Mandarin Oriental Opens in Guangzhou

Within a grand mixed-use property with luxury shopping, office space, and cultural center, the 287-room Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou opened last week. The glitzy high-rise tower looms over Guangzhou, which is the capital (and largest city) of the Guangdong province in China.

Boasting the city's largest hotel rooms, each designed by Tony Chi to reflect pairings like a straw headboards with gauzy platinum-hue pillows, and floor-to-ceiling windows to show off the view, along with spa-like bathrooms, there is also high design in the spa and restaurants. Merging Western and Chinese design, the results are rooftop gardens at Taikoo Hoi (the adjacent shopping center), a mezzanine-level lounge serving chocolate wontons (The Loft), and soothing colors at the Taikoo Lounge.

There are plenty of food and drink offerings within the hotel, such as afternoon tea and dim sum at the Taikoo Lounge; cigars and craft cocktails at The Loft; decadent pastries and hand-painted chocolates at The Mandarin Cake Shop; prime, locally sourced cuts of meat and organic seafood at Ebony; and contemporary Cantonese dishes matched with teas and wines at Jiang by Chef Fei. Many call Guangzhou the culinary capital of Southern China and this collection of offerings within the hotel is proof of that claim.

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou's six treatment rooms—plus three couple's suites and a VIP suite—are accompanied by a sundeck (with massage pavilions), outdoor pool, fitness center, steam rooms, and a sauna.

To tie in with the opening, Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou has unveiled a discount: through April 13, 2013, pay from $338 a night with either of two packages: "The Second Night On Us" with a free second night and two hours of a shopping-concierge service or "Discover Mandarin Oriental" with a spa or restaurant credit.

Kristine Hansen is a freelance writer based in Milwaukee where she reports on food, wine, and travel topics around the globe for Fodors.com, along with new-hotel openings. She also writes for Wine Enthusiast, TIME, Whole Living and American Way. In 2006 she co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Coffee and Tea (Alpha Books/Penguin). You can follow her on Twitter @kristineahansen or through her web site.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou