Hospitality Design - January/February 2014 - 85

for. The challenge was when to be lavish and exotic-to strike a balance
and pick our moments while providing breaks from the extravagance."
"Since it opened, Four Seasons' outlets are always full," says Connie
Kang, director of design at the Guangzhou office of Steve Leung Designers,
the firm responsible for Four Seasons' signature restaurant, Catch.
"People go there to check out the view or conduct business. Guangzhou
is not really a resort place: it's an urban center. Visitors will choose big
brands for a hotel. And developers will choose international firms to
design them, or firms from southern China that have a reputation for being
detail-oriented."

1. Andrew Bromberg
of Aedas makes a bold
architectural statement
with the Langham Place,
Guangzhou.
2. A luxurious suite at
the Spa at the Mandarin
Oriental Guangzhou.

3. The eye-catching
reception hall of the
Langham Place.
4. Guests enjoy city
views from a suite at
the Marriott Guangzhou
Tianhe.

Growth Oriented

See Ping Wang, partner in HBA's Shanghai office, is seeing every sector
expanding in Guangzhou. "We have just unveiled luxury serviced
apartments at Fraser Suites, and we are working on private clubs, urban
hotels, and outer city resorts."
Liu Wei Li, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, design and technical
services with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, believes that though competition
is tough, the city can use the variety from hotels such as the 317-room W.
"The key word is dream," he says. "Hospitality is a vessel to carry people's
dreams. Guangzhou people transformed themselves from farmers to
manufacturers. Through trade and speaking with foreigners, their dreams
get bigger."
"I've been watching China over the past 25 years and people here aren't
that much different," say Glenn Pushelberg of Yabu Pushelberg, the lead
designer for W Guangzhou. "There is an influx of people coming here for
events such as the Canton Fair. It's a youthful city."
The 263-room Mandarin Oriental, part of the Swire's TaiKoo Hui
complex designed by Arquitectonica, was unveiled last summer. As it is
neither an international nor domestic brand, its strengths are its strategic

location in a busy commercial hub and Tony Chi's thoughtful combination
of Chinese antiques and subtle interpretation of contemporary luxury.
With the opening of Langham Place, Guangzhou and its bold
architectural design courtesy of Andrew Bromberg of Aedas, Guangzhou's
hospitality development shifts yet again to the new convention district of
Pazhou. Joining Shangri-La and Westin, Langham Place is a 500-room
property in the Nan Fung International Convention & Exhibition Center
complex with its 30,000-square-foot Great Hall, currently Guangzhou's
largest pillar-free ballroom.
"In the pipeline, we will see resorts in Nansha, technology parks in
Luogang, and hotels in Huadu near the international airport and in the
suburb of Panyu," advises Tao.

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