City's districts add flavour to events

EMBASSY DISTRICT
Beijing has several new hotels opening in time for the Olympic Games, while several older hotels have undergone refurbishment to prepare for the influx of visitors.

Within Chaoyang district, the eastern CBD area that is home to the city’s embassies and diplomatic compounds, the 258-room St. Regis Beijing, is reopening in June after a six-month-long refurbishment. The 15 meeting rooms here include a ballroom big enough for 250 delegates. The hotel’s highly experienced outside catering team has handled events at historical sites such as the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People.

By the end of June, Gloria Plaza Hotel Beijing should have completed the refurbishment of all its 420 rooms. The centrally located hotel has four function rooms and can also host events at its Sports City Café, which can hold up to 280 guests.

Hotel Kunlunwas renovated two years ago and recently hosted the Johnson & Johnson Global Olympic Forum and the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress for 350 delegates. The 661-room hotel has 20 function rooms with a top capacity of 600 people, and 12 F&B outlets, including a revolving restaurant on the 29th floor.

FINANCIAL STREET
In the city’s west, about 20 minutes from Tiananmen Square, Financial Street – Beijing’s version of Wall Street – is home to the 486-room Westin Beijing, Financial Street, located next to a conference centre with 1,180 sqm of meeting space. The hotel’s meeting facilities – five function rooms and a ballroom with a capacity of 600 people – are popular with technology and financial
companies such as Motorola, Citigroup and Bank of China. Nearby, the InterContinental
Beijing Financial Street has 332 guestrooms over 25 floors, complemented by six meeting
rooms, the biggest seating up to 280 people.

NEW HOTELS
Sofitel Wanda Beijing is the brand’s flagship property, built to China’s platinum five-star standard. Hand-painted wall friezes, exquisite high ceilings and exquisite chandeliers add to the exclusive feel within the 417-room hotel.

Sofitel Wanda also features LeSpa, the first time the brand’s exclusive spa offering has been made in China; and French fine dining restaurant Le Pré Lenôtre. The ten meeting rooms here include a ballroom for up to 1,200 and all are located on the same floor.

Opened late last year, the 588-room JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and the 309-room Ritz-Carlton, Beijing are in the same complex, China Central Place. The JW Marriott has six meeting rooms including a ballroom for 1,200 people, while the Ritz-Carlton has a ballroom with a capacity of 550 people. Of note is The Spa, a facility sprawling over 2,500 sqm on the top floor. Both hotels are
already fully booked for the Olympic Games.

The first Park Hyatt in China is located opposite the China World Trade Centre and has 237 rooms. It features a car elevator to its third-floor ballroom, which can hold up to 1,200 people. The other meeting suites with a view are on level 61 and 62 – among the highest in the city.

The Westin Beijing, Chaoyang features 565 rooms and is next door to the metro line that links travellers to the Capital International Airport, and is within the same complex that also houses luxury retailers.

The hotel, which opened in June, is slated to host a number of celebrities and foreign dignitaries during the Games. For events, the Jinmao Ballroom can accommodate up to 450 delegates.

DONGCHENG DISTRICT
In the Wangfujing area, the opulent Legendale Hotel Beijing is easily recognisable as the only neo-classical style building in the neighbourhood. It features 390 rooms, with antique furniture and fixings imported from Europe, and is one of two official VIP hotels for the Olympic Games.
For events, there are five function rooms in addition to a ballroom which can hold 650 people.

Around the corner from the Legendale, the 500-room Regent Beijing is one of the most beautiful hotels in the city. For conference or incentive groups, there is a separate entrance to the hotel and the restaurants have all been designed to offer spaces that can be partitioned. For bigger events, the ballroom can hold up to 420 guests and there is a beautiful garden space for outdoor cocktail parties.

OTHER DISTRICTS
In the northeast of the city, the Crowne Plaza Hotel Sun Palace Beijing opened earlier this year opposite the Olympic Green. Event planners have a choice of 15 function rooms including two ballrooms with a maximum capacity of 800 guests.

OPENING SOON
Opening soon in July in Haidian District, Beijing’s Silicon Valley, Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian offers 355 rooms as well as 177 serviced apartments. The largest of the eight meeting spaces can seat 700 people.

In Chaoyang District, the Mandarin Oriental Beijing within the stunning China Central Television Headquarters is set to be a hotel of superlatives when it opens in August. Designed to wow, the brand’s flagship property will have 241 rooms, a sunken circular ballroom and 14 other
function rooms.