Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake

Character and identity

Tucked into Hangzhou's West Lake historic district among gardens, pagodas and bamboo, this Four Seasons reads as if it has been part of the landscape for centuries, though it only opened in 2010. The Jiang Nan architecture (white walls, black-tiled pagoda roofs, multi-level pavilions) wraps around lily ponds, courtyards and an infinity pool, with 81 rooms and villas spread over just two floors. Jin Sha turns out Hangzhounese, Cantonese and Shanghainese cooking built on local produce, with a much-cited honey barbecue pork. The spa, styled like a Chinese palace, hides treatment rooms with private showers, steam and sunken tubs behind round moon doors.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're really paying for here is the setting and the scale: a low-rise garden compound that feels generations older than it is, ten minutes' walk from West Lake but worlds away from Hangzhou's traffic. Spend the money if you want quiet over spectacle; book a villa or a terrace room for direct garden access, and use the complimentary bicycles to reach the lake.