The 29th-floor executive suite at the Conrad Beijing.Adam Bruzzone
Conrad Beijing
29 North Dongsanhuan Rd., Beijing, conradhotels3.hilton.com. 289 rooms from around $300.
In a sprawling city of 21 million – where skyscrapers stretch by the thousands to every horizon – it can be hard to stand out. But the Conrad Beijing is unlike anything else you'll see in this pulsing metropolis.
Designed by homegrown Beijing architectural firm MAD, the exterior of the hotel evokes the nervous tissue of the human body, a white, textured, blobby sheath that wraps around its exterior and gives it an almost organic quality. The overall effect is like something you'd see under a microscope, with crazy, flowing lines and intersecting bubbles – and no two windows the same shape or size.
But while the exterior may draw stares, the interior is all stylish turns and hushed corridors. Conrad properties, a high-end brand in the Hilton family, seek to be at the intersection of cool and comfort.
In Beijing, this is especially true in the 29th-floor executive lounge, where you can stand at floor-to-ceiling windows that provide unencumbered views of the city, gin and tonic in hand, feeling smug that you're not down there in the traffic.
Location, location
With thousands of cars on the road at any given time, driving anywhere in Beijing can be an ordeal. Fortunately, the Conrad is located just a couple blocks from Sanlitun, one of the city's coolest little neighbourhoods. Close to Western embassies, this area features small coffee shops and chic lounges nestled side by side on a network of leafy streets (a rarity in Beijing).
Best amenity
The Conrad Concierge is a very helpful app, especially when you're likely to encounter language barriers for simple requests at the hotel. Download the app before your stay to order a limo from the airport or to even choose your room. At the hotel, you can use it for everything from requesting an extra bottle of shampoo to booking a wake-up call.
If I could change one thing
The hotel is too far from some of the main sights in the city. Getting in a cab and going to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City or the popular pedestrian shopping streets in the city core will take you at least half an hour (and longer during rush hour).
Whom you'll meet
Those who choose the Conrad often spend a good deal of time on the road and value the residential feel of the rooms (which are very large and feel more like a luxury condo than a standard hotel room). You'll find a diverse crowd: everyone from American CEOs of multibillion-dollar companies to mega-popular Korean pop singers, to road-warrior sales people who always make their numbers.
Room with a view
Corner rooms not only provide more space, but also better views, and those ending in 09 look out over the Third Ring Road, a mega-expressway that's clogged with traffic at all hours. The river of red taillights is a beautiful sight in the fading daylight (unless, of course, you're part of it).
Eat in or eat out?
Both. While Sanlitun provides a number of great restaurants a couple of blocks away, you can definitely get a good meal inside the hotel. Start at Whisky Bridge to choose an apéritif from the city's biggest selection of whiskies. Then either go exotic at Lu Yu, where every authentic Cantonese meal begins with a tea ceremony, or chow down on a delicious taste of home – 29 Grill has some of the biggest, meatiest, juiciest steaks this side of the Pacific (the Tasmanian ribeye, grass-fed and aged for four weeks, is definitely recommended).
The writer was a guest of the hotel.