Best foot forward in temple area

Andrew Whitaker heads New World Beijing Hotel. Provided to China Daily

If you want to be nearer to Beijing's ancient architectural icons, you could not do better than staying at the New World Beijing Hotel, the first five-star hotel in Chongwenmen.

Opened in November 2013, the 309-room hotel is within walking distance from Temple of Heaven, and a few kilometers away from the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square and the Wangfujing shopping areas. Since the 1990s, Chongwenmen has been one of Beijing's fastest growing commercial areas.

"Our hotel is very well located. It's good for leisure guests because it's close to the must-see scenic spots. It's also good for those who are doing business in different areas due to convenient transport," says Andrew Whitaker, general manager of the hotel. He is an Asia veteran of many years and was general manager in New World Dalian Hotel before coming to Beijing.

"It's true that there are many five-star hotels in Beijing, but not in Chongwenmen. We're happy to be the pioneer here," he says.

China has five New World Hotels including Shanghai, Dalian and Shunde. All seven hotels in the pipeline are in second- and third-tier cities, such as Guiyang, Haikou and Foshan.

"These cities have much potential. Like New World Beijing Hotel, many of our hotels are part of mixed-use development, with retail shops and shopping centers. That's why we are successful. It's convenient," Whitaker says.

The group owns and manages most of its hotels.

"We have much stronger interest in making sure everything is right because it belongs to us," he says. "We also manage hotels. When we become management, we understand what the owner is thinking because we are owners of our own hotels. It's a big advantage for us."

According to him, New World Beijing Hotel has some of the largest hotel rooms in the capital. The smallest room is 47 square meters. Its design is more residential, with focus on details.

"It feels more like you are at somebody's home than a commercial hotel. For example, there are many ornaments and artworks in our rooms," he says.

Whitaker notes that Chinese, especially the younger generation, are using more social networking services such as micro blogs and WeChat and the hotel just launched a WeChat account for its Yin Bar, which will open in April or May.

People can book a table in the bar from WeChat and enjoy the unique outdoor fireplace.

"Two years ago we may have had a website for the bar. Now we don't need a website because nobody uses that. Maybe some years later there will be something new instead of WeChat," he says.

Whitaker says compared with more than a decade ago, many Chinese guests have traveled overseas. They've seen different hotels and tasted different cuisines in the world.

"When they come back to China, their expectations are higher. That is the big change over the years. Also, hotel brands are much more important than in the past. Just like buying a car, guests choose a hotel because of the brand," he says.