Luxury hits new peaks
|
Telescopes in the higher floors bring out the child in any guests wanting to track planes landing and taking off at Beijing Airport. An infinity pool proves a relaxing swim and exercise while private rooms elevate personal dining to new levels of luxury. Provided to china daily |
The Shangri-La's latest flagship aims for greater heights at China World Tower in Beijing. Li Yue'an takes the grand tour.
The Shangri-La's Summit Wing luxury hotel has finally opened on the upper floors of Beijing's highest building, the 81-story China World Tower 3.
The hotel does not have a conventional lobby for guests check-in. Instead they get a personal welcome and get to 'check-in' in their own rooms.
The move is supposed to make guests feel like home-owners returning from a trip, according to Jiang Nan, the new hotel's assistant director of communications.
Spacious rooms ranging from 55 sq m to 296 sq m all have panoramic views of Beijing's central business district. Rooms on the higher floors are even equipped with high-end telescopes so guests can see planes landing and taking off from the airport on clear days.
The luxury extends to the bathroom. With a click of a button, a built-in television appears on the large bathroom mirrors.
More personal touches come with the daily turndown service. Little patisserie selections include exotic cakes and muffins and chocolate mints handmade by the chefs.
If you had mentioned a business meeting the previous day, you may also find a fortune cookie with a good luck message in it. All staff are involved in making guests feel totally at home.
"If a room cleaner finds out that a guest likes a particular snack or fruit, he or she is encouraged to contact the food and beverage department directly to record this and arrange personalized turndown surprises in the future," Jiang says.
Apart from the rooms, Shangri-La has seven floors in the tower to entertain its guests, including five ballrooms (one large enough for a 1,400 person banquet), a VIP lounge and a bridal room.
A health club with gym and heated swimming pool, a sauna house, a spa and an outdoor rooftop pine garden are other features.
The Shangri-La has authentic Japanese, Thai, Cantonese and European food for hungry lodgers.
Well-known Hong Kong high-end dining establishment Fook Lam Moon has opened a branch on the fourth floor, its first in northern China, but the gourmet dinner comes with hefty price tags, to the tune of about 2000 yuan per person.
Atmosphere Bar and the Lounge on the 80th floor are more affordable at roughly 250 yuan per diner. The Atmosphere Bar also offers an extensive collection of vintage cocktails and other alcohol while The Lounge specializes in premium Western coffee and Chinese tea.
On the 81st floor there is private dining. Guest sitting here can order food from any of the Summit Wing's restaurants and have it whisked up to their table.
(China Daily 08/22/2010 page16)
