The interior architecture of the entire hotel tower was conceived by award-winning US-based interior design consultancy Remedios Siembieda. With Grand Hyatt Guangzhou, the objective has been to create an exclusive, iconic hotel where the design is highly contemporary, but firmly anchored in Oriental culture. “If Beijing is formal and scholarly like Washington DC, and Shanghai dynamic like New York, then I see Guangzhou as the new LA,” says Peter Remedios, the firm’s Creative Director. “It’s a new city that’s reaching forward, but one that’s still rooted in its cultural legacy.”

The hotel’s 375 guestrooms have been designed with simplicity of line, colour tone and function, while using luxurious materials and textures. One immediately noticeable feature in the rooms is the bathroom island – incorporating a separate soaking tub and rain shower – which is a focal point. Work stations include high-speed broadband internet access and universal adaptors, and an in-room iPod docking station is also standard. A specially designed inset wall frame allows a 37-inch multi-channel LCD flat-screen TV to be neatly stored flush with the wall and swung out when required for viewing from certain angles.

Premium personalised service is offered at The Grand Club, located on the 20th floor. Here, privileges include express check-in, complimentary continental breakfast, European high tea, evening cocktails, as well as soft drinks, tea and coffee and other refreshments served throughout the day in its exclusive lounge.

All restaurants and bars feature magnificent sweeping city views. The Penthouse, Grand Hyatt Guangzhou’s signature Chinese restaurant, perches high above street level over two floors. Here, 13 luxurious, residential-style private dining suites, each with dedicated butlers, offer authentic Cantonese cuisine. G, located on 22nd floor, is a restaurant and bar where Western fare focuses on premium seafood and meat cooked in wood-fired ovens. Its dynamic top-tier show kitchen and quality menu make it another Guangzhou benchmark. Guanxi Lounge is located on a suspended bridge that connects the building's two towers and serves cocktails, tea and coffee, and also light dining and tea-time menus.

The Market Cafe features live kitchen stations where diners get to stroll through a stretch of international food stalls and choose their made-to-order personal selection. Chinese, Japanese and European cuisine is prepared fresh and served directly to the diner from the cooking stations. Additional fresh buffet selections are also available.

On the third floor, the hotel’s three interconnecting sections of the Grand Ballroom can be augmented by fully enclosed VIP and bridal rooms. Six function rooms have been given a residential feel, and a boardroom and Business Centre are also on the same level. Leisure facilities include a 25-metre indoor rooftop pool, health club, saunas and whirlpools and a luxury Spa that offers massages, foot massages and beauty treatments. The artwork is vibrant here, sourced by reputed Hong Kong-based consultant Sandra Walters, and is as striking as elsewhere in the hotel, reflecting aspects of both traditional and modern Southern China.

Beyond stylish looks and cutting-edge comfort, though, Grand Hyatt Guangzhou puts a firm emphasis on service. “Grand Hyatt Guangzhou’s vision is to have the warmest, friendliest and most gracious employees of all the hotels in Guangzhou,” declares general manager Paul Hugentobler. Grand Hyatt Guangzhou is the fourth Grand Hyatt hotel in mainland China, following Grand Hyatt hotels in Beijing and Shanghai.