Luxurious Living

As a treat to myself, I decided to splash out on a five-star hotel... for one night.

And I picked The Regent near Wangfujing, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

There is a view on the 16th floor, and I was facing east towards the CCTV tower. I could also see Chaoyangmen to my left, and Wangfujing on my right.

The room is a good size, not too small, with a large bed, a chair, glass desk and flat-screen TV. My only gripe is the Internet access doesn't work for Macs, but I've also had this problem in other hotels.

Nevertheless, the bathroom is fantastic -- there's a sliding door so you can keep it open or closed, and comes with a bathtub and a shower with an over-sized shower head. In the shower, the water drains into a frame-like crevice and then into a drain discreetly covered by a tile.

I also wandered down to the fifth floor where the health club is. Fitness freaks would have a ball there.

In most hotels, the health club is one of the last things they consider. But here it was a top priority.

There were separate rooms for aerobics or yoga, as well as for treadmills, and another for weights.

But the highlight was definitely the indoor pool.

It's 32 metres long -- more than twice the length of the one I usually swim at. While the water didn't seem heated, I had to do several fast freestyle lengths to get warmed up. But after a while, being by myself in the pool, I quite enjoyed feeling like Michael Phelps going so fast.

I briefly wondered about gym membership here probably being an arm and a leg; but location-wise it didn't quite suit me. Too bad.

Had a wonderfully blissful sleep under the duvet and was sorry the experience had to end before 12 noon.

I'll just have to find another excuse to treat myself again... soon.

The Regent
99 Jinbao Street
Dongcheng District
8522 1888