Guangzhou, the 18 million strong tech and manufacturing powerhouse, was my place of entry for my first ever visit to China, on 31st July 2018. I was only staying one night and I wanted to book a stunning hotel, to make the most of it. And so I booked The Four Seasons Hotel in the heart of the city. This was to be my first experience of the highly regarded Four Seasons chain and I’d chosen it because of the brand reputation and because the hotel is housed in the upper floors of the IFC building, a massive new skyscraper with views over the city, the Canton Tower landmark, and the Pearl River.

I had arranged to be met at the airport and for a hotel car to transfer us to the hotel, which went very smoothly.  It’s a 45 minute journey and my first impressions of China were very good, as we drove along litter-free, tree-lined roads full of hybrid and electric cars, without a smoking chimney or factory in sight!  I was equally impressed when we arrived at the Guangzhou International Finance Centre building which towers over the “Pearl River New City” area, and which had a large, golden ‘statement’ sculpture outside. It felt like we were visiting a large corporate HQ rather than checking into a luxury hotel. We were whisked into a lift and taken to the hotel reception on the 70th floor, which had quite a busy buzz about it (the photo below was taken early morning when we checked out). There are more artworks here, and one can look up through a central ‘atrium’ type space to see the more than 30 floors above.

Check-in was swift and friendly, then we were shown up to our room on the 91st floor.  I’d chosen the Club Premier Room Canton Tower on the hotel’s website and then booked it through American Express at the same price (CNY2500, circa £280) but with extra benefits. The hotel’s website says these rooms are between the 93rd and 98th floors, but the 91st didn’t bother me! “Club” meant we had access to the Club Room on the 99th floor – a nice lounge area with complimentary drinks and snacks, where breakfast was also served to guests with ‘Club access’ (but one can also take breakfast on the 70th floor with everyone else if one chooses to.). The “Canton Tower” part of the room name meant we had views across the Pearl River to the city’s landmark television tower. It turned out we were looking  down on it, we were so high up!

The room was huge; much larger than I was expecting, to the extent that I had to ask if they had upgraded me (they hadn’t).  Inside the doorway was a dining table and chairs, close to the coffee pod machine, then a living room space with comfortable chairs and a sofa, plus a large flat TV, which lead to a glass desk for working and floor to ceiling windows to give light and a great view of the city, river and Canton Tower.

Next door was the bedroom which had a super-king bed and small sofa and which lead directly into the bathroom area. This had a large, white, egg-shaped stone bathtub and twin washbasins, and, behind doors, a large shower room and a Japanese-style electric toilet.  Throughout the suite were large white angled pillars, which I assumed to be part of the building’s super-structure and which I hoped would provide stability in the event of an earthquake or a Typhoon!

On the subject of emergency situations, I was interested to see that personal smoke hoods were provided, which, I imagine, are useful if you have to evacuate the building down 90 flights of stairs!

After changing we went up to the Club Lounge on the 99th floor, grabbed a table by the window and relaxed with a glass of wine and some snacks.  I have to admit that I suffer a little with vertigo, and with my disorientation from jet lag, I was very cautious approaching the large windows!  But by the next morning, when we sat at the same table for a good breakfast, I was already feeling more comfortable with the altitude.  As we were tired and jet-lagged, we didn’t have much of an appetite that evening, so the light food available in the Club Lounge was sufficient for us both.

The hotel has a spa, which we booked for a 60 minute “Traditional Chinese” massage each, at the same time, in the same room.  The spa area is attractive, calming and welcoming, and it shares its space with the hotel’s fitness facilities, the pool, sauna and steam room. The spa receptionist took us to the male changing rooms where a young man allocated us a locker each and gave us towels, robes and slippers.  Once changed we had a ginger tea in the lounge area before we were taken to our treatment room.  I enjoyed the massage which combined what I would call deep tissue and pressure point massage, with a bit of Thai thrown in. It felt very healing after our long haul flight earlier in the day.  The massages cost CNY2915 in total (c£326), but I’d been incentivised to have one because I got a US$100 spa credit by booking through Amex.

We did enjoy our short stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou. It gave us a glimpse of the modern, high tech China, our room was stunning and service was very good and friendly.  A waitress in the Club Lounge, who’s anglo-name was Jessica was particularly warm with us and even put us in contact with a former colleague of hers who is now at the next hotel on our itinerary, so that we had a ‘contact’ there even before we arrived.  If I’m frank, this warmth from a female stranger surprised and impressed me. In Japan (which I love) ladies are more often too guarded or shy to engage much with foreign men.

But… my mind couldn’t completely get round the fact we were in an ‘office block’, as so much of the place seemed to have been designed as such. I couldn’t feel a ‘soul’ to the place, and I couldn’t tell you what the hospitality concept or philosophy of the Four Seasons group is. I didn’t feel its distinct personality.

Would I stay again? Yes, if I were in Guangzhou.  Would I go to a different Four Seasons somewhere else? Yes, because I want to really feel where it gets its reputation from.  8/10