What makes Raffles Beijing Hotel different from other hotels?
In a city that is often divided between the ancient and the modern, Raffles Beijing Hotel sets itself apart with a rich history, longstanding traditions and glitzy updated accommodations. The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel was built in the early 1900s as the Beijing Hotel and over the course of a century blossomed from a red-brick building that hosted army officers to a white-stone and marble-clad palace that sees a steady stream of royalty and celebrities through its gilded doors. Through the years it has retained some of its most elegant traditions, like the celebrated afternoon tea in the Writers Bar, and the dignified check-in process (expect a hot cup of tea and a seat on one of the lobby’s sofas). The rooms are a lovely bridge between a bygone era and present-day amenities, with polished hardwood floors, colorful patterned rugs, ornately carved furniture and a gilt frame around a flat-screen television.