Luxury Amid the Chinese Countryside: The Wuyuan Skywells Hotel
The Beijing architecture firm Anyscale has recently completed a new luxury boutique hotel in a village just north of Wuyuan, China. The Wuyuan Skywells Hotel features just 14 rooms and suites on a modest plot surrounded by green, rolling mountains and the sinewy Beihe River. The hotel is a restoration of a 300-year-old Huizhou-style mansion, which had been left in ruin for decades. Today, it stands as a spectacular display of Chinese heritage restored through the magic of contemporary design.
Just like its surrounding region, The Wuyuan Skywells Hotel is full of history. Three centuries ago, a merchant opened an inn for business travelers on the site. 150 years later, the original property was expanded with a formal hall and animal yard. By the turn of the 20th century, it had been taken over as an orphanage, and after that, it served as an office for the local village commune. Quotations from Chairman Mao’s red book still adorn the walls.
Alongside its 14 rooms and suites, the Wuyuan Skywells Hotel features a third-floor library that overlooks the rooftops of the surrounding village homes. In traditional Chinese fashion, there’s a tea room, where guests can taste wild teas collected on the mountains surrounding the village. There’s also a restaurant serving Chinese and Western dishes, and a bar with a hint of English country pub.
Though the exterior of the hotel has been carefully restored to ensure it blends in with the surrounding village, the hotel’s interiors are modern and sleek. The restaurant is a rectangle enclosed in glass, while the bar features contemporary furnishings that resemble those of a Cathay Pacific airport lounge. The rooms and suites are painted largely neutral with splashes of color on an accent wall. In keeping with the Huizhou style of home-building, all of the guest rooms face inward toward the central courtyard. All things considered, the property does an excellent job striking a balance between its rich Chinese roots and the modern luxuries travelers have come to expect.
As for getting to Wuyuan, there are two good ways: First are the high-speed trains, which take 3 hours from Shanghai or 7 hours from Beijing. If you prefer to fly, direct flights to nearby Huangshan (TXN) are available from Xi’an, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and Shenzhen, just across the Chinese border from Hong Kong. The drive from Huangshan to Wuyuan takes 60-90 minutes. But once there, you are immediately transported to the tranquility of the past.
The 10 Best Beaches in America
Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, Trip Advisor has released its annual Traveler’s Choice Awards, which ranks the top destinations, hotels, airlines and other categories as chosen by the site’s millions of users.
Among the awards are the best beaches in America and in the 2018 rankings, Florida has six in the top ten—including No. 1—making it the go-to destination for those who love the sea and sand. Here are this year’s best beaches:
10. Lanikai Beach (Kailua, Hawaii)
Regularly topping the list of Oahu’s many beautiful beaches, Lanikai literally translates to ‘heavenly ocean.’ And for most visitors, it lives up to that name. Set on the windward east side of Oahu, this half-mile stretch of golden sands, above, and impossibly azure waters may be small but still offers seclusion and gorgeous views of nearby islands Na Mokulua, only a short kayak paddle away.
9. Santa Monica State Beach (Santa Monica, California)
During summer months, Santa Monica—famous from films and TV and its vintage pier—becomes a world unto itself. Its popularity also stems from its setting and proximity to the wonders of Los Angeles beyond. And if you’re so inclined, the surf can be great—so don’t forget your board.
8. Hollywood Beach (Hollywood, California)
While the party elite head to Miami, beautiful Hollywood Beach, above, is the locals’ favorite. Perfect for an evening stroll, the two-and-a-half-mile ‘boardwalk’ offers a very serene way to get your daily exercise. It’s also surprisingly cheap compared to many other Florida beaches, so rent a cabana, bury your feet in the sand, sit back and relax.
7. Saint Pete Beach (St. Petersburg, Florida)
A previous winner of the U.S. best beach award and a top-ten spot in the global awards speaks volumes about St. Pete Beach’s credentials. This stretch of sand is all about relaxation, detachment and getting away from it all. Totally laid-back and not far from Clearwater Beach, it boasts an unbelievable 361 days of sunshine on average each year.
6. Fort Lauderdale Beach (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
Loved for its culture, arts and events scene, Fort Lauderdale is already a fantastic place to visit for vacationers, but roll in its lovely long beaches, above, and it’s not far from the perfect mix. The landscaped beach promenade is famed for its white wave wall and easy scenic strolling.
5. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (Honolulu, Hawaii)
This protected marine life conservation area, below, is a haven for nature enthusiasts and those looking to escape the crowds. Daily visitor numbers are limited and first timers have to watch a nine-minute video that explains the importance of the ecosystem and how to behave when visiting. Nature at its finest.
4. South Beach (Miami, Florida)
Famed South Beach is as renowned for its nightlife as its beautiful sunshine. And when you do decide to step away from the beach, you’ll fall for the gorgeous Art Deco architecture of the local restaurants, hotels and apartments. A haven for the rich, famous and beautiful, you’ll never quite understand South Beach until you’ve been there.
3. Ka’anapali Beach (Lahania, Hawaii)
On Maui’s west coast, running from Black Rock to Canoe Beach, Ka’anapali Beach, below, is a mile-long stretch of perfect sand fronted by world-class resorts and fringed with palm trees and long, lazy walkways. There’s snorkeling, cliff jumping (and watching), seven resorts and every amenity you could wish for.
2. Siesta Beach (Siesta Key, Florida)
Also famed for its fine white sand and luminous waters, Siesta Key is an eight-mile stretch of island paradise. Not far from Sarasota and adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, it has plenty of room for visitors of every kind, whether you’re looking for seclusion on a romantic getaway or the amenities for a family vacation.
1. Clearwater Beach (Clearwater, Florida)
Claiming the top spot, Clearwater Beach, above, is a year-round destination famed for its fine sand, shallow waters and dolphins swimming just off shore. Nearby Caladesi Island at the north end of Clearwater has also won accolades for its beauty, as has the beach town with its fine restaurants and family-friendly lodgings.
Travel Wise
Business travelers on US airlines have often felt they were boarding Noah’s Ark, encountering emotional support roosters, snakes, pigs, monkeys, hamsters, dogs and even a purported emotional support peacock that ruffled United’s feathers. Now American Airlines has followed United and Delta in an attempt to bring some order to the menagerie.
American recently released a list of ‘enhanced requirements’ for traveling with a service animal. If an approved animal meets the list of requirements, for example, it can fly with you if it can fit at your feet, under your seat or in your lap. If the animal is to be seated on your lap, it must be smaller than a 2-year-old child. And “emotional support and service animals” (categories that many experts believe are quite different) cannot protrude into or block aisles, occupy a seat, and, no matter how cute or clean, eat from tray tables. Also, traveling with a support animal will bar both of you from sitting in comfortable exit row seats for safety reasons.
Your guide to luxury travel—and life’s other indulgences.
The First Delta 777 with New Business Class Suites Takes Off in July
In 2016, Delta revealed the concept for its new all-suites Delta One business class and announced that the suites would first appear aboard the airline’s 25 Airbus A350 jets along with a new premium economy section called Premium Select. The airline currently has eight of these planes in service on various routes from its hubs in Detroit and Atlanta, with service between Los Angeles and Shanghai launching in July.
Then in May 2017, it was reported that Delta would also reconfigure its fleet of Boeing 777-200s with the new business class and premium economy seats. The first of these refitted jets is expected go into service in July (from Detroit to Beijing) with an additional route launching in March 2019 (on the Los Angeles to Sydney route), with further route announcements expected in the coming weeks.
Here’s what you can expect with the new business class on the 777-200: After the reconfiguration, the aircraft will have 28 seats in business class (a nearly 25% reduction), 48 Premium Select seats (a third more than the previous layout) and 220 economy seats (an addition of just two seats).
As with the A350, the Delta One suites will be arranged in a 1 – 2 – 1 pattern, recline up to 81 inches and be about 21 inches wide. Each will have a door and an 18-inch entertainment monitor, a Do Not Disturb light indicator, customizable individual ambient lighting settings, dedicated stowage spaces for personal belongings like electronic devices and shoes, memory foam cushions and universal power outlets and high-powered USB ports. Passengers should also expect the soft touches like Westin Heavenly In-Flight Bedding and TUMI amenity kits.
Premium Select seats will be laid out in a 2 – 4 – 2 pattern with 38 inches of pitch, seven inches of recline and 19 inches wide. They will have 13.3-inch in-flight entertainment screens and in-seat power outlets. Passengers will also be treated to premium service and amenities including Sky Priority access at the airport, TUMI kits and Westin Heavenly blankets.
The one major downside of all of these new configurations is for Delta Medallion members. As of now, Medallion members are not eligible for complimentary upgrades to Premium Select, and since there will be no Comfort+ seats on these planes, they will be out of luck for extra legroom in economy. Due to the huge reduction in the number of business class seats, upgrades to Delta One will also be harder to come by. Then again, traveling first class always comes with a price.
