TRAVEL NEWS
From how to save on your next staycay to how to save your valuables from theft while travelling, here’s the latest from the world of jetsetting.
China’s enjoying a sudden upsurge in tourism that’s seeing visitors flock to destinations other than Beijing or the Great Wall of China – according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the world’s five fastest-growing cities for tourism are all in China and to back that up these hotels are all set to launch in the country this year.
Banyan Tree is on a roll in China with four properties set to open this year. Angsana Zhuhai Phoenix Bay opens this month with 202 rooms, suites and lofts and is located on one of the most beautiful spots in Phoenix Bay, surrounded by mountains and beaches.
Banyan Tree Anji opens in May 2018. It’s your chance to explore the bamboo-rich county that’s covered in swathes of white tea plantations and is known for its eco-tourism tours. The mountain resort will have 151 spacious rooms, suites and villas.
You can check into the Angsana Xishuangbanna in March 2018. Located in the Horon Monbala Royal Southeast Asian Botanical Garden Resort Zone, the resort is an hour’s from the city of Jinghong in the Yunnan province, which is known for its many hot springs. The resort will focus heavily on wellness with an 8,400sqm hot spring centre with 21 outdoor pools and five spa pavilions.
The Dhawa Jinshanling resort opens in May 2018 and is conveniently located at the foot of the legendary Jinshanling Great Wall (the most well-preserved part of the ancient wall) near Beijing. The 200-key hotel’s rooms will be known as ‘cocoons’ and will offer views of the mountains surrounding the Unesco World Heritage Site.
China will also have its own ocean-themed Atlantis resort, the Atlantis Sanya, Hainan ,in 2018 (above). The massive resort will have 1,314 guestrooms, 154 suites and five underwater suites, 21 dining options and an Aquaventure waterpark.
Mandarin Oriental will open its first hotel in Beijing this year with the Mandarin Oriental Qianmen. The hotel will be built in the style of Beijing’s hutong quarter’s traditional courtyard residences and will have 72 courtyard suites located close to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. It will also have a Chinese restaurant, a traditional tea lounge, a roof terrace, a cake shop and wellness facilities like a gym, spa and indoor swimming pool.
The Anantara Shanghai Minhang Hotel is set to open in mid-2018 and will be Anantara’s first luxury city property in China. Located in Minhang District, the 262-room hotel will be part of a mixed-use development, comprising office towers and commercial areas. There will be an all-day dining Chinese restaurant including six private dining rooms, a Thai restaurant and bar and an indoor pool, sky garden, fitness club and spa sum up the leisure facilities.
The UAE’s own Jumeirah Group is expected to open its long-gestating Nanjing property sometime in 2018. Part of a mixed-use development, the 250-room Jumeirah Nanjing hotel has been designed by late starchitect Zaha Hadid and will include 32 suites, an all-day dining and Chinese speciality restaurant, café, lobby lounge, tea lounge, bar, ballroom, club lounge, business centre, fitness centre, Talise Spa and an indoor swimming pool.
Finally, there are two new Hilton hotels headed to northern and eastern parts – the Hilton Shenyang and the Hilton Hangzhou Xiaoshan opening in April and July, respectively.