The 242 best luxury hotels in China

Which of the best hotels in China suit you depends first of all on the region.Fairmont Peace Hotel ShanghaiShanghai is the choice for skyline, Art Deco and evenings by the river. On the Bund you stay at the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai, the former Cathay Hotel of 1929, where the Old Jazz Band plays every evening. Across the river in Pudong, the Mandarin Oriental Pudong Shanghai displays around 4,000 works of art. If you would rather stay in a lane than in a tower, book the Capella Shanghai Jian Ye Li in the former French Concession, with 55 restored shikumen houses.Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing BeijingIn Beijing the luxury hotels lie close to the Forbidden City: from many rooms at the Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing Beijing you look out over its roofs, and on Goldfish Lane The Peninsula Beijing welcomes guests in suites only. Out in the green, Commune by The Great Wall has villas by twelve Asian architects right at the Great Wall. In neighboring Tianjin, The Ritz-Carlton Tianjin sits in the former British concession on the Haihe River.

Sichuan combines city and mountains. In Chengdu you stay at Upper House Chengdu, arranged around a restored Qing dynasty courtyard next to the Daci Temple. On Mount Qingcheng, Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain is laid out as a Taoist-inspired village with a canal and arched bridges. At the gateway to the UNESCO-listed Jiuzhaigou valley you look out over the Zhongcha Valley from the Conrad Jiuzhaigou; nearby, Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve spreads its 87 villas in the style of Tibetan villages.

The luxury hotels on Hainan face the South China Sea. In Sanya the Mandarin Oriental Sanya lies on the private Coral Bay, and the Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort on its own white sandy beach in Sunny Bay. Further northeast, on Tufu Bay, the Capella Tufu Bay Hainan has rooms from 88 square meters. In Haikou, in the north of the island, The Ritz-Carlton Haikou is a golf resort in the volcanic landscape of Mission Hills.

In the Pearl River Delta, the luxury hotels sit high above the rooftops. In Guangzhou the Rosewood Guangzhou occupies the top 39 floors of the 530-meter CTF Finance Centre, with views of the Canton Tower. In Shenzhen you stay at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen on floors 67 to 79 of a tower in Futian, and in Zhuhai The St. Regis Zhuhai looks out over the water from the Zhuhai Tower.

At no extra cost: you pay the same rate as booking direct with the hotel – the suitespot benefits come on top, free of charge.

Around Hangzhou and Suzhou you stay among lakes, gardens and canals. In Hangzhou, The Silk Lakehouse Shangri-La Hangzhou lies on the north shore of West Lake, designed like the house of a silk merchant; five minutes’ walk from the lake you stay at the Midtown Shangri-La Hangzhou. In Suzhou, the facade of The Ritz-Carlton Suzhou in the historic Gusu district echoes the city’s blue-tiled roofs, and in Nanjing The Ritz-Carlton Nanjing looks out from Deji Plaza over Xuanwu Lake and Purple Mountain.

In Xi'an you stay inside the Ming city wall: the Sofitel Legend People's Grand Xian, dating from 1953, has just 71 rooms, all with butler service. In the high-tech zone, The Ritz-Carlton Xi'an draws on the northern Silk Road, with pipa music in the evening. In Changsha you stay at the Park Hyatt Changsha high above the city, and in Chongqing at the InterContinental Chongqing Raffles City, whose lobby sits in a glass sky bridge around 250 meters above the confluence of the Yangtze and the Jialing.

On the coast of Fujian lies Xiamen: at the Conrad Xiamen every room looks across the sea to Gulangyu Island. On the car-free island itself you stay at HUANG YAN 36 Hotel Xiamen, with just nine rooms, all with a terrace. In Quanzhou, the Kaipuu Belfry Quanzhou lies in the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with views of the twin pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple.