When is a café not a café? When it suddenly decides it will become a hotel. That's what's about to happen to London landmark the Café Royal which is going to become a new luxury hotel ... we're not sure what it'll be called yet, so for now we're dubbing it (very logically) the Café Royal Hotel.
On Regent Street in the heart of a glamorous part of London, the new hotel will have 160 rooms and is planned to be ready in time for the 2012 Olympics, with speculation already building that VIPs like the International Olympic Committee could stay there.
The Café Royal has an impressive history, dating back to the 1860s, and apparently Oscar Wilde used to be a regular guest in their Grill Room. The new version is part of a 125-year lease of the building for £90 million (US$165m)--without knowing how much the renovation will cost, we're already a little scared of the room rates.
Ever wonder what all those journalists are doing over in Beijing while they're covering the Olympics? No? Well, we did. And it turns out: they're all chillin' at the InterContinental Hotel, which is attached to the Olympic Main Press Center.
Our hub is the Main Press Center, which is effectively its own city. It has a bank, post office, general store, merchandise store, barber shop, cafeteria, transportation desk, exercise room, lockers, showers and library.
It is attached to the Intercontinental Hotel, and an easy path to the venues is through the pristine lobby.
So, like, every journalist covering the Olympics is just walking through the lobby of the hotel? Surely with those long hours covering even the boring stuff like trap shooting or badminton, all those reporters are in sunshine-y moods. Party time at the Intercontinental.
If you're still scoping out places to stay in Beijing for the Olympics, consider booking one of the 1,312 rooms at the massive, just-opened Marriott Beijing City Wall for a sweet opening rate of around $131 USD.
The hotel also joins the ranks of brand-spanking-new "mainstream" hotels that have opened as of late (or even received a refurbishment) in Beijing--just in time for the Olympics. We've mapped out a few of them for you here.
Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in. Now, we present you with reader P's review of the Raffles Hotel in Beijing. Enjoy.
With the Olympics fast approaching, Beijing is changing by the minute. There has been an enormous amount of development during recent years leading up to next week's games.
Nearly every major luxury hotel chain has an option in this bustling Chinese city - Peninsula, Grand Hyatt, Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental, St. Regis and so on.
On a recent visit to the city, we opted to stay at the newly opened Raffles Beijing Hotel.
Beijing is opening new hotels left and right just before the Olympics begin and you can now add Doubletree to the list of major hotel chains with vacancy in the host city.
The Doubletree by Hilton Beijing is an upscale, 547-room hotel located between the city's Central Office District and prestigious Financial District along the Southwest 2nd Ring Road in the new Lar Valley International mixed-use business complex.
The hotel is centrally situated within 10 km/6 mi of the historic Dong Cheng District and Tian'anmen Square, the red-walled Forbidden City and Imperial Palace, Beijing Zoo, Panjia Yuan Antique Market and the Temple of Heaven.
Oooooo...you had us at "upscale" so what does that mean for a Doubletree? Well the guestrooms feature contemporary decor (aka boring), high-speed internet and flat screen TVs along with the Sweet Dreams(TM) by Doubletree sleep experience which includes high-quality sheets and lots o' pillows.
The hotel cater will cater mostly to business travelers but does have a Chinese restaurant and they are still at work on a rooftop garden "featuring trees from around the world and a stream that presents a green oasis in the heart of the city."
Oh yeah, and the signature Doubletree Cookie will be served here too.
For a limited time, the Doubletree is celebrating RMB868 per night, about $127USD a night, plus 15 percent service. Advance booking and deposit are required.
Soon the citizens of Beijing might be able to smell the Four Points signature apple pie scents wafting through their very own Four Points Hotel. The hotel is set for opening on August 1, just in time for the Olympics.
Unlike other Four Points near airports in America, this one seems to be in the midst of all that is "happening" in Beijing:
Our hotel is located in the heart of Beijing’s technology district – Haidian District – a short drive from major government and business organizations, research centers, Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, and universities. The Summer Palace, the Great Wall of China, and the Olympic Stadium “Bird’s Nest”, among other popular sightseeing attractions, are all within easy access.
The hotel also has three restaurants--a 24-hour cafe, an Italian restaurant and a Chinese restaurant--along with an indoor pool. And is it just us or does that building look like Aloft?
Just in time for the 2008 Olympics, The St. Regis Beijing has reopened after dropping $27 million big ones into a seven and a half-month, top-to-bottom restoration and renovation of their hotel. From the official press release:
Overlooking the property's tranquil gardens, the upgraded guest rooms and suites feature extraordinary furnishing including cherry wood armoires, Chinese silk upholstery, fine European tableware, flat-panel LCD televisions and spacious work desks. In addition, WiFi service is available to all guests, throughout the hotel.
The St. Regis Beijing is located in the city's diplomatic district, near Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The hotel has one of the city's best Italian restaurant, Danieli's, as well as The St. Regis Spa & Club. Topping off the services, each guest will be able to take advantage of the St. Regis Butler Service.
Of course, you'll have to pay for that WiFi service. This is a St. Regis afterall. Nothing is for free.
We couldn't find anything open in the second week of August but if you are interested in visiting Beijing during the games, Starwood is directing guests to this site to leave their hotel stay requests.
If you're in the process of psyching yourself up to jet to Beijing for the Olympics (brave soul, you are), maybe you should think about checking yourself into a boutique-y oasis to ensure you'll have a bit of reprieve from the craziness.
And it doesn't get much more boutique-y than the 14-room Hotel Cote Cour S.L. in Beijing's historically-protected hutong area.
The decor of the place -- which was originally a "courtyard mansion" -- is done in sort of an "East meets West" creative fusion: bright colors, modern finishes with traditional Chinese pieces mixed throughout.
Admittedly, the pictures on the website seemed a bit too good to be true, so we checked out some customer reviews. Surprisingly, guests seem to have nothing but good things to say about the place.
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by amandak
