Graceful and Wise, Classic Heritage: A Stay at Crowne Plaza Guangzhou City Centre

📍 Guangzhou · 👁 4676 reads · ❤️ 24 likes

In this age, romance is nowhere to be found, bullets and fleeing have nothing to do with me.

I’m sorry for everything in this city, slowly growing, walking, living a drifting life.

Lost beauty is the light of old days; illusory longing is the fate of the future.

The Guangdong International Building, where Crowne Plaza Guangzhou City Centre is located, was once the tallest building with the most floors in mainland China in the 1990s, known among old Guangzhou locals as the '63-storey'. The innovative architectural structure used at that time remains relevant even today. Although the exterior color palette and glass curtain wall give the building a plain look, once you enter the hotel, you’ll find the interior decoration, room configurations, functional zoning, and business facilities all perfectly match your expectations of a five-star hotel from a renowned international chain. The brand is positioned to serve business travelers, understated yet full of substance. At the same time, this Crowne Plaza hotel was once a benchmark for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in Guangzhou.

Ancient knots and carved walls,

The city yearns and remembers,

Whom we meet,

Still harboring past tenderness.

The hotel is situated in Guangzhou's traditional commercial center — the Huanshi East Road area, adjacent to Guangdong TV Station. Across the pedestrian bridge is Central Plaza. Walk 540 meters along the Huanshi East Road auxiliary road and Huanshi Middle Road auxiliary road to Exit C of Xiaobei Station on Metro Line 5; walk 430 meters along Huanshi East Road to Exit B of Taojin Station on Metro Line 5. It is 30 kilometers from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, 3 kilometers from Guangzhou Railway Station, 7.5 kilometers from Guangzhou East Railway Station, 25 kilometers from Guangzhou South Railway Station, and 13 kilometers from the Canton Fair Pazhou Complex. Nearby business circles, famous hotels, and office buildings include: The Garden Hotel, La Perle Plaza, Guangzhou Friendship Store, Guangzhou World Trade Center Building, Baiyun Hotel, etc. Nearby attractions (within a 10-minute drive) include: Huanghuagang 72 Martyrs Cemetery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Baiyun Mountain, Yuexiu Park, Luhu Park, Beijing Road Pedestrian Street, etc. The prime location and convenience of travel are reflected in the data.

Decoration style: It is understood that when the Crowne Plaza brand took over, a huge investment was made and more than two years were spent on a complete overhaul of the interior layout. Currently, the hotel's overall style, from carpets and walls to soft furnishings, is mainly decorated with irregular petal lines and floral pattern paintings, with a color scheme that is restrained yet modern. The furniture in the rooms — bed frames, sofas, desks, swivel chairs — all have a look and feel of durability and classic heritage, inspiring trust.

If you're not familiar with Guangzhou, you might not notice the subtle 'flower' motif in the soft furnishings. Guangzhou is located on the subtropical coast, with the Tropic of Cancer passing through its central-south part, featuring a maritime subtropical monsoon climate characterized by warmth, abundant rainfall, plentiful sunshine, long summers, and short frost periods. With water and heat occurring simultaneously throughout the year and ample rainfall, it is conducive to plant growth, making it the 'City of Flowers' that is evergreen and blooming all year round.

Room views: The hotel boasts 463 comfortable and elegant rooms, 5 distinctive restaurants and lounges, 11 meeting rooms with advanced facilities, and an attentive service team, making it an ideal gathering place for business and leisure travelers from both home and abroad.

The rooms and suites overlook two major urban landscapes: the night view of the Pearl River cityscape and the Yuntai-Luhu scenery, sparkling especially after dark.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, so my plan to shoot from the 63rd-floor helipad perspective had to be abandoned.

Bathroom amenities: The Crowne Plaza customized Italian natural mineral spring bath brand Borghese offers strong cleansing power, a subtle fragrance, and a gentle formula suitable for various weather conditions and skin types, especially fitting for the humid and hot southern region.

Bathroom fittings: Full set of Kohler, fairly standard; I hope that in the next upgrade, smart toilets can be installed. The bathroom features a wet-dry separation and a quick-heat constant-temperature shower, very user-friendly. Depending on the room type, square or oval bathtubs are provided.

Bedding and linens: Linens by Canasin, mattresses by King Koil. Personally, I prefer softer mattresses, and King Koil's support fully protects my spine and waist. The latex and sponge layers are relatively thick, wrapping the body well, while the outer knitted fabric and silk-cotton material ensure breathability and a comfortable temperature. Individually pocketed high-carbon manganese steel springs prevent disturbance when one turns over, maintaining elasticity and silence. Of course, bedding is highly subjective, and you need to sleep on it yourself to know.

Smart devices: Bedside and desk side panels feature universal power sockets compatible with various plug types. The desk side panel includes audio, video, HD, and network interfaces. The 360-degree rotatable TV wall not only allows guests to watch TV while lying in bed but also serves to separate functional areas. Visitors in the outer meeting area can use the TV to watch business video materials without entering the bedroom.

Facilities: The outdoor heated pool on the 6th floor maintains a temperature of 27-29°C year-round. Besides the well-equipped fitness center and yoga studio, the hotel also has two tennis courts. If indoor cardio exercise gets boring, you can sweat it out on the tennis court.

Across millennia of moonlight and daybreak,

Following moving stories into miracles,

Only then do I realize that grace without is you, and wisdom within is also you.

Time and space parallel and intersect,

Thus we encounter joy and sorrow,

Doubt, when obsessed,

Is both grand and humble.

Dining: The executive lounge on the 56th floor has reopened. Of course, what draws more attention is the hotel's all-day dining restaurant. At the 5th-floor Huanshi Food Court, you can enjoy a rich buffet breakfast. Make a bowl of congee with meats and vegetables of your choice, or indulge at the noodle station with rice noodle rolls, yi mein, pulled noodles, flat noodles, and even Chongqing spicy noodles and hot dry noodles. Toppings include: pickled fish, braised chicken with mushrooms, wonton noodles, shredded pork with pickled mustard, sweet vinegar pig trotters, egg and tomato, pork ribs with potato, braised intestine, green pepper shredded pork, braised beef brisket, snow vegetable shredded pork, minced meat with beans... Is that enough? Why not add some Cantonese morning tea essentials: chicken feet in sauce, siu mai, har gow, barbecued pork buns, tripe, black pepper short ribs, garlic steamed spare ribs, choy sum...

In addition to the diverse Cantonese delicacies, there are also traditional Chinese hot dishes and Western dishes, even a kids’ dessert zone with cute-looking treats. For a five-star hotel catering to business travelers, this is truly thoughtful.

Opening hours are 06:00–10:30, a generous 4.5-hour dining window.

Moreover, the 4th-floor Baiyue Lou Chinese Restaurant offers Cantonese dim sum and cuisine all day. During my stay, when taking the elevator, I often encountered locals heading there to dine.

The 1st-floor lobby Café D’Or not only provides takeaway afternoon tea sets but also occasionally holds Hong Kong-style milk tea mini-classes with hands-on teaching. You can fully experience Hong Kong milk tea, lemon tea, five-star pastries, milk tea culture introduction, and hand-brewed milk tea demonstrations. Truly, 'teaching one to fish is better than giving one a fish.'

From understanding dining customs to gaining regional cultural insights, a hotel with rich connotations gives attentive guests fresh rewards.

Transcending soul, body, and the primordial universe,

Along Earth’s axis into the heart,

Only then do I know that classic is you, and heritage is also you.

If I walk toward you all my life,

Or kiss eternity as a flash,

Doubt, in the ice age,

Buried its scheming.

Future and past, I only want to see you,

Beautiful enough to pierce consciousness,

Opening destiny, to surpass life and death.

The author is a special photographer for AirAsia, Tourism Malaysia, Tourism Thailand, and the Embassy of Canada in China; a financial writer; an all-media professional; a signed travel writer; a signed photographer; and a winner of Yunnan News Awards (Online Commentary Award, Innovative News Award).