10.19.09
3plus1bedrooms is Uber Trendy but not very impressive
The owner of Bed Bar opens a hutong hotel with four rooms, charges US$200 and up per night, and gets a gushing review in the New York Times. Really?
I’m not really bothered by the gentrification of “Old Beijing”, and I don’t know how hotels get chosen for reviews in the NYT Travel section, but this seems like an odd choice.
Here’s a sample picture of the iPod-inspired design:
The 3+1Bedrooms site boasts of the “pure white interior”, a trait also found in just about every shabby apartment in Beijing.
Also, “Each room opens up onto its own courtyard of yearlong vegetation.” In the picture above, the cement-walled “courtyard” looks to be about the size of the typical Beijing apartment balcony — perhaps four feet wide and 12 feet long. The yearlong vegetation consists of a few spindly bamboo shoots and one small potted tree.
And then there’s the “cutting-edge five-star amenities”, such as WiFi, in-room dining (for those who prefer to avoid the whole “complete immersion in traditional Beijing” thing) , and “art materials”–but no TV (though they’ll give you one if you request it).
The Times review calls it a “a minimalist’s dream — more clean than cold”. It definitely is minimal, but even with central heating, it looks like it’s going to be just as painfully cold as any hutong room in Beijing’s winter.
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