China’s chic hotels

We’re excited. We love a bit of one-upmanship, and when it comes to hotels, no one does it better than China – particularly when it’s competing with itself. What’s not to like when it means that hotel standards are skyrocketing? There are some fantastically swish, ambitiously designed hotels cropping up – each seemingly more chic than the last.

We love the Intercontinental in Hong Kong for its super views, and you can’t beat the LKF Hotel’s hip location (in Lan Kwai Fong). One of our favourites is the new W Hotel. It’s a skyscraper of splendour in down and dirty west Kowloon, and it’s so hot it hurts. It has sizzling restaurants, sensual lounges and a jaw-droppingly sexy pool 700 feet above street level. We’ve been swooning over this newest addition to the W chain since its recent launch. That is until we got distracted by Shanghai’s new Park Hyatt.

The buzz about this hotel has been pretty electric. With the help of computer graphics we were kept tantalised by its superimposed image – an architectural innovation towering over Shanghai – making it an icon before construction even began. Commandeering the top 36 stories of Shanghai’s cloud-skimming Jin Mao Tower, you can literally sightsee from your king-size bed in the world’s highest hotel room.

Looking forward, the big news for Chinese hotels is the new Aman in Beijing, which is going to be Aman’s first foray into China. It'll be part of the Summer Palace complex and is going to be THE hot opening for 2009. We’re also looking forward to checking out the new Mandarin Oriental and Banyan Tree launching on Hainan Island. Back in Hong Kong, the city’s grand old dame, The Ritz Carlton, is set for a mother of a makeover when she decamps from downtown to Kowloon. We’re not sure how we feel about this one. There was something familiar about the elegantly petite Ritz as she stood, dwarfed by the younger, flashier hotels dominating the skyline. Chances are, though, we’ll be won over by her glitzy reincarnation when she opens her doors in 2010.

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