Our designated limousine drive Mr. Li was on time and awaited for our arrival at the waiting hall with a warm welcome and extended his hospitality with an extremely attentive and accommodating gesture. Mr. Li quickly relieved us of our luggage and led us to the Mercedes people mover where we quickly relaxed and enjoyed the trip to the hotel that took approximately 20 minutes, traffic permitting.
Just as we turned the last corner in the mixed commercial and residential localities, the imposing InterContinental Hi-Tech Zone came into view as it stood out from the surroundings in the neighbourhood. The entrance and exit driveways are separated by a marvelous black marble water feature with gracefully trimmed evergreen pine trees sitting atop symbolizing longevity, resilience, wisdom and peace.
The exterior of the hotel has a regal look about it due to the use of granite stone and harmonized by a roll of tall bamboo screening plants that offers an exclusivity and privacy to the lobby interior.
Upon stepping out from the limo, the ever ready team greeted us with a brief self introduction and escorted us for the check-in formality by a short walk through the spacious and airy foyer. The arrival experience was rather welcoming with a warm touch of hospitality.
Passing through the stunning large, coppered metal sliding entrance doors and the first part of the lobby unveiled itself with quite an impressive first impression. A dedicated concierge team on the right with a long hallway leading to the guest lifts and the COMMUNE All Day Dining Restaurant onto the right.
The hotel was re-branded as an InterContinental in 2023 after some sophisticated renovation and new design touches.
The whole lobby and public areas are uncluttered and the design focus is to create open spaces that are laid out by establishing an eye-catching focus, whether it is the wide corridor to the guest lifts with a stunning pot of orchid display at the end, or to the lobby lounge at the opposite end to the entrance, where the plentiful sectionized seating area adjacent to The Lab Bar is framed by a window looking out to a reflecting pool with stunning pine trees inspired by the classical Suzhou Garden, with artfully compressed vast natural landscapes into limited spaces to create living poetry installations of a private sanctuary, emphasizing harmony between nature and humanity. Simply mesmerizing!
From that moment forward we kept observing impressive detail after detail, the more we explored, the more detail we saw and when you turn a corner in the lobby lounge you see another large-framed window at the far end with greenery outside to create a calm and serene atmosphere.
The entire lobby colour scheme is anchored in dark wood and marble with accents of beige fabrics.
As you can guess we were so taken with the design that we took a while to get to the actual check-in, but when we did, we were quickly checked-in without any delay while the charming and warm front desk staff had it all ready.
Once the formality was completed we were opening the door to our Classic Twin Room on the 14th floor. With 45sqm of space in a sensible open plan design, the separate guest toilet and intimate bathroom with a large bath tub are first on your right, and the bathroom can be fully open or enclosed by sliding the floor to ceiling glass opaque panels and we loved this thoughtful feature.
The walk-in shower was incredibly spacious in a dark stone tone that came with a built-in seat and high-tech push buttons to operate either the handheld shower or rain shower or both at the same time, sensibly a design feature for a relaxing shower experience. Byredo Blanche bathroom amenities were much enjoyed and gave that luxurious touch for the InterContinental hotel brand with every touchpoint you would expect in a bathroom. The roomy bedroom and living area is also well spaced out, with a hanging unit and drawers first on your left, embellished with a floor to ceiling open shelving unit breaking up the entrance from the rest of the room which is also the location for the in-room safe. The sizable mini-bar cabinet next to the wall mounted TV in the right place for once with a floating shelf underneath which segues into a bench seat and dining/working table with one oriental chair and a plush leather window seat that covers the full length of the end of the room beneath the large windows.
Lastly, two king single beds with three bedside tables and drawers giving more than enough space to lay out your personal belongings. The incredibly soft and high-quality cotton bed linen covers the medium-hard to firm mattresses offers great support for a heavenly good night sleep, anchored by a large blue design rug with flora motif that was very eye-catching. We were very impressed with the contemporary and comfort room design as there was plenty of room to spread ourselves out. The luxurious space and coziness of the room couldn’t be faulted with any design detail, as everything worked to perfection and was in the right place with design-led intent and the materials used in every corner of the room exuded luxury and hardly showed any wear and tear. Even our room was directly behind the guest lifts, it was incredibly quiet and we were super happy guests.
Being an InterContinental hotel brand means that certain amenities need to be part of the hotel design and this hotel was not short of them. Level 4 is the wellness area, which encompasses a large indoor 25m swimming pool that is perfect for laps, with floor to plentiful windows allowing natural light to flood in and there is also an outdoor terrace for relaxation in good weather or to get some fresh air.
It is incredibly well laid out and looking out afar through the border-less windows and has one of the largest selections of equipment we have experienced.
Our room came with access to the InterContinental Club Lounge on level 19. The intended residential design is uncluttered and has more space than you would expect.
When you first step into the spacious main desk and seating area, you are not actually in the lounge proper. It has an enormous open layout concept design broken up into various sections with furniture well-spaced out creating a more luxurious ambience.
Elegant furniture in leather as well as plush lounge sofas are thoughtfully allocated to create a minimalist approach while sectionized a few private semi close door areas for privacy and small meetings.
High ceiling features also allow you look out further afar to enjoy the city vista in this Hi-Tech Zone neighbourhood elegantly decorated with sleek designer lighting features. From the entrance the main food and beverage area is sensibly at the far end so the entrance remains uncluttered.
While the Club Lounge only serves afternoon tea and cocktail/happy hour, refreshments are offered throughout the day. The afternoon tea was a fine repast of cakes and pastries: coconut sponge and multiple jars of biscuits as well as a few savories such as deep-fried spring rolls for your enjoyment.
A mini buffet spread was to be expected, in fact a demi-buffet that covers the hot and cold hors d’oeuvre, salad and fruit bar to multiple choices of Chinese local delights and delicacies including, steamed dim sum, daily heart-warming soups (two selection per day), a-la-minute noodle station and a not to be missed delectable desserts section that is different from those at afternoon tea.
All in all, quite a spread and definitely a dinner style buffet that was well put together and our appetites were completely sated with the selection on offer. The wine list was limited to only one red, one white and one sparkling, all of which were more than good enough, and then a good selection of cocktails, beers and non-alcoholic beverages. We could be niggly and question why there wasn’t a selection of cheeses or dips and neither sparkling mineral water. Besides, there wasn’t much of a proper dress code attire adhere as a few guests came in with the in-room slipper and brought-in a few out-called food deliveries which doesn’t seem appropriate to a luxury hotel standard.
There are a total of three dining options in the entire hotel: The sophisticated Lab Bar at the lobby lounge has a wonderful selection of cakes and pastries and all the beverages you could want and is a space to be enjoyed for all its serene atmosphere and elegant design touches.
The delectable Sichuan-Cantonese inspired Cai Feng Luo on level 2 is a must-go-to for a flavoursome meal as well as the COMMUNUE All Day Dining Restaurant for breakfast with its Chinese section that features a grand affair of Xi’an delicacies not to be missed.
Most luxury hotels in China really know how to create an impressive and massive breakfast buffet, including western selections and tastes that live up to your expectations. COMMUNUE All Day Dining Restaurant sets the scene with an ambience of a roof-covered luxurious market place.
The moment you enter you realize the space is incredibly generous with double height ceilings and floor to ceiling windows along two sides of the restaurant that brighten up the interior in no time which also give guests a view of greenery to create a calm and serene start to the day.
Each section is well spaced out so there is never a queue or congestion. There is a mix of designer lighting, a feature glass panel ‘wall’ to your right as you walk in that breaks up that end area, a central large hanging high display shelf with art work of local markets, there is spaciously placed furniture so you are never too close to the table next to you as well as a mix of seating arrangements, including two communal tables.
The restaurant is thoughtfully designed and arranged space that is so attractive, well divided into all the various sections. The massive spread ticks all the expected boxes of cereals, salads, yoghurts, breads, pastries, coffee and tea facilities fresh juice bar, hot and cold savories and then some, all well presented and displayed neatly. You need to have a good stamina to walk all the way to the far end where most live cooking stations are held to have your favorites picked that can be delivered to your table.
A giant LED projection on the high brick wall features a sports channel that does not affect the guest experience in any way shape or form while enjoy watching the game. Yet, it is all about the food and the highlight is the noodle section. In fact, it is more like a little noodle restaurant set up on its own in a thematic ancient ornamental display where multiple choices of Xi’an noodles are in selection.
While Xi’an is known for “The City of Carbohydrate”, noodles is the daily affair and morning ritual to the locals. The assortment of various colourful condiments really opens your eyes, you simply just don’t know where to begin and a few recommendations are indeed needed to please your palate besides understanding the heritage and cultural aspect on how to enjoy a local noodle dish in full swing.
Besides, there are also some really standouts dishes to savour: Roujiamo - the local “meat in a bun Chinese burger” is a real Shaanxi province treat that is the flaky bun filled with shredded beef and seasoning which is a real-deal to experience the local delicacy; the butterly egg tart with incredibly crispy crust pastry filled with silky, lightly sweetened egg custard; steamed noodles known as “Golden Pagodas”; the steamed and hand rolled rice paper cheong fun with multiple choices of fillings; the deep-fried sugar cakes which are an alternative to hash browns and not as sweet as you think and so crispy and crunchy; the handheld Glutinous Rice balls that not only looked attractive but tasted so delicious; and the list goes on…..with so much joy to savour the difference that was truly beyond our expectations!
On top of the superb spread that had done the culinary team proud no doubt, the attentive service and English communication was easy. Kim Wang, the restaurant manager was prompt and precise with great observation by offering his passionate service to all guests that shone through with the rest of the team.
While Xi’ An is a city infamous for its Terracotta Warriors Mausoleum and this attraction brings tourists from far and wide, with a city as large as Xi’An location can be an ephemeral thing, yet being just 30-minutes away from the ancient city, the InterContinental Hi-Tech Zone Xi’An is the next best alternative to discover the historic city in an unexpected way by enjoying the luxury hospitality as well as “a tour of Xi’An” with a difference.
Tried & Tested:
Location: 5/5
Design & Decor: 5/5
Housekeeping: 5/5
Food & Beverage: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Value For Money: 5/5
Experience: 5/5
