimming pool. Signature French restaurant Jaan seats just 40 beneath vaulted arches and right next to the original 1926 sprung wooden dance floor. La Vie serves classic high tea on silver tiered stands, while the distinguished Writer’s Bar offers comfy leather armchairs and ‘Beijing Sling’ cocktails – adapted from its Singapore parent’s famous recipe.
Just across the pedestrianised Wangfujing, the Grand Hyatt occupies an enviable location above the popular Oriental Plaza shopping mall, which has a handy basement supermarket. Standard rooms are sleek, if somewhat small, while the higher rooms offer views over the winged rooftops of the Forbidden City. The real show-stopper here is the flamboyant Club Oasis with a 24-hour gymnasium, massage facilities, solarium and an astounding lagoon pool surrounded by stone columns, waterfalls, luxuriant foliage and a synchronised virtual sky. The sexy Made in China restaurant serves up some of the best Peking duck in the capital from its wood-fired oven. This is one of the best Beijing business hotel addresses in town.
Sitting just off Wangfujing behind a traditional painted gate, the wing-roofed The Peninsula Beijing offers emperor-worthy accommodation. Originally opened in 1989, and with a US$35 million renovation in 2006, the Peninsula may not look quite as cutting edge as it contemporaries, but it does offer superior service and classic corporate comforts. Road warriors will appreciate the directional hints in the guestrooms – push/pull engravings on the shower door, pre-set mood lighting, bedside master switches – making you feel instantly at home in the surrounds. There’s also 42-inch plasma screens, MP3 docks, free WiFi, delicious Davi bath products, DVD with complimentary movies in each room and a luxury shopping arcade including the likes of Harry Winston, Louis Vuitton, BVLGARI, and Dior. An ESPA arrives in May 2008. The Peninsula Academy can take you to the ‘Wild’ Wall, the National Acrobatics Academy or a Beijing furniture restoration factory in your leisure time.
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| The Peninsula / photo: Verghese |
China’s prolific budget chain, Motel 168, is expanding in the capital and has nabbed a prime location opposite the Peninsula near Wangfujing. Branded as a Motel 268, the 256-room property offers basic rooms starting from, you guessed it, Rmb268. Double-storey Family Rooms come with two bathrooms and an extra pull-out bed for Rmb538.
On the other side of the Peninsula, the Regent was built in 2007 and smacks of contemporary urban class. The design by Hirsch Bedner Associates delights with clean lines, glass lifts and pretty splashes of violet, but also integrates ornate traditional carvings from the owner’s sandalwood museum. Café 99 hosts one of Beijing’s best Sunday brunches, or you can tuck into prime steaks on leather club chairs at the Bar & Grill. All 500 rooms come with plasma TVs, DVDs, floor-to-ceiling windows, coffee presses and lemongrass-infused bath products. It’s worth, however, paying extra for access to the Executive Club nestled at the top of the hotel – its soaring windows offer dazzling views of the Forbidden City at sunset. Why have a souvenir store in the lobby when you can have a Rolls Royce dealership? If you are not in the market for a Rolls, there are Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati showrooms next door. A Southeast Asian spa, light-bathed gym, and heated swimming pool with ‘floating’ pool tables and a bar round out the excellent facilities. The affiliated four-star Park Plaza adjoins the hotel.
A little further along Wangfujing, past the cathedral, the 15-year-old Crowne Plaza’s freshly renovated look belies its mid-range rates. Its 360 cheery rooms feature fashionable carpets, small flat-screen TVs, and frosted glass bathrooms. A soaring lobby is home to the comfortable Atrium Lounge and Champagne Bar.
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| Financial Street area / photo: Verghese |
Past the infamous Donghuamen Food Market and into a quiet neighbourhood behind the Forbidden City, Kapok Hotel wraps its distinctive milky-green latticed frame around a five-storey former government building. Designed by influential local architect Zhu Pei, the 89-room hotel flips the traditional hutong concept on its ear – re-working the system of courtyards and public spaces in the vertical for the modern-day traveller. Glass corridors wrap around a central courtyard leading to the 27 suites and 62 standard rooms, some with private pebble courtyards. Rooms feature small flat screen TVs, gingko print wallpapers, and spacious glass bathrooms. The Kapok suites are a luxurious 106sq m with an enormous circular soaking tub. Unfortunately the TV doesn’t grow with the room size however, and you may find yourself straining to watch the screen from the modular chaise lounges. A nice setting to be sure, but unfortunately Kapok suffers from a lacklustre management that will largely leave you to fend for yourself.
Beijing’s traditional courtyard residences are well suited to being redeveloped as boutique residences. Several enterprising owners have created small inns – though the results tend to be more homely than hip. Hotel Cote Cour SL is a delightful exception. This 14-room gem set around a 500-year-old courtyard mixes traditional Chinese charm and contemporary chic, and comes with flat screen TVs, free Wi-Fi and a swanky lounge where the chef cooks up whatever is fresh from the market that day. Though not as spacious as the Suites, the Deluxe Superior (number 203) is the room to book, with higher ceilings and bustling street views. For boutique on a budget, try Guxiang 20 housed along trendy Nanluoguxiang Hutong. Rooms here start from Rmb500, ranging up to Rmb1,280 for its three spacious suites, all of which come with big wooden patios overlooking the hotel’s rooftop tennis court.
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| Shangri-La's Kerry Centre/ photo: hotel |
Beijing business hotels to the East
Shangri-La manages four Beijing properties, most of which lie within spitting distance in the eastern Chaoyang district. The 487-room Kerry Centre hotel forms part of an office, residential and retail complex. Its rooms appear somewhat dated, but sports nuts will appreciate the comprehensive fitness facilities, including indoor swimming pool, indoor tennis and squash courts, a full-size basketball court, and an abundance of weight training and cardiovascular equipment.
Plush Centro is one of Beijing’s hippest lounges with well-mixed cocktails, live music and a glittery clientele. Guests at the Kerry Centre hotel also get substantial discounts at the neighbouring Kerry Mall.
The 716-room China World, a favourite of government folk, is about as ‘Imperial Beijing’ as it gets – all lacquered red columns, Ming vase lamps and carved staircases. Things tone down in the guestrooms decorated in comfortable neutrals with Broadband Internet access and flat screen TVs. Aria is a mod-European restaurant with a fine wine selection and live jazz. The fitness centre features a heated indoor swimming pool and an Oxygen Room, and there’s an extensive shopping mall in the basement. Shangri-La’s four-star Traders Hotel shares China World’s five-star fitness facilities and luxury shopping. Yet another hotel by the brand is slated to be moving into Beijing’s tallest building, the China World Trade Centre Tower III, currently under construction nearby.
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| Sofitel Wanda/ photo: hotel |
A fourth Shangri-La lies way out west, just past the Beijing Zoo. This pleasant garden hotel’s new 142-room Valley Wing is full of top-end delights like the sensational Blu Lobster restaurant, where Irish-born chef de cuisine Brian McKenna dreams up highly creative molecular gastronomy, and a 1,000sq m CHI Spa, dressed in rich, earthy chocolates and ochres, with teak sliding doors and traditional Tibetan artefacts. Ladies should try the 150-minute Empress Imperial Jade Journey, designed especially for CHI Beijing. Based on a year’s research of Empress Cixi’s beauty regimen, the treatment features a lotus milk bath, milk and honey wrap, and a pampering jade facial using golden caviar and a customised piece of jade to massage along the meridians.
Back in Chaoyang, Accor’s global Sofitel flagship is quite a surprise. The 417-room Sofitel Wanda Beijing anchors the mammoth Wanda Plaza integrated urban hub. Conjuring French art de vivre with classy Chinoisserie flourishes, the brand’s new luxury ambitions are evident in the seductive black and gold furnishings, hand-painted silk wallpapers, free Wi-Fi, 42-inch flat screen TVs and L’Occitane bath products. Suites come with magic bathroom windows that frost-over at the flick of a switch and toilets have a 27-inch TV screen as well. Le Pré Lenôtre is the first China outlet of this renowned French institution, while Le Spa features a range of massages, beauty and wellbeing therapies using Lancome products. The Sofitel Wanda is a Beijing business hotel with a difference and with 3,277sq m of meetings space it is no slouch when it comes to organising conferences or small corporate meetings. Ignore the unprepossessing exterior and wander into the bright lobby with its huge - and comfortable - choice of sitting areas scattered around like so many cosy living rooms. (Sofitel Wanda Beijing is showcased in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
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| The Ritz-Carlton Beijing/ photo: Verghese |
Another property that has opted for European-style intimacy over sweeping Forbidden City-esque grandeur is the Ritz Carlton Beijing, just down the road from the Sofitel. In fact, the Ritz Carlton has the smallest five-star lobby in Beijing, a wood-panelled parlour entered through bevelled glass doors that gives it a real residential feel. Its classic old-world elegance and top-drawer service all the way at this 305-room stunner decked with chandeliers, sconces, flocked wallpapers and silk armchairs; not forgetting the plasma TVs (in the room and bath) and iPod docks.
The Lobby Lounge is a great spot for classic high tea, while Executive Club guests get the run of a delightful lounge straight out of an English country manor, with five food and beverage presentations throughout the day and evening. There’s also a ritzy spa and even a wedding chapel. Cognoscenti in search of Beijing business hotels with style, luxury and understatement can simply plonk down here.
Right next door, the equally new JW Marriott opened by the same owners comes equipped with similar high-end conveniences, along with fascinating views over the neighbouring power station from back-facing rooms. The contemporary design is a bit bland, but we do like the Quan Spa, in sophisticated chocolate tones catering to male corporate guests. Both hotels are part of China Central Place with easy access to the excellent Shin Kong Place shopping centre. Service here is attentive and efficient with ready smiles.
Hilton is located in the northeast of the city at a convenient entry point to the Third Ring Road. The 13-year old hotel has a brand new executive tower. A more central Hilton on Wangfujing and a four-star Doubletree are also slated to open soon.
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| Westin Financial Street/ photo: hotel |
Not far away, the 17-year-old Swissotel opposite the Poly Theatre has recently completed a long renovation. TVs are of the boxy variety and the tub resembles a footbath, but other amenities are fresh and comfortable. They also offer free local calls, faxes and Broadband Internet on the executive levels, a Hong Kong International Medical Clinic, Bank of China and post office. This is an old timer that chugs on happily with a useful location for in-town calls or a quick airport getaway.
The Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Centre is a quite a mouthful but does offer a decent blend of business and leisure facilities with 526 rooms, a well stocked Executive Club Floor and lounge, seven restaurants, a wellness centre, heated rooftop pool and beauty salon. This is a hotel that also prides itself on its ability to manage meetings of various descriptions. Mark it down on your list of Beijing conference hotels. The Great Wall Sheraton was China’s first international five-star hotel when it opened in 1984 with its signature gleaming reflective glass facade. Years later its location still works to its advantage. There are 827 rooms with the obligatory Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed so dive in. If it’s meetings and conferences you’re after there’s over 1,700sq m of space to play with. The rooms have had a bright and contemporary makeover since first making their appearance.
The New World Courtyard is a mid-range property with easy access to shopping.
Beijing business hotels to the West
Skipping across town (easier said than done) to Financial Street: a new district along the western section of the Second Ring Road lined with over 300 financial institutions and three impressive hotels.
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| Ritz-Carlton Financial Street / photo: hotel |
Top of the pops is the Ritz Carlton Financial Street, a sparkling modern complement to the aforementioned Chaoyang property. Clean lines, sensual Sino design and cosy dimensions have won this 245-room hotel a slew of industry awards. Be sure to visit the moody pool with moulded marble Jacuzzi beds and a movie screen, as well as signature restaurant Cepe, one of the capital’s best mod Italians. For a spot of glitzy Beijing shopping just head next door to the giant Lane Crawford, Dior and Louis Vuitton. InterContinental Financial Street is extremely comfortable and corporate, though not quite as impressive as its newer neighbours. Its X-Change bar is a chilled spot for drinks and live music, while Steak Exchange serves mammoth cuts of Australian beef and oversized desserts straight out of Alice in Wonderland. I-Spa pampers with organic Jurlique products
Finally, Westin Financial Street is a massive twin-tower complex around a contemporary Zen garden housing 486 rooms and no less than seven restaurants (Senses does a big Sunday brunch). As per the brand’s new holistic approach, there’s a 2,094sqm Heavenly Spa, a 24-hour gym, heated pool with underwater music, nightly unwind rituals, bath butler and running concierge. The building complex additionally houses 205 residences and one of the largest ballrooms in town at 890sq m. The total meeting space at the Westin Financial Street is over 1,686sq m in various combinations. This is a useful choice as a Beijing conference hotel. Also watch for the opening later in 2008 of the Westin Beijing Chaoyang. Less fussy is the boutique-style Marriott Beijing West.
Other offbeat Beijing hotel choices
Correspondent Jon Cambell adds: “Small but elegant, off-the-beaten-track, but still conveniently located is the Red Capital Club Residence, owned and operated by the people behind the Red Capital Club, one of the city’s top dining destinations, which sits two blocks away. Home to a mere five suites swathed in the Red Capital Club’s commie-chic style, the converted courtyard is hidden in an alleyway near the Swissotel, and makes up in elegance what it lacks in space. A bomb shelter has been converted into one of the city’s best wine cellars.
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| InterContinental Financial St/ photo: hotel |
Outside of town, the same folks operate the Red Capital Ranch, more five-star luxury at the former site of a hunting lodge along a section of the Great Wall dating back to the Qin Dynasty (221BC). No health club. Lu Song Yuan used to be a stop on the backpacker circuit until renovations took things up a notch. The hotel, a series of traditional courtyards, is located in the hutongs near the Drama Academy, and the neighbourhood is perfect for wandering and getting lost. No health club. The Holiday Inn Lido may sound like an American roadside motel but, in Beijing, the Holiday Inn folks do things a little differently, though the hotel retains its all-American feel.” The Holiday Inn is on the way to the airport.
That’s the long and short of Beijing business hotels, budget finds, and Beijing conference hotel options. Take your pick. Don’t forget to have everything written down in Chinese remember it all boils down to location, location, location. Pick your spot wisely and beat the traffic jams.
Beijing shopping, dining, and fun stuff
We’ve crossed the length and breadth of the Chinese capital to bring you some must-do delights of ‘new Beijing’. Of all the excellent Beijing dining experiences, one dish stands out as good enough to bear the city’s name – Peking duck. These specially bred birds are hung and pumped with air to separate the thick skin from the meat, then brushed with molasses and roasted in a wood-fired oven until the all-important skin is crisp but juicy. After the bird is carved tableside, you dip the skin in a sweet, brown sauce and wrap it in a thin pancake along with leek and cucumber.
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| The Opposite House, Studio/ photo: hotel |
Try the cheap and cheerful Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant (11 Beixiangfeng, Zhengyi Lu, northeast of Qianmen, Dongcheng District, tel: 6705-5578) located in a tumbledown hutong residence, or more upscale (and slightly less greasy) Dadong (1-2/F, Nanxincang International Plaza, 22A Dongsishitiao, Dongcheng District, tel: 5169-0329). Reserve a table and order your duck in advance.
Great-grandfather Li was a steward in charge of Life Affairs for the Qing Dynasty Imperial court. He oversaw the running of notorious Empress Dowager Cixi’s household and collected secret royal recipes, which present-day generations of the family now cook for guests in their own humble home. Family Li’s is often booked weeks in advance, so reserve early (11 Yangfang Hutong, Deshengmennei Dajie, Xicheng District, tel: 6618-0107).
Singaporean celebrity chef Jereme Leung is regarded as a pioneer of contemporary Chinese haute cuisine. His Whampoa Club (Jia 23, Jinrong Dajie, Xicheng District, tel: 8808-8828), which occupies the last remaining heritage house on the shiny new Financial Street, is a study of taste, from the subterranean dining hall and enormous birdcage lights, to the menu of updated classics like tea smoked eggs with sevruga caviar, or beef with roasted pistachio and garlic inside a crispy edible basket.
For top-end tippling head to Face (26 Dongcaoyuan, Gongti Nanlu, Chaoyang District, tel: 6551 6788), a seductive Indo-Chinese bar in an old middle school with sophisticated cocktails, opium beds and a walled garden. More way-out is the Philippe Starck designed Lan (4/F, LG Twin Towers, 12B Jianguomen Waidajie, Chaoyang District, tel: 5109-6012). This kooky 5,000m2 South Beauty flagship comprises a dining room serving modern Sichuan cuisine, an oyster bar, chandelier-strung Mongolian yurts, and a DJ-driven lounge with eagle thrones.
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| Bird's Nest Stadium / photo: Verghese |
For something a little more low-key, you could always go to Bed (17 Zhangwang Hutong, Xicheng District, tel: 8400-1554). Hidden deep in a hutong behind the Drum Tower, drinkers at this chilled bar kick back in cushion-strewn antechambers listening to the DJ spin underground electro and house.
Live music aficionados congregate in the MAO Livehouse bunker (111 Gulou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District, tel: 6402-5080) which hosts a regular line-up of underground punk, indie, metal and rock bands. Meanwhile an eclectic mix of popular DJs spin the decks at new basement club White Rabbit (C2, Haoyunjie Jie, 29 Zaoying Lu, Chaoyang District, tel: 133 2112-3678).
Beijing shopping is rife with deals, if you know where to look. Bargain hungry shoppers can haggle to their hearts desire at the Silk Market (corner of Jianguomenwai Dajie and Dongdaqiao Lu) where over 1,700 stalls sell clothes accessories, trinkets and pearls, and the weekend antique market at Panjiayuan (Panjiayuan Qiao, Chaoyang District). For more unique finds, check out the boutiques along Nanguoluxiang Hutong (Xicheng District). Grifted at number 32 and Plastered t-shirts at number 61 sell funky Beijing-inspired gear by locally based graphic designers. Check out the contemporary Chinese art scene at 798 Art District (Dashanzi, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District). The 798 Warehouse, and international newcomers Ullens Center For Contemporary Art and Faurschou Gallery are especially recommended. Of course the usual designer brands are everywhere in hotel shopping arcades and larger malls. Expect everything from Dior and Louis Vuitton to BVLGARI, and an eye-catching Shanghai Tang (at the Grand Hyatt).
Adds Jon Campbell, "the China World Shopping Mall and the Peninsula Beijing Shopping Arcade are the Rolls Royces of shopping malls. Oriental Plaza (and its basement food court) is a good place to start a shopping jaunt up the department store-heavy Wangfujing, a pedestrian-only strip in the heart of town. Xidan has always been a hip neighbourhood, and LCX Times Square (Southeast corner of the subway stop/intersection Xidan) is the bling, well-behaved cousin to the street-styles of Xidan Shopping Centre’s seven floors of madness two blocks north."
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| Brick houses / photo: Verghese |
For more eye-popping stuff, Beijing’s latest architectural icons need to be seen to be believed. Start at the Olympic Green in the city’s north where the pale blue, bubble wrapped ‘Watercube’National Aquatics Centre sits calmly beside the strapping steel ‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium built by Herzog + de Meuron. Head towards Tiananmen Square to the futuristic translucent dome of French architect Paul Andreu’s National Grand Theatre. Finally, on the East Third Ring Road don’t miss the astounding new CCTV headquarters designed by OMA, whose two 40-storey, 60-degree-leaning towers twist to connect at the bottom and top.
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