Hotel G

As the cultural, political and stylistic capital of China, Beijing never ceases to amaze with hidden quirks and new ventures located around every corner. Opened back in the middle of last year Hotel G is a prime example of the type of interesting ingenuity that makes Beijing what it is. The 110-room hotel emerges in a sea of muted blues and greys which are highlighted by lacquered colours and abstract Chinese detailing. There is a distinctive retro sense about the hotel and the sixties-inspired designs are most apparent on the intentionally gaudy exterior, where multi-coloured lights illuminate each of the windows to eye-catching kaleidoscopic effect at night. Inside the retro touches become more subtle, with red sandstone walls and a stitched leather central column working alongside a glass feature wall in the lobby. The subdued retro styling continues into the spacious guestrooms where the good, great, greater and greatest categorised rooms include features such as iPod docks, wooden flooring in the showers, free-standing bathtubs, leather detailing, Warhol-esque artwork and more. With such refined design traces as these Hotel G fits right in to the cultural, artistic and economic mishmash that is the burgeoning capital of China.