After Six Years of Operation, Qingdao Lalu Hotel Turns 'Green' and Grows Even More Beautiful!

Since its opening in 2014, I have made it a point to stay at the Lalu every time I visit Qingdao. My first stay was in the summer of 2015, and I was utterly amazed, marveling at how such a wonderfully exquisite hotel could exist. From then on, the Qingdao Lalu was added to my 'must-stay hotels in this lifetime' list.

| The Lalu in twilight blues, like a piece of art that is indescribably beautiful |

My second stay was in October 2018, and I made it a point to eat my way through several of the hotel's restaurants. The Qingdao Lalu successfully conquered my taste buds, so every time I think of going to Qingdao, my mind replays the delicious food there.

My third stay was at the beginning of December this year. The temperature in Qingdao had basically dropped to around 5°C, and the sea breeze was a bit strong, but the warm sun at noon felt very comfortable. This time, I primarily came for the hotel's hot spring.

Qingdao is a tourist city with very distinct high and low seasons. July to October is the peak season, with lots of people and beautiful scenery. As November arrives and the weather cools, the number of tourists drops sharply. In reality, winter in Qingdao is not as unattractive as people imagine. The sea remains clear and blue. If it snows, the Badaguan area takes on a whole different charm.

Additionally, winter is a great time for hot springs in Qingdao. The seaside hot spring at the Lalu Hotel has multiple benefits, including pain relief and speeding up metabolism, making it an excellent choice for healing a tired body and mind.

In the hotel's SPA center, both the men's and women's changing rooms have separate soaking pools. The spacious indoor pools rival ancient Roman baths. They are primarily made of beige marble and granite, with elegant tones and grand designs.

There are three soaking pools at three different temperatures, and you can soak nude. You can start by soaking in the 38°C pool for 10 minutes, then switch to the 26°C cold pool. Then soak in the 42°C pool for 10 minutes, then back to the 26°C cold pool. For the final cycle, after 10 minutes of dry and steam sauna, you soak in the 26°C cold pool again. These three hot-cold cycles give you a wonderfully invigorating experience.

If you go with a few good friends, you can also rent the hotel's outdoor seaside pool. This area is available for exclusive use only, priced at around 2800 RMB. This should be the closest soaking pool to the sea in Qingdao, where you can soak while enjoying the sea view—perfectly relaxing.

Besides soaking, you can also embark on an in-depth exploration of the Qingdao Lalu Hotel.

Suite-Level Sea-View Rooms at 100 Square Meters

The reason I love the Lalu so much is that even after six years since its opening, Qingdao still has no competitor that can match it.

The hotel has 160 rooms, all with sea views, starting at 100 square meters. Each one is a suite-level ocean-view room, setting a high standard from the start that other hotels find hard to match.

The rooms come with spacious walk-in closets, separate dressing tables, and even beach shoes and bags—truly the amenities of a resort hotel.

A full wall of floor-to-ceiling glass faces the sea. Whether lying in bed or sitting on the sofa, you can enjoy a 270-degree sea view, feeling a sense of unity with the sea and sky.

The open-style bathtub allows you to soak while enjoying the beautiful view outside. The details are also well executed; the towel rack is temperature-adjustable, so you can enjoy warm towels after your bath.

Every morning, you must not miss the spectacular sunrise over the sea. The golden egg yolk slowly rises from the horizon, dyeing the sea and sky red. The scene is absolutely stunning and unforgettable.

Appreciate the Master's Design

Experience multicultural influences

In my view, the Qingdao Lalu is not just a hotel; it is also an art museum or gallery designed by a master architect. It is the proud work of Kerry Hill, the godfather of luxury hotel design, with design fees alone reaching 360 million RMB.

The hotel's design was inspired by shipping containers at the port. Mr. Kerry Hill, upon seeing the large number of containers piled up in Qingdao's port, had his inspiration and used long containers as the design prototype for the Qingdao Lalu.

During construction, the budget was repeatedly exceeded. Originally planned to invest 100 million USD, the final cost quadrupled to 3 billion RMB. For example, the hotel's exterior copper mesh, imported from Germany, cost over 100 million RMB alone.

After six years of sea breeze erosion, the copper mesh has turned a beautiful turquoise color. I think this is the only hotel among the countless ones designed by Mr. Kerry Hill that changes color. If he were still alive, he would be very happy to let the world see this 'little trick' he insisted on.

| The hotel's exterior when it first opened |

| The hotel's exterior now |

Entering this hotel, which covers nearly 150,000 square meters, you can fully appreciate Kerry Hill's profound understanding of Eastern aesthetics. The hotel mainly uses four natural and understated materials: raw wood, granite, glass, and metal, creating a building that seems to 'grow' from the natural landscape.

At the hotel entrance, there is a water feature with a piece of earth in the water, on which three pine trees stand. Every evening, flames rise from the pool, golden in color, representing the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This water feature is a cornucopia that gathers water and wealth, with an excellent symbolic meaning.

Entering the lobby, you can enjoy a panoramic sea view from three sides. On the left is the front desk and reception area; on the right is a full wall of floor-to-ceiling glass windows, offering an unobstructed sea view.

Directly ahead is a Japanese dry landscape garden, and beyond that is the hotel's Long Bar. To ensure guests see the sea as soon as they enter, Kerry Hill specially lowered the bar counter by 70 cm—a thoughtful touch.

The land of Qilu is the hometown of Confucius and the birthplace of Confucian culture. So at the Qingdao Lalu, you can feel strong Confucian cultural elements, such as thread-bound editions of the Analects, bronze sculptures, cultural relics, and chime bells.

To the right of the hotel entrance, there is a row of chime bells. On special occasions like holidays, there are performances of chime bells, allowing people to travel back in time amidst the melodious, heavy metallic sounds.

On the wall of the elevator lobby on the right side of the lobby, the character for 'Confucian' (儒) is made from 1,888 brush tips pieced together, conveying a grand commemoration of classical culture.

Moreover, Kerry Hill is adept at using the changes of light and shadow and water reflections to create scenery. For example, the long staircase connecting all hotel facilities has 103 steps, and at different times of the day, it produces varying light and shadow effects. You can treat it as a thoroughfare, but young people turn it into their own runway, with various light-and-shadow photo shoots happening at any time.

In the guest room corridors, sunlight filters through the copper mesh during the day, casting strips of light and shadow on the corridor. As people walk through, it creates a flowing pattern of light and shadow, full of meaning.

At night, the bamboo shadows sway on the glass walls, resembling freehand ink wash paintings. Every step reveals a new scene, offering different visual feasts by day and night—a testament to the exquisite design.

Revisit Classic Cuisine

Full Coverage of Chinese, Japanese, and Western Food

Eating is also a major reason I can't forget the Lalu, and all these unforgettable dishes were revisited this time.

Wara Japanese Restaurant

This restaurant is built on the beach. Its biggest feature is that seafood arrives fresh daily, allowing guests to enjoy the freshest sashimi. There are also several private rooms available, some with sea views, making it an ideal place for small, intimate gatherings.

Shui Sha Lian Chinese Restaurant

Using local ingredients and incorporating traditional Taiwanese cooking techniques, it inherits the essence of the Lalu's Jiang family private cuisine, serving classic dishes that are passed down by word of mouth. The signature dish—jar-roasted chicken—is a must-order every time.

In addition, the Eleven Chefs Buffet Restaurant offers self-service dinner, including weekend brunch and dinner. For a romantic dinner for two, the Encounter Restaurant is the ideal choice, offering seafood feasts, desserts, steak, champagne, and wine. Sitting by the window with a sea view, all the romance you desire can be fulfilled.

In fact, traveling from Shanghai to Qingdao is very convenient: a one-hour flight with one-way tickets costing 200-300 RMB, which can easily be considered a nearby trip. If you're tired of visiting Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, you can take a spontaneous trip to Qingdao.