China Hotels
Commune by the Great Wall
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Exit No. 16, Shuiguan, Badaling Highway
Beijing
Tel. +86 10 8118-1888
reservation@commune.com.cn
The celebrated Commune by the Great Wall began as a showplace for the work of 12 Asian architects who were commissioned to design dream houses for China's new moneyed class in a country club-style subdivision about 50 miles north of the capital. The models, which won a special prize for art patronage at the 2002 Venice Biennale, line a dry canyon near the Badaling section of the Great Wall.
It was a marvelous idea that got better in 2005 when the Commune created a hotel by replicating four of the original four- to six-bedroom models along a neighboring canyon that winds up from the Commune clubhouse. The Switzerland-based Kempinski hotel group manages the property, bringing one of the best wine cellars in northern China to the two stylish restaurants in the clubhouse.
Under Kempinski, the Commune also got a beautiful new spa, where I had a blissful, traditional Chinese massage, and a state-of-the-art children's center, which has its own kiddie-sized Chinese teahouse, art studio, costume shop and water slide.
wherever it appears.