A viewing of Beijing’s Pangu Hotel
Just near Olympic Park you will find Beijing’s self proclaimed 7 star hotel. The hotel is located up the top of one of Beijing’s buildings that is shaped like a dragon’s tail. The hotel was supposed to be open for the 2008 Beijing Olympics but I was told that it was not ready in time. Not sure if this is 100% correct. Rooms have views over Olympic Park where you can see the Bird’s Nest and the Water Park.
My friend knew one of the senior hotel staff so one day we were given a tour of the hotel and a couple of the suites. One word…’amazing’.
The entry foyer is absolutely huge with gold, marble and original Chinese paintings…we started off with a buffet lunch which was incredible; although not a huge amount of vegetarian options but so much seafood and meat – all displayed beautifully. There were noodles and jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) that were vegetarian so I had those. And the desserts were incredible…and so many of them.
(this photo from http://www.tripadvisor.com)
The hotel boasts an architectural approach that combines the oriental architectural spirits and the western architectural techniques and the interior design by Mr. Richardo Bello Dias, a world-class Italian designer, demonstrating a perfect blend of western architectural style and traditional Chinese decoration elements. (source: Pangu 7 star website – http://www.pangu.com)
We were given a tour of a private floor which contained a courtyard type set up [four rooms with a courtyard area in the middle and all rooms opening up onto the courtyard]. I have never seen anything like this before [ever] – as it was so incredibly opulent with genuine Ming Dynasty vases and Chinese artefacts including Chinese hand made embroidered wall hangings and genuine Chinese wooden furniture…all worth millions of dollars. The rooms were very old style Chinese and the Chinese paintings in the rooms were absolutely beautiful. The fact this was over thirty storeys up from the ground was even more amazing. You really would never know you were so high from the ground when you were sitting in the centre courtyard. These courtyard type floors are not available to the general public – they are not even on the website…they are incredibly expensive and my eyes watered when I was told the cost [ie hundreds of thousands of dollars].
The Presidential Suite was also lovely; again with Chinese handmade embroideries and views of the Water Cube and Birds Nest; all complete with your own personal butler. But whilst it was lovely and the bathroom fabulous, it was nothing compared to the private courtyard floor which was absolutely spectacular.
It’s an amazing hotel. It’s a little far out of the centre of Beijing (about thirty minutes drive and not really much to do surrounding the hotel), but it’s definitely worth a visit for the buffet or to stay overnight for a special event (maybe not the courtyard floor!!! might be a little bit too expensive).
