13 Best Hotels in Beijing, China

The epitome of blissful indulgence, this luxury hotel (part of the famed Aman chain) is spread out across a series of carefully renovated ancient Qing Dynasty courtyards—it even has its own private entrance to the Summer Palace—with guest rooms decorated in restful earth tones (lovely traditional wooden screens and bamboo blinds) and grounds that are positively stunning. Luxury and peace are the order of the day as guests enjoy breakfast overlooking a reflecting lotus pool, stroll the boutique, or relax in the excellent Aman Spa.

The wow factor at this top-notch hotel—close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City—comes from its huge glass facade and extraordinary lagoon-like swimming area: above its lush vegetation, waterfalls, and statues, a "virtual sky" ceiling imitates different weather patterns. Guest rooms, decorated with comfortable cherry-wood furnishings, and many with floor-to-ceiling windows, aren't quite as inspired, but they're still grand and Hyatt enough. Big draws are the seven restaurants and bars, most notably Made in China, one of the best places in the city for Peking duck. The hotel is part of a mammoth complex that includes an upscale shopping mall, cinema, and a wide range of places to eat—so the wows keep coming.

An easy-to-like (if costly) slice of luxury, this 63-story tower hotel offers plenty of pampering (just imagine your own spa-inspired bathroom with oversized rain shower, deep-soak tub, and heated floors), with large guest rooms that are a tad businesslike but packed with the obligatory modern amenities. Other pluses include the rooftop pool and excellent spa, a 360-degree views of the capital, great service, and easy access to the adjacent Yintai Center shopping mall. The China Grill restaurant serves excellent international cuisine with views to match.

Five hundred years in the making, this beguiling combination of boutique luxury and heritage architecture is one of Beijing's most romantic hotel experiences. The eight guest rooms here are housed in a once-forgotten Tibetan Buddhist Temple, painstakingly restored and strewn with thoughtful art, custom furniture pieces, and major creature comforts. The temple, called Zhizusi, or The Temple of Wisdom, was commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor in the 1600s and was one of a trio of Beijing temples designed to print Buddhist religious texts. Later it became a private residence to a prominent Tibetan Buddhist religious leader. The Dragon Phoenix room, the largest, is in a cavernous former prayer hall with tall ceilings and polished beams (and, most important, cozy under-floor heating). More modern rooms are housed in stylishly restored 1960 annexes, built when the complex was a television factory—Mao slogans inciting workers are still visible hanging from the main temple wall. The hotel is also the home of Gathered Sky, the first permanent light installation by artist James Turrell in China. Guests can attend "Sunset Session" viewings for free, and anyone can go along at sunset every Sunday to view it. Breakfast is served in-room in custom designed "bento" boxes; the Temple Restaurant Beijing shares the complex and is open for lunch and dinner.

No expense has been spared on this stunning, boutique-inspired hotel in central Wangfujing; the public areas have walls of Suzhou silk, staircases of gold-flecked Italian marble, and countless pieces of art, while guest rooms strike a delightful balance of contemporary style and high-tech luxury, with Apple TVs, Bose sound systems, Nespresso machines, Japanese toilets, heated bathroom floors, and a Samsung tablet beside the bed to control the lights, TV, and curtains, and also order various services. The building itself is astonishing—it's a gleaming latticework of copper and bronze, designed to age and oxidize over time. Brasserie 1893, the flagship eatery, is impressively kitted out with a pair of spectacular custom-made Italian ranges. Behind the main hotel building, a cluster of renovated siheyuan courtyards houses the Waldorf Hutong Villa, a palatial suite with its own swimming pool, underground cinema, and a dining room for 12 guests.

One of the capital's newest luxury hotels is in a distinctively curved, tapering tower on the east second ring road; its standout personality extends to touches like Vivid, a rooftop nightclub and lounge, and the skyline views from the guest rooms, enlivened through lozenge-shaped windows. Though this is a business hotel at heart, night owls won't be disappointed, with champagne cocktails in Vivid's rooftop garden a fine way to jump-start an evening at the restaurants and bars of nearby Sanlitun.

Glowing inside and out in rich shades of bronze and gold, the Fairmont Beijing, close to the Silk Market and the diplomatic district surrounding Ritan Park, stays just on the right side of tasteful, with guest rooms that mix marble floors and deep carpets, Japanese tech toilets, bathtub TVs, iPod players and a pillow menu. The Cut restaurant serves some of the finest (and priciest) steaks in the city, and the hotel's Wellstream Spa, located on the futuristic-sounding "skybridge," is a fine spot for posh pampering.

This two-bedroom rental cottage is part of a project that offers gorgeous self-catering stays in remote villages around the Great Wall; Grandma's Place is the pick of the bunch, created using stones salvaged from Ming and Qing Dynasty structures, as well as massive beams from an old village house, with a cozy, traditional kang—a brick bed heated from beneath—and a very private fruit garden and terrace that provides jaw-dropping views of the Great Wall. There are two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, wireless broadband, a kitchen, and laundry facilities. The Brickyard Hotel, also by the Schoolhouse brand, offers more rooms with Great Wall views nearby.

Attached to Parkview Green, Beijing’s most artsy and upscale shopping mall, this playfully ultraluxe option has "lagoon" suites with their own private swimming pools, and a fabulous art collection that includes original works by Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. Guest rooms are tricked out with some impressive comforts and hip lifestyle gadgets (3D TVs, Japanese toilets), and some come with fully equipped kitchens and prestocked fridges. All suites come with personal butler service, and though dining in the hotel itself is limited, Parkview Green has an excellent and varied selection of restaurants, including a new "express" edition of the legendary Dadong that serves some of the city’s best Peking duck.

As you might expect at one of Beijing's older luxury hotels, the guest rooms and bathrooms are pokier than current top-end expectations, but the JW makes up for it in the details: immaculate service, elegant public areas, fabulous dining (including a branch of the world-famous sushi destination Nobu), and some of the city's best high-end shopping in nearby Shin Kong Place.

With ample amounts of glass and chrome, the Ritz-Carlton could be mistaken for one of the many sleek office buildings that crowd this very business-oriented area; the interior is equally swish and contemporary, with smart East-meets-West decor that's up to the Ritz standard—its location, excellent amenities, and eager-to-please staff make it popular with tour groups as well as businesspeople. The Greenfish Café offers a great contemporary buffet (low-calorie fare); Cepe provides high-end Italian dining. The enormous health club has an indoor pool and a spa with six treatment rooms.

In an area where Ferragamo, Chanel, and other couture practically spills out onto the street, this Ritz-Carlton feels rather at home; the dinky marble lobby, mahogany-decorated rooms, excellent Italian restaurant (Barolo), and Davidoff-sponsored cigar bar feel like something from another age, which is no bad thing if you can afford it. As a time-tested symbol of old-fashioned luxury, it fits into this location as a rather quaint example of this well-known brand.