Today we feature Conrad Beijing, the flagship property in China’s capital city.
It is set to be the hotel of choice for global travelers who appreciate worldly style, sophistication, and a destination where they can truly enjoy the luxury of being themselves.
Our editors enjoyed a executive room which was large and charming. The staff throughout the hotel were friendly and very attentive from the lounge to the gym.
The friendly atmosphere made the whole experience very memorable and we would recomend it for leisure and business.
The place is located nearby Beijing’s most famous attractions, including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.
The Conrad Beijing will set the benchmark for worldly style where guests can stay connected and feel that they belong. The hotel’s 289 spacious guest rooms include 17 suites. All rooms feature oriental influences, a three-meter ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer picturesque views of Tuanjie Lake Park, the iconic CCTV building and the captivating Beijing skyline. Innovative and stylish restaurants and lounges in Conrad Beijing are set to become the favorites for hotel guests and city residents alike. Recreational facilities include a 25-meter swimming pool, which was always empty during our stay.
The Conrad has a nice on-site SPA.
General opinion, the Conrad Hotels & Resorts (belonging to Hilton) have award-winning hotels and resorts located in exclusive leisure destinations across 5 continents. Conrad Beijing will become the #12 in Asia-Pacific and the fifth in Greater China just after Conrad hotels in Hong Kong, Macao, Dalian and Conrad Sanya Haitang Bay.
Resto tip: Made in China
Located on the ground floor of the Grand Hyatt hotel. It is a long, narrow room with an open kitchen at a one end, and assorted bars and alcoves; in theory the dining room can accommodate more than 100 diners, but this includes several private rooms. This restaurant gets busy, so booking ahead is essential. If you want the Peking duck they ask you to order this in advance.
The duck here is prepared by making a hole in the side of the duck and using this to gut the duck, then the back of the duck is sealed and the internal cavity of the duck is filled with water prior to roasting. This technique allows the skin to be roast to a crispy texture without overcooking the meat, the evaporating water cooling the interior of the duck. Well in advance of the actual cooking, the skin of the duck is inflated with air and then dried, initially in a fridge, then in a freezer. Finally, the duck is roasted in a wood-fired oven, roasted over peach wood. The result is served in several forms. The skin is remarkable, crisp but very thin, and so tender that it melts on the tongue. The meat itself is superbly tender, a world away from the grey, dried out meat that passes for Peking Duck in so many restaurants. This is served with thin, delicate pancakes, superb plum sauce and the usual strips of spring onion and cucumber, as well as garlic paste.
Perfect. However, Made in China is not a one trick pony. Noodles are made in front of you, cooked and then mixed with pork at the table. They had superb texture, with no hint of the hardness that so often occurs with Chinese noodles in lesser restaurants. The treatment of vegetables was also impressive, with even simple dishes such as stir-fried leaves cooked lightly with a carefully balanced soy dressing.
Another dish was beggar’s chicken, where a whole chicken is stuffed with mushrooms, coated in oil, wrapped in a lotus leave and then encased in a clay shell before being slow-cooked. The resulting dish has its outer shell cracked with a hammer at the table and then unwrapped. The result was extremely tender chicken flesh, inside which was a delicious layer of mixed mushrooms. This was a superb rendition of the classic dish. In legend, the dish was invented by a peasant thief who stole a chicken from a feudal lord and wanted to cook the chicken without cooking smells giving him away; whatever the real origins of the dish, you no longer have to steal a chicken from royalty to try the dish, but you do need to order it in advance, as obviously it requires some work.
If you expecting western style service you will be disappointed: dishes come when they are ready rather than in any particular sequence, and you may find the service a little curt, even chaotic. However by the standards of Beijing the service and the whole evening was fantastic.
Yummy, for food and culture, China is always great.
http://conradhotels3.hilton.com/en/hotels/china/conrad-beijing-BJSCICI/index.html
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