Grand Hyatt Chengdu

BACKGROUND Officially opened last July, this 390-room hotel is the first Hyatt-branded property in Sichuan province, blending the rich cultural heritage of Chengdu with a strong French element. WHERE IS IT? In downtown Chengdu on Chunxi Rd South, close to the bustling shopping and financial districts. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is half an hour’s drive, and the Chunxi subway station on Line 2 is a five-minute walk away. WHAT’S IT LIKE? Occupying floors 10 to 39 of the Chicony Plaza tower, the entrance lobby of the building is fairly bare but for a huge abstract wall painting in bold colours. The check-in front desk and lobby lounge area are on the 15th floor beyond a relaxed piano lounge called “the Salon”, with separate lifts going to guestroom floors.

The design was described to me as “French Mansion style”– the décor is dark and the lighting low throughout much of the hotel, French cartoon-style illustrations grace many of the signs, and “La Vie en Rose” was playing constantly through the music system during my stay. ROOM FACILITIES Rooms come in Standard (40 sqm), Deluxe (58 sqm) and Club (40 sqm) types, plus four suite categories: Grand, Executive, Presidential and Chairman. My Standard room was decorated with natural wood walls and flooring, grey carpet in the bed area and beige furnishings. Inkbrush paintings on the walls and wardrobe doors added some character, along with a Tang-style ceramic horse lamp by the bed.

It felt smaller than it was, perhaps because the toilet was separate to the bathroom – no bad thing – and the entrance corridor was quite long. The small but stylish bathroom was in dark marble, helped by wood-slat decoration and an expansive floor-to-ceiling mirror. There was a cool half-sunken bathtub next to a large rainforest shower – which was great except that I couldn’t turn off the rainforest showerhead even when I switched to the wall-mounted head – it was either the overhead shower or both. Bath products are by June Jacobs Spa Collection.

The bedroom area featured a thin, 2.5-metre-long, black altar table-style desk in front of the TV. It had a single universal socket, USB port, etc, but the chair was a little too low to type comfortably on a laptop for long – it’s not really a work desk. The wifi however was faster than other Chengdu hotels I’ve tried.

I was disappointed to find no coffee machine in the room, with only instant coffee sachets available with a kettle. On the plus side, the bed was excellent and the blackout drapes worked very well, operated by one-touch buttons beside the bed. RESTAURANTS AND BARS Its eight F&B outlets are a strong selling point. Most are on the 15th floor: the Salon is a lobby lounge and piano area with daily live music; the Tea House is intimate with original bamboo furniture, Chengdu style; Nougat is a boutique-style patisserie that leads to the Grand Café, an all-day restaurant offering East-West fusion cuisine in a French country kitchen setting. An outside terrace has a mazelike seating area, and BBQ, an Asian-style barbecue restaurant. Also here is the alfresco section of Xi-Mi, a “cabaret-style” bar serving wine, whisky and cocktails.

On the 16th floor is the European-style Steakhouse and the hotel’s signature No 8 restaurant, which serves Sichuan hotpot and other local dishes in a beautifully designed setting reminiscent of a local marketplace. MEETING FACILITIES The tenth and 12th floors house more than 3,000 sqm of event space, including the “Residence” – nine attractive meeting rooms, some with open show kitchens, plus the 712 sqm Palais ballroom, opposite which is a 1,000 sqm “Versailles-style” outdoor terrace garden. The Grand Club lounge is on the 37th floor; it’s a very large, comfortable space split into sections, but no breakfast is served here. LEISURE FACILITIES These are on the 13th floor and include the Huan Spa with five treatment rooms and 12 foot massagers; a mid-sized 24-hour fitness centre; a 25-metre indoor heated swimming pool; and “Peng”, five mahjong rooms set around a central bar area.

The hotel blends the rich cultural heritage of Chengdu with a strong French element