The Four Seasons Guangzhou: One of the China's Top 25 Hotels

Take the express elevator to the 70th floor of the new Guangzhou IFC tower, arrive in the lobby of the newly-opened Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou and you'll confront one of the most astonishing atriums in the world. It soars 30 stories above you, ending in a glass ceiling on the 103rd floor. That glass ceiling is higher than the tip of the Statue of Liberty's torch in New York. For this visual drama—unprecedented in Mainland China hotels—the Four Seasons Guangzhou lands on our Top 25 list.

Over the last half century, the Four Seasons brand has built a global reputation on tradition and dignity. The Guangzhou property (their third in Mainland China) marks a clear turn. The entire hotel is geared around visual impact, whether you're talking about the spectacular views or the impressive collection of commissioned art or the scintillating contemporary interiors.

Occupying the top third of Guangzhou's tallest building, the hotel commands majestic views of the city and the Pearl River, framed in floor-to-ceiling windows in all 302 guestrooms and 42 suites (and their bathrooms!) A dramatic three-meter red steel sculpture by Australian artist Matthew Harding dominates the atrium lobby. It appears to float on a sea of watery glass reflecting the ceiling above.

But the hotel is more than wow factor. Four Seasons is highly regarded—even among industry competitors—for unrivaled service. Guangzhou is no exception.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the hotel's six restaurants and bars (found on the 70th floor and up). It's one of the largest food and beverage operations of any Four Seasons hotel in the world. Chinese Executive Chef Law Yiu Choi is only the second Chinese chef to be awarded the Chef Rotisseur by the prestigious Chaine des Rotisseurs gourmet society, while Chef Kazumi Sawada came to Guangzhou from Tokyo's Banreki Ryukodo, which received a Michelin star under his leadership. No wonder that since opening in July—even with scant advertising and little advance publicity—the restaurants are already doing brisk business.

Still to come this autumn is Catch, the hotel's signature seafood restaurant on the 100th floor. It will offer two choices of ambiance—Catch Seafood Bar & Catch Dining Room. One floor below, accessible via a vertigo-inducing glass stairway dangling over that 30-storey atrium, is Tian Bar.

Guangzhou may not be the prettiest of cities nor the most glamorous, but at night, at this elevation, its landscape is magically transformed into something out of Blade Runner. The Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou is already standing out as southern China's sexy new glam spot. Dress to impress, wine and dine, stay and play.

(Source: sina.com)