St Regis

Considered by many to be the finest hotel in Beijing, especially for business people and political leaders, “extensive renovations” mean the Starwood’s St Regis Hotel won’t be open for guests until May 8. A hotel spokeswoman (who prefers to remain anonymous) says there will be another 103 suites added to the 173 rooms, but rooms are already almost all booked out. “A lot of them are going to the Beijing Olympic Committee,” she says. “The St Regis has a very good background with the kind of officials and politicians who have stayed here, like George W. Bush, and many Chinese ones I can’t name.”

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