Kerry Hotels Offer Casual Luxury in China

Aug 17, 2012

Shangri-La Hotels first launched its Kerry Hotels brand in February 2011 with the Kerry Hotel, Pudong, Shanghai, and the company converted its Kerry Centre Hotel Beijing into the brand’s second property last November. While Shangri-La is known for its blend of refinement, luxury and formality, the two Kerry properties maintain a similarly rigorous dedication to service but with a more casual vibe and are great choices for both business and leisure travelers looking to explore China’s two most popular destinations.

Shanghai
The Kerry Hotel Shanghai is a 30-minute drive from the city’s Pudong Airport in the Kerry Centre shopping and business complex. Though it is a bit removed from the city’s tourist areas, access from this hotel is actually easier in many instances than staying at a more centrally located property since travelers can avoid the city’s traffic congestion while still being within 20 minutes of popular destinations such as the Yu Yuan Gardens, the Bund and the French Concession.

The hotel has 574 guestrooms and suites, all of which start at over 450 square feet and are distinguished by panoramic windows overlooking Century Park and the convention center. Business travelers can take advantage of amenities like free, high-speed Wi-Fi, laptop safes and executive work desks with universal adapters, while the complimentary minibar, enormous bathrooms with dual vanities, glassed-in bathrooms and shower suites as well as separate baths make unwinding easy.

Club guests enjoy private check-in at the third-floor Club Lounge, where they are also invited to enjoy meals, snacks and hors d’oeuvres throughout the day as well as office services.

The hotel has three dining options. The Cook is actually several restaurants in one, with food stations serving everything from dumplings and sushi to Italian pasta dishes. The Meet is a classic steakhouse while The Brew serves casual gastropub fare as well as beers, ales and ciders brewed by the hotel’s in-house brewmaster.

The hotel’s Spa features a menu of treatments inspired by the ancient Chinese martial arts form of Wudang Wushu, while its gleaming fitness center is the largest in China with several class studios and a vast fitness floor with all-new equipment. Families will appreciate the colorful children’s activity center with several different play areas, a full schedule of activities with multilingual staff and a snack bar.

Room rates in September start at $210.

Beijing
The Kerry Hotel Beijing is located near the city’s third ring road across the street from the soaring China World Trade Center Tower, and many rooms have picture-perfect views of Rem Koolhaas’s iconic angular CCTV building.

The hotel’s overall aesthetic links China’s cultural heritage with its contemporary drive, combining elements such as handpainted embroidered silk panels with sculptures and mobiles by international artists and a constellation of Shangri-La’s signature chandeliers overhead.

There are 486 rooms and suites with the same array of amenities as in Shanghai, though in a silver-and-taupe palette, and the spacious marble bathrooms have glassed-in, Asian-style toilette suites encompassing both a shower and a tub.

Club rooms also have conveniences like Bose iPod docks and Nespresso machines, and guests receive in-room fresh fruit baskets, a complimentary suit pressing, concierge services by the Club butler and access to the Club Lounge on the hotel’s 18th floor, where meals and snacks are served throughout the day.

The hotel’s main restaurant is Kerry’s Kitchen, serving a smorgasbord of made-to-order and self-serve options from both the East and the West, while guests on the run can grab and go from Kerry’s pantry, a small cafe in the lobby.

Currently under renovation, The Horizon restaurant will reopen with the same menu of signature Cantonese specialties such as its succulent Peking duck, while the hotel’s bar, Centro, has a 100-page cocktail menu and is one of the hottest spots for young professionals in the city, who come for a casual drink and live music.

The fitness center here is also huge, at more than 60,000 square feet, and features not only a full gym with a yoga studio, but also two indoor tennis courts, a basketball court and a 35-meter indoor swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.

Rates in September start at $270.