Hangzhou and Shanghai Hotels

Forty years ago, the Cultural Revolution sought to obliterate the world’s oldest continuous civilization, but despite the chaos, it did not entirely succeed. Nowhere in China is there a greater sense of cultural continuity than in the ancient city of Hangzhou. For American travelers, it should be a mandatory stop on any itinerary. And now, there are two world-class resorts in which to stay.

We arrived in Hangzhou after a painless one-hour, 40-minute nonstop flight from Hong Kong. A signboard advertising Porsche sports cars dominated the Arrivals Hall. There we met Ben, our local guide, whose English was fluent and idiomatic. Nowadays, he said, the city also boasted dealerships for Ferrari, Bentley and Aston Martin, the favorite playthings of the so-called “mushrooms,” the new rich of Hangzhou and neighboring Shanghai whose rapid fortunes have been acquired in manufacturing and a scarily overheated property market.

Hangzhou lies at the southern end of the 1,100- mile-long Grand Canal; it was also a terminus of the Silk Road, linking classical China with the ports of the eastern Mediterranean. And from 1180 to 1315 it is believed to have been the largest city in the world. The old district is centered on the four square miles of West Lake, a tranquil willow-fringed expanse dotted with windsurfers and pleasure craft and surrounded by forested green hills. Mao himself used to vacation in a lakeside villa, and his regular presence doubtless explains why the Red Guards were packed off to wreak their havoc elsewhere. As a result, the city’s skyline is still punctuated by pagodas, the most beautiful of which, the Liuhe Ta, overlooks the pearl farms of the Qiantang River and dates from the middle of the 10th century.

Amanfayun opened in January 2010 and is situated in a wooded valley about 20 minutes from the center of town. The approach is along minor roads lined with bamboos and bordered by tea plantations. The countryside around Hangzhou grows the most famous tea in China, Longjing “Dragon Well” green tea, which is customarily given to visiting heads of state.

The layout of Amanfayun is remarkable. Comprising a small village, with many of the structures dating to the early 1800s, it is linked by the wide Fayun Pathway, which extends for a little over a third of a mile and leads to Lingyin Si, one of China’s most important Buddhist temples, founded in A.D. 326. The path is still in daily use by the monks, as well as local people, so rather than being a hermetically sealed luxury resort, Amanfayun is organically connected to the life of a thriving religious community, as well as to the surrounding countryside.

On arrival, we were taken to a reception pavilion, a serene space with wooden beams, polished stone floors, lattice screens and a palette of restrained natural colors. Almost instantly, we felt ourselves being reabsorbed into a timeless China, one violated by 20th-century history but which had never entirely disappeared. Having been welcomed by the Balinese general manager — a longtime Amanresorts employee — we were escorted to our cottage, a five-minute stroll along the bank of a rushing stream. In addition to tea bushes, the resort is surrounded by magnolia, camphor, fig, waxberry and flowering sweet osmanthus trees, all of which help to generate a profound sense of peace and seclusion.

The 42 rooms, suites and villas are linked by cobbled pathways and are set around private stone-walled courtyards. Their dignified exteriors display an almost monastic simplicity. Inside, we found a four-poster bed screened by white gauze curtains, pale elmwood furniture, wire-framed cloth lanterns and cream walls hung with framed calligraphy. Modern amenities include air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and Bose sound systems with iPod docks; televisions can be installed on request. From the bedroom, a narrow corridor led past a series of built-in cupboards and drawers to an extremely spacious stone-floored bath with underfloor heat, equipped with a large walk-in rainfall shower, but no tub.

The aesthetic finesse of Amanresorts is unrivaled, and we walked around for a while in a trance of admiration. Finally, we flung wide the two sets of old wooden doors that opened into our courtyard. All we could hear was the splash and tumble of the stream and the occasional trill of unfamiliar birdsong.

Having unpacked, we strolled across to nearby Fayun Place, the resort’s principal public area. Two early 19th-century courtyard houses have been skillfully combined and now contain an exquisitely decorated reception area, where guest assistants are on hand to arrange excursions or to explain the attractions of the surrounding region. Upstairs, an atmospheric library holds an extensive book and DVD collection.

Amanfayun offers four restaurants, two of which are owned and managed by local people and operate semi-independently. One, Hangzhou House, serves authentic regional cuisine, with dishes such as West Lake snow shrimp cooked with tea leaves, and chicken baked in lotus leaves that have been sealed with mud. Another locally run outlet offers Buddhist vegetarian temple cuisine, while our favorite, the Steam House, serves wonderful wonton soups, dumplings and pork buns. Elsewhere, The Restaurant provides an elegant setting for Western cuisine and more conventional fine dining.

The chief amenity at the resort is the Aman Spa, located in traditional buildings set around five stone courtyards and screened by bamboo and magnolia trees. Three double and two single treatment rooms come with steam showers and circular wooden soaking tubs, as well as private relaxation areas. The therapies themselves combine Chinese and international techniques. For example, the “Signature Bamboo Massage” employs heated bamboo rollers and warming oils, while the “Traditional Chinese Massage” is oil-free and seeks instead to stimulate acupressure points. The spa complex also contains a 60-foot heated outdoor pool, a modern gym, and studios for Pilates, tai chi, yoga and meditation.

Amanfayun is an almost perfect hideaway. It is entirely self-contained, and during our three-night stay, we felt absolutely no urge to leave. We ate well, read long books, went hiking and visited three nearby Buddhist temples. And the pleasure of our visit was greatly enhanced by the local staff, who, despite their lack of experience, we found to be uniformly charming and hospitable. But Amanfayun would not appeal to everyone: It is a place for those who want to slow down, to de-stress and, for a few days, to rediscover a more contemplative side to existence. And its guests have to be content with relatively simple, albeit exceptionally stylish, accommodations.

Amanfayun 97 Village Room, $650; Village Suite, $850; Village Villa, $1,550. 22 Fayun Nong, Hangzhou. Tel. (800) 477-9180 or (86) 571-8732-9999.

Understandably, many first-time visitors to Hangzhou will want to stay on West Lake. In town, I have long suggested the Shangri-La, a distinguished resort that offers memorable views and 40 acres of private gardens. However, although I continue to recommend this property, it has undoubtedly been superseded by the new Four Seasons Hangzhou at West Lake, which opened in October 2010.

Comprising just 78 rooms, this is an unexpectedly intimate resort, with a traditional exterior topped by pagoda roofs. Surrounded by extensive water gardens that merge seamlessly with West Lake, it seems quite understated at first glance. But step inside, and you are confronted by a dazzling interior that combines both Chinese and Western elements in a tour de force of contemporary design.

The accommodations are appropriately restful, with wood- and silk-paneled walls complemented by subdued shades of dove gray, pale yellow and cream. As you would expect from Four Seasons, all contemporary amenities are provided, and the marble baths are peerlessly well-appointed and equipped with soaking tubs as well as walk-in showers. The public areas, however, are intended to amaze, and no expense seems to have been spared to create an overwhelming impression.

Nowhere is this opulence more astonishing than in the spa, with its huge indoor pool surrounded by pillow-strewn alcoves. The nine treatment rooms, each with a marble sunken tub and delicate pink lighting, are among the most lavish and exquisite I have ever seen. Similarly, the resort’s Chinese restaurant, Jin Sha, with its 11 private dining pavilions overlooking an artificial lake, contrives to be extravagant without ever lapsing into vulgarity.

Amanfayun and the Four Seasons are equally remarkable but utterly dissimilar. The former offers serenity and cultural sophistication, while the latter represents the last word in contemporary luxury and refined indulgence. The choice is yours.

Four Seasons Hangzhou at West Lake 96 Deluxe Room, $385; Premier Room, $480; Lagoon Suite, $1,050. 5 Lingyin Road, Hangzhou. Tel. (800) 819-5053 or (86) 571-8829-8888.  

The immense metropolis of Shanghai lies just over 100 miles northeast of Hangzhou, and already the two cities are beginning to merge. From both the highway and the high-speed train, there is little to be glimpsed other than factories and anonymous sprawl. This is the most turbocharged region of the new China, a scene of frenetic activity and ceaseless construction.

Located on the muddy, sinuous Huangpu River in the heart of the Yangtze River delta, Shanghai first became an international hub of finance and business in the 1930s — during which decade some 30,000 Jewish refugees arrived from Europe— but its influence collapsed following the Communist takeover in 1949. The boom times have returned with a vengeance, however. Shanghai now has a population of more than 20 million, and the pace of creation and destruction is breathtaking. The old neighborhoods have been ripped down — although one or two are now being reassembled for the purposes of tourism — and more than 5,000 skyscrapers have been flung up in just the past 15 years. Modern Shanghai is divided in two by the river. Puxi, the old city, contains the majority of its hotels, museums and places of interest, notably along the Bund, a riverside thoroughfare and promenade famous for its art deco buildings. Pudong, on the eastern bank of the river, is a rather soulless high-rise business district.

In essence, Shanghai is a commercial capital, though its newfound wealth is already beginning to sponsor a cultural resurgence. A contemporary art biennale, primarily staged at the Shanghai Art Museum, already attracts international attention — the next one is scheduled for January 2012 — as does the Museum of Contemporary Art. The city’s other cultural institution of note is the Shanghai Museum, which holds a remarkable collection of Buddhist sculpture and ancient bronzes dating from the 18th to the third centuries B.C. (including a truly astounding bronze ax head inlaid with turquoise). The museum also contains a fascinating exhibit of masks and textiles made by China’s so-called “minority peoples” — the Tibetans, for instance — donated by the Kadoorie family.

Sir Ellis Kadoorie was a member of a prominent Jewish family from Baghdad who migrated to Shanghai, via Bombay, in the mid-19th century. He and his sons, Horace and Lawrence, amassed a fortune in banking, real estate, electricity generation (China Light & Power is still the principal family business) and hotels. Much of this wealth was lost in 1949, but today, his grandson Sir Michael Kadoorie presides over an empire that includes The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, owners of The Peninsula brand.

The Peninsula Shanghai opened in September 2009, the first new building on the Bund in 60 years. Our car from Hongqiao Station pulled into the driveway, where a trademark Peninsula green Rolls-Royce limousine was parked next to a tumbling fountain. The similarities with the original Peninsula in Hong Kong were immediately obvious. Both hotels are based around a large and striking lobby, which also serves as a casual restaurant and as a venue for afternoon tea (accompanied by a pianist and string quartet). Overall, the Shanghai property does not feel quite as spacious or grand as its illustrious ancestor, but both the warmth of our welcome and the slickness of the service were immediately recognizable.

The most desirable rooms are those facing the river and the futuristic skyline of Pudong. Our 12th-floor Deluxe River King provided a compelling view of both the vertiginous financial district and a procession of sizeable cargo ships making their way slowly down to the confluence with the Yangtze. The room was conservatively furnished in a palette of cream, gray and Ming-porcelain blue. Lacquered panels provided an explicitly Chinese reference, while a glass-and-chrome occasional table and a strikingly patterned carpet evoked Shanghai’s art deco heritage.

Michael Kadoorie was known as an enthusiast of in-room technology long before its use became widespread, so it was no surprise to discover every gizmo in the modern repertoire, including a built-in flat-screen TV and “spa” mood lighting in the lavish marble bath. However, it came as a considerable shock to find that the outrage of hotel telephone charges had finally been addressed: At The Peninsula, the room phone connects to the Internet, and international calls are free!

As you might expect, the hotel comes with a magnificent spa, which includes an 82-foot lap pool beneath a third-floor glass roof. Restaurant options include Yi Long Court for Cantonese food, where chef Tang Chi Keung boasts a Michelin star; and Sir Elly’s Restaurant for French/Mediterranean cuisine, a spectacular duplex venue with a 14th-floor roof terrace. Asian hotel restaurants sometimes seem excessively corporate, with too many parties of sober-suited businesspeople and too few couples or families. To an extent, this was true during our stay at The Peninsula, so in the main, we opted to eat out. The excellent M on the Bund(Tel. 021-6350-9988) is a five-minute walk away, serving modern European cuisine in an exceptionally stylish setting, while for those in search of Shanghainese cooking, we recommend Fu 1088 (Tel. 021-5239-7878) or Jesse (Tel. 021-6282-9260).

As our departure date approached, I found myself striving to reach an overall judgment about The Peninsula. The most impressive aspect of the new property is the service, which after slightly less than two years is as polished as that at its elder sibling in Hong Kong. And its location is virtually ideal, certainly far more convenient for the leisure traveler than that of its rival, the Park Hyatt in Pudong. However, I found both the architecture and the interior design slightly less remarkable than I had anticipated. And the atmosphere of the hotel feels comparatively parochial. The lobby of The Peninsula in Hong Kong is the world’s living room, a place where you might bump into absolutely anyone, whereas the Shanghai property can feel like a private club for the city’s new rich. That said, The Peninsula Shanghai is a remarkably fine hotel and is now unquestionably the city’s most desirable address.

The Peninsula Shanghai 97 Deluxe River King, $590; Grand Deluxe River Room, $710; Deluxe River Suite, $1,425. 32 The Bund, Shanghai. Tel. (866) 382-8388 or (86) 21-2327-2888.

 Illustrations ©Melissa Colson