It was a tough assignment but someone had to do it: stay in three of Beijing's five-star hotels over three weekends. Here's what you can expect if you decide to splash out and treat your better half to a night at one of the capital's premier hotels.
Raffles
Entering the foyer of the 171-room Raffles Beijing Hotel, situated within skipping distance of the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square, you half expect passing patrons to refer to each other as "old boy", or "old chap" and comment that they have been "jolly good" of late. Yep, this is a swank place that oozes British Colonial charm and it had me scouring the walls for stuffed animal heads and searching the closets for mustache combs and elephant guns. Checking in at the front desk, the concierge noted: "You both live in Beijing". Indeed we (myself and my lady friend) do live in the capital, although our smiles were met with a mixture of bemusement and slight suspicion. Why on earth would you fork out a King's Ransom to stay in a five-star hotel located in the city where you actually live?
Well, being a silly old romantic spendthrift with no conception of financial responsibility, getting a room priced at 1,700-plus yuan per night seemed like a swell idea at the time. I may be eating cornhusks for the next month but in the spirit of English stiff-upper-lip-ness, complaining about expenses is most ungallant.
Opulent with a capital "oh, my sweet Lord", our Executive Suite boasted a large marble bathroom, a separate sitting room and bedroom and even a card for a complimentary shoeshine. The two flat screen televisions featured more channels than Margaret Thatcher has hairs on her chin and the bed was big enough to sleep the Houston Rockets and their entire cheerleading team. A quick peruse through the room service menu proffered Bollinger (750 yuan) and platters of kalamata olives, pancetta and feta (200 yuan). Since we were letting Mr. American Express take care of the pesky account that was rising at the rate of knots, we decided to get both. "Smashing darling, what a splendid idea," I said to my lady friend who was getting jack of my faux aristocratic accent.
At East 33, one of several restaurants within the hotel, they were offering a seafood buffet that set us back 298 yuan per head. "Smashing darling, let's eat here, ha ha!" I said and booked a table for two. The buffet included lobster tail, prawns, scallops and grill. The meal price also included a non-stop flow of Chilean wine and so accordingly we made sure that "non-stop" meant just that. A swimming pool fill of Syrah, 19 lobsters, 5 cows and the Mediterranean basin's entire population of scallops later we were rolled out of East 33, into the refined quaffing quarters of the Writer's Bar. Here you can sip on the famed Singapore Sling, a cocktail invented by the barman Ngiam Tong Boon at the original Raffles Hotel in (funnily enough) Singapore.
As delicious a drink as the ol' Sling is, it doesn't taste so yummy with a 200-yuan cigar. I don't smoke, but then again the last time I spent this much money in a single day I drove something out of a showroom. "Smashing darling, let's suck on stogies," I said while ordering Johnnie Walker doubles at 200 yuan a pop.
Raffles Hotel, 33 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng District. 6526-3388
The Regent
If Raffles is updated colonial charm, The Regent is its younger, brasher rival. Most surfaces inside the hotel look shiny enough to eat eggs off but thankfully we did not have to test this theory as we had made reservations at one of The Regent's restaurants. Led to the elevator by smiling staff, the door to our Premium room swung open and while it wasn't the biggest room I had stayed in for this much dough (1,640 yuan per night), it was the use of the space that was impressive. Fit-out with the kind of furnishings that would not have been out of place in Gordon Gekko's office in Wall Street, the main sleeping area was smallish but elegant.
But the bathroom was a showstopper. The circumference of the showerhead was actually considerably bigger than a human head, and as for the bath, it was so deep you could store enough ice and beers in it to keep even the most hedonistic housewarming running for days. The bathroom had glass walls with a view to the sleeping area, which could be blocked out by electric blinds. I think I spent at least ten minutes flicking the switch making the blinds go up and down, up and down.
From the room service menu we ordered the lemon-marinated beef carpaccio and a frothy white-bean soup (85 yuan). A basket of bread came complimentary and after stuffing ourselves we surfed the flat screen televisions, which had all of the usual stations as well as two Western movies channels.
The hotel's Italian restaurant - Deccapo - gives you more than a few reasons to drool. With an aesthetic in keeping with the rest of the hotel's contemporary-minded interior, the eatery boasts a comprehensive booze list featuring Australian, Chilean, French and Italian wines. As for the solids on offer, entrees include a generous antipasti sampler (115 yuan) and roasted tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad with rocket leaves and balsamic reduction (85 yuan). A mains highlight is the pecorino and thyme-crusted rack of lamb with olive mash, artichokes and caramelized garlic jus (180 yuan), and as for pasta - the herb ravioli with spinach, pan-fried scallops and light garlic foam (95 yuan) should please those with a tolerance for rich fare. If you can fit in dessert, you'd be daft to pass up the iced latte macchiato with baby banana and Baileys cream (65 yuan). With rotund bellies we waddled back to our room and laid down on one of the most comfortable beds this side of Saturn.
At the in-house Serenity Spa we smelled the various oils available to be rubbed into our flesh by one of the masseuses. Upon choosing a fragrance, we were escorted to a large room with two beds, a generously-sized spa bath and a huge shower equipped with another one of those small-car-tire sized showerheads that was in our room. The masseuses were kind enough to ask how hard we would like to be kneaded and cracked, which was not an option I had been given at other establishments where the treatment was either too softy-softly or so forceful that the experience was akin with being stretched on a medieval rack.
Sunday brunch at the Regent is all about extravagance. Bottomless glasses of champagne, foie gras, lobster, a chocolate fountain, caviar, cocktails, mocktails and even a saxophone player who looks like a cast member of Melrose Place. Here, your 15th glass of bubbly may numb the pain when you have to part with 390-odd yuan-per-head for this deluxe buffet.
The Regent, 99 Jinbao Street, Dongcheng District. 1800-545-4000
The Kerry Centre
Many rock up to the Kerry Centre to enjoy a snifter at Centro, one of Beijing's more upmarket bars where they serve a mind-boggling array of alcoholic delights but charge like a wounded bull. To the right of the high-flyers' bar is the reception desk and from there we were taken to the mirrored lifts - in fact there are many reflective surfaces in the Kerry Centre, which is tops for vain guests but a trial for the more self-conscious. Our Horizon Club Suite was comparable in size to the suite at Raffles although there were no walls separating the lounging area from the football-field sized bed; it was just one hellava big room.
The bathroom, while generous in size, did not feature any oversized fittings like The Regent but it was all tastefully decorated with marble swirls and as for the cupboard space, it was more than ample. In fact, I could have quite easily fit every item of clothing I own in there and still had room for a vacuum cleaner. Also impressive was the inclusion of an iron and ironing board, items that you normally have to ask to be brought to the room. A range of cable channels were on offer, including HBO Movies, and the mini bar was stacked with enough cool beverages to quench the most oppressive of thirsts.
After a few flutes of Moet at Centro during Happy Hour (7pm to 8pm for those looking to spend conservatively) we adjourned to the Kerry Centre's, Coffee Garden restaurant. Gaudy dcor aside, the menu offered honest bistro fare and an ample wine list. A bottle of D'Arenberg red blend Stump Jump proved a nice drop while the mains, the Grilled Australian Beef Rib Eye (280 yuan) and Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Ravioli (105 yuan) were solid without being remarkable. Still, both servings were generous, leaving little room for the desserts selection, which includes a White Chocolate Creme Brulee (49 yuan). Those in search of midnight, or even 5am snacks, will be happy to know that room service is 24 hours. We can recommend the beef burger - it's a gastronomical challenge that's almost as large as the showerhead at The Regent.
With an extended checkout till 2pm, we sauntered down to the Horizon Club buffet (complimentary with the 2,588-yuan per night Horizon Club Suite Package) on the level below. Among the treats on offer were the usual suspects like bacon, eggs cooked on demand, hash browns, cereals as well as pastries, fruits, juices and endless coffees from a self-serve machine. If you're up for some rigorous physical activity to work off the piles of bacon you've just gorged, the Kerry Centre's sports wing offers a full-sized tennis court, basketball facilities and a swimming pool. Should you put something out of joint stretching for a volley you can get a massage within the same complex.
The Kerry Centre, 1 Guanghua Road, Chaoyang District. 6561-8833
(China Daily 08/02/2007 page4)
