Hot List Hotels 2008
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70 Yanyue Lane
Beijing
China
1000010
Tel: 86 10 651 28020
In a reversal of Beijing's tear-down frenzy, former banker Shauna Liu discovered a courtyard house on a small street called Performance and Music Alley (where Ming dynasty actors once rehearsed performances) and transformed it into a magical 14-room hotel that provides modern comforts while sacrificing none of the 500-year-old building's integrity. The rooms, set around a lovely courtyard with a lily pond, are decorated in the best of Chinese chic: chartreuse walls, goose-down duvets, Tibetan rugs, silks from southern China, slate bathroom floors, and surreal, humorous photographs by artist Chi Peng on the walls. Simple, homey meals—yogurt and granola, fresh fruit and muffins at breakfast; homemade dumplings and stir-fried veggies at lunch—are served in the art book-strewn living room. The young, eager-to-please staff will arrange taxi pickups, or bicycles for guests who want to explore the neighborhood the old-fashioned way. Despite the hotel's chic, the very best part of staying at this cozy property is that in the hutong, or lane, outside the hotel's traditional wooden door, folks sit on stools gossiping about the old days, while bicycle-riding goldfish sellers and barbers peddle their wares. This is the place for travelers who want to see—and feel—China as it once was, and could be.
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