I am soaking in a warm, lily-strewn bath at the rim of a gleaming glass-walled bathroom on the 18th floor of a 34-storey-high skyscraper. Gently fragranced candles and a refreshing bottle of cucumber-infused water offer me company. I flick the remote control beside me and within moments the half-drawn electronic blinds glide silently upward to reveal an inky night sky, far beneath which the metropolis of Beijing glitters like an enormous jewel-encrusted blanket.
Set in the pulsating heart of China’s capital city, the year-old Westin Beijing Chaoyang is everything a five-star hotel should be, and then some. On first impression, this soaring glass-and-concrete edifice, with its meticulously symmetrical lines and exceedingly high-gloss interiors, strikes you as just another business-oriented hotel. It has a pool, a spa and a state-of-the-art gym, of course. It has a choice of fine-dining restaurants, including an all-day, multi-cuisine offering and an ultra-modish lounge bar. It has 550 well-appointed rooms and suites, a ballroom and the obligatory high-tech conferencing facilities. So what takes a Westin experience from ‘five-star’ to ‘heavenly’? Obsessive attention to detail coupled with the ability to effortlessly deliver hospitality, which begins from the moment you arrive.
Only here have I been received at the lobby itself (Westin’s Heavenly White Tea fragrance filling the space) with a welcome elixir and a silk scarf (another aspect of the Westin philosophy, where guests receive a token gift). Only here have I been offered a guided run through the city — a novel way of combining sightseeing and exercise. And only here have I had a professional bathologist recommend the ideal bath for me (Arabian? Oriental? Mediterranean? Indian?), then personally draw it in the privacy of my bathroom.
Utterly relaxed and sweet-smelling after a long soak, I bundle myself into the thickest, softest bathrobe my skin has ever felt and step into my very oversized room. Whimsical little touches abound. The view of Beijing continues as a nearly invisible wall of glass wraps itself around two sides of the room. A sleek refreshment centre, in keeping with the contemporary aesthetic of the room, bears a careful arrangement of petits fours and ‘superfoods’ — a combination of fine dark chocolates, fresh blueberries and strawberries, macadamia and hazelnuts — designed to render you healthier. A long reclining couch with an automated foot massager offers the perfect antidote for worn-out soles. But the real manna for any traveller: the Westin brand’s signature all-white, super king-sized ‘Heavenly Bed’ that commands centrestage in my room. Ten layers of pure goose-down comfort, each custom-designed creation incorporates a 13-inch pillow-top mattress, which fluently takes on the contours of your body while sleeping, five hypoallergenic pillows, crisp 250-thread-count sheets, a duvet and other lighter comforters. Still not heavenly enough? Depending on the climate of the country it’s located in, each Westin hotel further customises its beds by adjusting the number and thickness of the covers to ensure the ideal temperature for a good night’s sleep. I guess they really mean it when they say ‘you’ll leave feeling better than when you arrived’.
Predictably, leaving my bed the next morning isn’t easy, but leave I must as Westin’s other property in Beijing — in fact, the older of the two siblings here — awaits. The Westin Beijing Financial Street, as the name implies, stands in the city’s financial hub and bears a strong resemblance to Chaoyang in both appearance and disposition. The interiors are just as subtle, the rooms just as expansive and well-equipped (although minus the transparent walls), the service just as solicitous and the vibe just as tranquil — well-suited, just as Chaoyang is, for the leisure and frazzled business traveller alike.
“The brand strives hard to ensure that every Westin hotel the world over offers exactly the same quality of experience to its guests — be it with the rooms, service, food or the spa treatments. Sometimes, we adapt our philosophy to suit a particular country’s traditions, or even to target a specific clientele,” says Vincent Ong, brand director, Westin Asia-Pacific. Last year, the brand marked its arrival into the Indian market with the opening of Westin Sohna-Gurgaon Resort & Spa. Following its success, three more Westin properties are set to open in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad toward the end of this year. “These will have exactly the same amenities and service as the Westin Sohna, but as they will cater to the corporate world, their feel will be very different. And while the Westin Sohna displays a cutting-edge décor like every other Westin property, it feels like the soothing spa-retreat we intended it to be.”
This aside, how different will Westin India’s soon-to-be-opened city stays be from their international counterparts? “You can expect some innocuous differences, implemented only to appeal to the Indian clientele. For example, the ‘superfood’ dishes, which are created using ‘superfood’ ingredients only in precise combinations and proportions, will employ indigenous ingredients and flavours to produce dishes exclusively for the Indian palate. Similarly, the Heavenly Spas in these properties, while offering all our signature treatments, will include local/Ayurvedic therapies as well,” says Ong.
Speaking of their spa, I am fortunate enough to be at the receiving end of one of their Heavenly treatments. The spa at the Westin Beijing Financial Street is all about unassuming luxury: from the back-lit lattice screens that glow softly in strategic corners and the calming background tunes to the mirror-finish marble treatment rooms with infinity baths and rain-dance showers (where water falls in swirling streams to impressive visual effect) to the spa menu where each therapy sounds more scrumptious than the other — here is a place that gets decadence just right. I surrender to a hot stone massage and quickly find myself drifting in and out of sleep to the soporific rhythm of powerful, kneading hands against my aching muscles. Sixty peaceful minutes later, I don’t want to leave.
But that’s Westin for you — everything about their hotels conspires to make leaving them difficult. Besides, you don’t have to fit a certain type to make this experience your own — Westin is simultaneously luxurious and homey, practical and fanciful, firmly traditional and forward-thinking, predictable and surprising — so no matter what you’re looking for when you check in, chances are you’ll get what you pay for.
The information
The Westin Beijing Chaoyang
Location: Chaoyang District, Beijing
Accommodation: 401Deluxe rooms,3 Workout rooms, 93 Renewal rooms,48 Renewal suites, 4 Diplomatic suites,1 Presidential suite
Tariff: RMB 2,200 (Deluxe), RMB 2,500 (Renewal), RMB 2,800 (Workout and Renewal suites), RMB 4,300 (Diplomatic), RMB 48,000 (Presidential)
Contact: +86-10-59228888, www.starwoodhotels.com
The Westin Beijing Financial Street
Location: XiCheng District, Beijing
Accommodation: 486 rooms and suites
Tariff: RMB 2,900 (Room), RMB 3,000 (Deluxe room), RMB 3,150 (Renewal and Workout rooms), RMB 3,400-3,600 (Executive club room), RMB 3,900-4,100 (Executive renewal suite), RMB 6,900-7,100 (Deluxe suite), RMB 11,900 -12,100 (Executive suite), RMB 20,900-21,100 (Presidential suite)
Contact: +86-10-66068866, www.starwoodhotels.com