Where to stay: CHINA

Designed by Tara Bernerd, The Hari is a luxury hotel located on the edge of the two vibrant districts of Causeway Bay and Wan Chai. Guestrooms maximise space by opening up the bathrooms and wardrobes, while a system of antique-brass Crittal doors enabling the bathrooms to be closed off when necessary. The palette is dominated by amber leathers, grey marble, and neutral textured linens. The hotel has a glamorous Italian restaurant and also offers a Japanese restaurant and terrace bar.

Despite being ready to swing into party mode at a minute's notice, this W hotel feels calmer than its counterparts around Asia. Glass lifts zoom new arrivals up to the sixth floor, where guests and locals mingle between the Woo Bar, The Kitchen restaurant and small reception area. Floor to ceiling windows, expansive sea and sky views and a flood of natural light make for a memorable welcome view.

According to Chinese mythology, there isn’t a man in the moon - there’s a rabbit. If you didn’t know this cultural fact before check-in, you’ll have grasped it by the time you’ve left. There are bunnies everywhere (including three pink ones flying over reception). There’s also a profusion of peonies – on carpets, curtains and mosaic floors - plus lots of lunar-themed style references. It’s done with such cheerful style, however, it manages to stay on the enjoyable side of kitsch.

The 492-room hotel received some unexpected publicity when Edward Snowden retreated there in 2013 and proceeded to spill the beans on America’s spy network. (If you want to assess room quality watch Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which was filmed in the hotel). It prides itself on its design elements. Some of these verge on the weirdly cinematic - you can easily imagine Snowden skulking around its dark maze of low-ceilinged, stripy-carpeted and mirrored corridors.

Like the location, the hotel does a good job of combining local flavour with a cheerful slickness. The corridors have Wan Chai-related art works, most of the funky knick-knacks (colourful kung-fu figures, Hong Kong-themed cushions, fish-themed bath-mats and tea sets) are for sale and each room has a directory listing the history of Wan Chai, plus recommended places to visit. The theme is inclusion not exclusion. And for daredevils, there is the glass bottomed, cantilvered pool at the 28th…

TUVE is a cutting-edge design hotel boasting minimalist interiors. The hotel is located on Hong Kong Island, just east of Victoria Park well situated for forays into the hospitality-rich Tai Hang and Causeway Bay neighbourhoods.

With Shenzhen existing as a modern, bustling tech industry city, MeeHotel envelops guests in a tranquil, bamboo-filled setting—a key element that nods to the location’s Bamboo Forest moniker. To that end, Hong Kong-based studio Panorama Design Group maximized the urban resort’s footprint with an ingenious reinterpretation of traditional design elements.

Paying homage to the local flora and fauna, and combining the brand’s signature approach to sustainable luxury, 1 Hotel Haitang Bay is the first Chinese resort from 1 Hotels. Housed within a dramatic building by Hong Kong-based Oval Partnership, with nature-informed interiors from Singapore design studio FARM, the 294-room property is firmly rooted in its context, encapsulating the biodiversity of Hainan island, an accessible location from the Chinese mainland.

Taking its name from the natural steam that rises around it, The Mist Hot Spring Hotel seems to float above the landscape. But it isn’t just the hotel’s relationship to water that makes it special. A striking stained-glass exterior and futuristic inside spaces connect guests in a unique way to the qualities of light, colour and shade. The 14 outdoor and five indoor hot spring pools take centre stage and there’s also an indoor swimming pool, fitness centre and spa.

Beautiful design hotel by Neri&Hu.

Designed by international studio LTW, whose main philosophy was ‘to showcase the hotel’s sense of place’, Pullman Kaifeng Jianye evokes the majesty of this ancient walled town in the Hénán province — modern furniture, lighting and an earthy colour palette making it recognisable as part of the luxury hotel brand.

A previously ramshackle farmhouse snuggled amid the lush emerald green hills in China’s central Hubei province has been transformed by The Design Institute of Landscape & Architecture China Academy of Art into Nanchawan•Shiwu Tribe Homestay – a bijou, four-room guesthouse.

The hotel features just 14 rooms and suites on a modest plot surrounded by green, rolling mountains and the sinewy Beihe River. It is a restoration of a 300-year-old Huizhou-style mansion, which, like the sugar mill restored by Alila Yangshuo, had been left in ruin for decades. Today, it stands as a spectacular display of Chinese heritage restored through the magic of contemporary design.

Marriott has opened the first of its lifestyle brand in China. The 158-room hotel is conveniently located right next to one of the most important transportation hubs in China, which brings together the high-speed rail, an international airport and local metro lines. With thoughtful, tech-enabled bedrooms, interactive gathering spaces and approachable service, Moxy boldly reinvents the traditional hotel stay and aims to surprise travelers with a playful, spirited and fun guest experience.

Located directly on the Huangpu River front, the hotel features probably the best views of the city (both the historic Bund and dramatic Pudong skylines). These views, along with scenes from the local South Bund neighbourhood, have enabled Hotel Indigo to create a vibrant, contemporary and inspiring space in an upscale boutique hotel context.

This luxury design hotel is set in a curvy tower in the Xintiandi entertainment district. Contemporary interiors feauture shades of red with rich hardwood and complementary gold. Well-equipped gym, spa and pool. Modern Shanghainese restaurant and French patisserie.

Thirteen antique villas dating from the Ming and Qing dynasty form the core of this remarkable resort, designed by Kerry Hill Architects. To them have been added a further 24 Courtyard suites, a vast spa representative of Aman’s increasing emphasis on wellness, and a rich variety of restaurants.

Chengdu is transforming. A melting pot that fuses rich traditions with a dynamic modern lifestyle, Chengdu-inspired international design firm Glyph Design Studio playfully named the hotel's design narrative 'Du'titude'. The design tells the city's transformation by combining its history and innovation with nods to Chengdu's most famous attractions rendered with unexpected contemporary twists.

The pared-back interiors are a well thought-out reflection of rural life: a cluster of black clay lights handmade in the nearby village of Nixi hang in the lobby; in the library there are original wicker baskets and horse bells once used by the muleteers to take tea to Lhasa. The 30 open-plan bedrooms - many of which overlook the outdoor pool and the River Yangtze and beyond - have furniture and floors made of local pine, oil paintings of the surrounding countryside and a round copper sink.

The pieces of multi-tonal stone used to construct this spa resort give the complex a pixelated appearance. Designed by Kengo Kuma and his Tokyo-based firm, the grounds terraces down a mountain outside the city of Tengchong in China's Yunnan Province. The resort is constructed from varieties of locally quarried stone, which are fitted together like a mosaic to form the walls and pitched roofs of each of the spa complex's buildings.

Inspired by Wuzhen’s picturesque maze of quiet canals and ancient alleyways, Alila Wuzhen offers an extraordinarily peaceful escape for exploring the town’s rich cultural heritage of Ming and Qing era architecture. Designed around water features and stone walkways, the 125 suites and villas are stylishly simple, with private courtyards, light wood–paneled walls, and sleek furnishings (some villas come with their own pool).

This stylish boutique hotel, as the name suggest, combines a bookstore with accommodations - definitely a trend in China.

Atelier tao+c redesigned and regenerated this 232sqm old building by inserting a capsule hotel that can accommodate 20 people, a community bookstore and library into the 7.2-meter high two-stories space. The biggest challenge to the architects, and the key to the design, is to ensure the privacy of the accommodation area while giving openness and continuity to the public areas within such a compact space.

The Shanghai-based Ares Partners converted a cluster of 1950s granary buildings into a calm modern compound of white oblong volumes lined with deeply set eaves, low stone walls, and capped with classic Chinese clay roofs. Inside, old false ceilings were removed to reveal soaring timber roof rafters, whilst existing windows in the minimalist bedrooms have been widened to impressively frame the mountain-scape.

naked Stables is the first retreat in China to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Dotted along a secluded valley, the Tree Top Villas and Earth Huts provide a choice of 121 luxury rooms. The stables are situated at the heart of the retreat. Lounge in a private jacuzzi, explore tea picking or relax by the infinity pools, dine in one of three unique restaurants or pamper yourself at naked Leaf Spa.