One of Beijing’s coolest boutique hotels, converted from hutong homes
With just seven guest rooms and two restaurants, the intimate Cours et Pavillons’ bright, bold design is a welcome change from the Chinese capital’s cookie-cutter five-star hotels
Opened in 2015, the hotel (“public pied-à-terre” would be a better description) was formerly two hutong homes and retains an intimate feel, although its exuberant Photoshop-plus decor makes it seem more like a walk-in artwork.
Within hailing distance of the National Art Museum of China and Peking University, Cours et Pavillons is well placed for sightseeing but happily removed from the busier parts of the capital. There are a mere seven guest rooms (below), which tend to fill up quickly even on weekdays.
Why stay here and not at a regular hotel? For a start, the renovation has been handled with admirable sensitivity. The staff make you feel as if you are staying with a friend of a friend. The restaurants are excellent. And there’s nowhere else remotely like Cours et Pavillons in the whole of Beijing. Take that, multinationals.
And so to bed. There’s a definite Italian influence in the interior design, giving the public areas a substantial United Colours of Benetton injection, which sits surprisingly well with the chinoiserie and antiques. The brightly hued lattice doors are a prime example.