City Getaways - Kid-Friendly Staycation at China World Hotel

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Upon opening the door to our adjoining rooms on the 18th floor of the China World Hotel, the first thing that hit me were the bright colors! Hotels are notoriously neutrally decorated and for good reason, so they are calm & clean looking, but this was a happy surprise. We were welcomed by a tiger-tent filled with ball-pit balls and bright orange Winnie the Pooh pillows. The next room was filled with Cars’ Lightning McQueen bedspreads, pillows, towels, and a tall pirate tent.

The kids ran in, full of excitement and inspected every nook and cranny, yelling, “look at this” and “look at that”. The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the CCTV building, FFC, China World Phase 3 Summit Wing, and many other Beijing landmarks: a breathtaking cityscape. The adults had fancy imported French L’Occitane body products while the other toiletries, by Pasión, were especially for kids.

We ate in four venues inside the hotel, starting with afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge. This was probably the kid’s favorite. Instead of tea, they were given hot chocolate: a bamboo tray with a big chocolate bear in a tall double glass with a cute hand-painted teapot full of warm milk beside it. There was a long stirrer and another bowl with fluffy marshmallows on a heart-skewer (the staff were so kind as to leave the skewer out of Constance, my 2 year old daughter's marshmallows). The tea delicacies included scones with clotted cream, orange carrot cake, smoked salmon and ham finger sandwiches.

We had dinner in their Peking duck restaurant, called Summer Palace. It is beautiful! We ate river prawns, truffle scallops, braised tofu, and noodles. They have high chairs and children’s cutlery but the atmosphere is more restrained, quiet and grown-up or business-like. Not really a place for a 2-year old to yell, drop mouthfuls of noodles, or pull her diaper down…

The next day we visited the two buffet-style restaurants: breakfast in the Horizon Club (as we were in a Horizon room) and lunch at Scene a Café. I think it’s safe to say that children love buffets, so they were running from the giant honeycomb to the donuts, sashimi, salami, cupcakes, cereal, fresh juice – you get the picture. Scene a Café had a kid’s play area with a slide and toys which Constance absolutely loved.

Besides eating, we played a board game like Sorry! That was in our room, and went swimming in the pool (they have caps if you forget). The two older kids were quickly asked to leave the gym as they tried to pick up the dumbbells and climb the rock-climbing tread-mill-wall. There is a hot tub and a freezing-cold whirlpool each in the designated changing rooms. And, yes, we watched HBO, NatGeo and ate fruit and lots of chocolate from the generous welcome baskets in our rooms.

To be honest, I would not have thought of China World Hotel, if anyone had asked me advice on a staycation, but now that I’ve experienced it firsthand, it really is a wonderful hotel with exceptionally kind, attentive staff (from the servers to cleaners) and great value for money considering. When we got home, it felt like we had been away for days.

What’s the deal?

• Package rate starts at RMB 1,080 + 16%*

• One night stay (Friday – Sunday & public holidays)

• RMB 500 credit to use towards food & beverage, laundry, limo service or fitness classes

• Kids’ tent (under 6) or extra bed in room (under 2)

• Kids’ welcome amenities

• Horizon Club benefits (depending on your room type)

• Free WiFi

• 11am early check-in

• 4pm late check-out, availability allowing

• For more info: 6505 8885
  *10 percent for service charge & 6 percent for stays

1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang
建国门外大街1号
6505 2266
[e-mail]
www.shangri-la.com

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