3 destination openings for your winter escape, from Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental to Banyan Tree in Kyoto
Stay in a courtyard house at Mandarin Oriental near Beijing’s Forbidden City, take a private onsen bath at the new Banyan Tree in Kyoto or enjoy dining on an elevated platform above grassland at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort
1. Palatial courtyard suites in Beijing
Arguably the most significant hotel launch in China this year, the Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing, threw open its (many) doors on September 2.
It’s been a long time coming – “Spacious and luxurious landscaped courtyard suites within the labyrinth of alleys and lanes in one of the city’s oldest quarters” were to be expected the following year, teased an announcement way back in September 2017 – but after its recent unveiling, the hotel and its 42 renovated one-, two- and three-bedroom courtyard houses look worth the wait.
The most opulent of the bunch is the 5,285 sq ft Peking Mansion, the former home of a descendant of the family behind traditional Chinese medicine brand Tong Ren Tang. It may have just a single bedroom but it does come, we’re told, with its own tea room and an extra building in which to house servants or a security detail.
2. Treetop dining in Thailand
You often can’t see the wood for the trees in the lush jungles of northern Thailand, but take a bite at a new attraction at the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort and you can peer out into whole other countries.
