St. Regis Lhasa Resort: Inside the Wall

*Sorry this is so long! I wanted to be as descriptive as possible. I've created headers so you can just skip around if you can't be bothered to read it all. Also, apologies about the image quality. I had to compress them so that loading them onto blogger wouldn't take a year.*

 

Main points:

1.  You don't have to be a guest to enjoy the restaurants, bars, and spa (although I think you have to pay to go to the gold-plated pool if you are not a guest).
2. If you need a break from roughing it or have been without a good variety of food for awhile, go to St. Regis.
3. If you are extremely wealthy and don't really want to have to deal with the hassles of being in Lhasa, stay at St. Regis. Seriously, it feels like you are in another city.
4. If you are sick of the ever-present smell of smoke, go to St. Regis. 
5. Bring your swimming suit since the gold-plated pool is heated and you can swim at any time during the year! 
6. Western food and drinks are great but expensive. 
7. If the internet is out elsewhere, head to St. Regis. I don't know how they do it but I have never noticed their internet going out.

Introduction 

On Friday, November 11th, I headed to St. Regis to experience the luxury for myself. Three months I have lived in Lhasa and each day, I walk past the daunting white walls surrounding the resort. They are just low enough that you can catch tantalizing glimpses of the inside. Even the entry way shows enough to intrigue without really allowing you to see anything. Before going, I read a few reviews on TripAdvisor to get a feel for how other peoples' experiences were. I have noticed a tendency in China for my expectations to be very disappointed by the reality, and I think that this is because U.S. comfort is very different from Chinese comfort. I did not want this to be the case this time around. The first thing I noticed from the reviews were that most of them had been responded to by a man named Edward Korving. This gave me hope that the few issues had been rectified. These stemmed from the texture of the toilet paper to sub-par service by the staff. Overall, in spite of a few negative reviews, these were by far and away the most positive that I have read about any hotel in China. 

Lobby (Salon) and Check In

Everything about this resort screams elite. Driving up (literally, it slopes up a hill), the cab levels onto a very spacious courtyard that looks just the littlest bit like the color scheme and decor of the film The Cell (specifically the suits that Jennifer Lopez has to wear to go into the sleep state).

The wall from the inside.

Intimidating entry way.

The Cell color scheme is a bit more clear at night.

This was taken in a golf car that they use to drive people to the front to get a cab. Most cabs won't drive up unless they have a patron inside.

Walking into the entry way, you are immediately greeted with the view of the Potala Palace. Unlike most hotels, the lobby of St. Regis is located on the third floor and is on level with the defining landmark of Lhasa. 

You can actually go out onto that balcony for a better view.

Zoomed in shot.

At night. It is a lot more clear when you are actually there.

Facing the entrance. To my back is the view of the Potala Palace.

This is to the left of the entry way and leads to the Social.

This is to the right and is where the reception and library are.

Zoomed out shot of the viewing area.

 To the right is the reception where there are multiple desks to make sure your check-in is not delayed. Here you will most likely meet Edward Korving, the Executive Assistant Manager (yes, the same one who answers the reviews on TripAdvisor). I am pretty sure he was brought on to improve customer service. He is extremely friendly, accommodating and helpful. Without even asking, he offered us the option of late checkout at no extra cost. I chose 2pm, but I think I could have pushed it later. You will also probably meet your butler. I had Audrey who was very friendly! While I do speak some Mandarin, everyone's English was very good and I don't think other travelers should have any issues.

Room

I got the cheapest room for the night which in total cost around 1,900 yuan (300 usd). It was kind of jarring because it was on the second floor and I had to take an elevator down from the lobby. It was a garden view with a king-sized bed. The rooms here are HUGE. It was almost like a fairly large studio apartment. The view was not the most spectacular in the world, mine at Dekang is nicer with the mountains all around. I imagine it must be much more beautiful during the summer since the garden will be a bit more vibrant. 

The bed was soft. For those who haven't been traveling around China, you can't understand the ecstasy of having a bed you can sink into instead of clunking onto.

Coach area with the wooden slides that can be moved to cover the bathroom.

Entrance to the spacious bathroom.

There was a HUGE bath in addition to a rain shower.

To the right is the toilet and on the left is the rain shower.

You can just get a glimpse of the magical shampoo and conditioner.

There are so many towels. I have never seen so many towels in a hotel room before.

View of the rest of the room and the closets by the door.

Study area with the Boy.

Plenty of room for two laptops and two people to sit!

Bubble bath! With Modern Family at the ready, not to mention a glass of wine.

The room also has curtains and screens that you can slide to box off the main "bedroom" area. There are even multiple thermostats to control the temperature in different parts of the room. 

I just have to take a moment to rave about the shampoo and conditioner that they provide. It left my hair feeling so silky and looking incredibly shiny! Loved them and wish I could buy large bottles to take around with me. 

They smell delicious too.

Map and Food (lunch) at Social

After settling into the room, I went exploring. You might want to ask for a map since One thing I have to mention is that there is wi-fi everywhere. It is high speed and all you need to do is login. This is really handy if you have an i-anything or a laptop that you want to take around. 

It is fairly detailed...

 While there are three restaurants in St. Regis (the Yan Ting Chinese restaurant, the Si Zi Kang Tibetan restaurant, and Social restaurant), I spent all my meals at Social, the Western restaurant. It's been awhile since I have eaten good western food, and I wanted to see what they had to offer. Plus, reviews were not the greatest for the Chinese restaurant and I figured we could get anything in the Tibetan one for cheaper elsewhere. Check-in is at 3:00pm and so I deliberately ate light so I would be hungry enough to enjoy St. Regis.

For any How I Met Your Mother fans, I am sure you remember the episode with New York's greatest burger. Every single time I watch that episode, I immediately crave a burger. This has been particularly difficult here since most "western" restaurants here only have yak burgers and/or chicken burgers. They aren't very good. With this in mind, the Boy decided to take the plunge and order a burger at Social while I opted for a steak (non-stringy steaks are impossible to find here). We even got a Tom Kha Gai to split since I miss Thai food. 

Everything was AMAZING. The burger was a thick, beef patty with pickles. "Swirling in your mouth, breaking apart and, combining again in a fugue of sweets and savor..." I can't tell you how awesome it was to finally eat pickles... The soup was great, if a bit on the sweet side. And my steak was terrific. I finally got a medium-rare steak that wasn't the least bit stringy. I know those who have easy access to this sort of food are scoffing at my excitement, but those who have been without for awhile will understand how thrilling it is to sink your teeth into something so incredibly juicy (apologies to all vegetarians/vegans).

Be warned, I went to dinner that night around 10:00pm (the buffet had closed by then) and so only a la carte was available. I ordered the duck breast as my main course and it was pretty small, as you can see from the following pictures. Beyond the size, the food was delicious and I highly recommend the lobster ravioli. 

Decimated grilled salmon starter.

The tiny duck breast.

The awesome lobster ravioli

Creme Brulee. As you can see, the caramel crust was separate for some reason... Still tasty!

Carbonara for lunch.

Scallops that were awesome!

On Sunday night, I returned to give the buffet a whirl. The buffet is nice and has a lot of options but there is an issue with the placement of the food. Instead of starting with the salad, it has a soup station and then goes into main courses. Before going to this area, head to the back (in a separate area) and work your way around! 

Last thing on the subject of food: order Voss. Voss is a brand of water and it is delicious. I can't actually tell the difference between Evian or any of the other fancy brands of water from the cheaper-end bottles, but I can with Voss. I have gotten used to drinking Nongfu Spring, only 5 yuan per medium sized bottle. If I don't drink it in a day, it tastes like either oil or rubber... I don't want to know what is going into my system but as soon as I drank my first sips of Voss, I didn't want to stop.

The Drawing Room

After the meal, I headed over to the Drawing Room for a glass of whiskey to digest before heading to Iridium Spa.This is a very nice lounge area past the library (don't get too excited, it isn't extremely extensive). The whiskey was really smooth, beware though since they might be out of what you want. 

The Drawing Room.

Iridium Spa

Iridium Spa is outside the main complex. To get there, you just pass Decanter (a bar) through a door that seems to be always open. After passing along the wall, there is a discrete entrance to the spa. There are many different spa treatments (all for a fairly hefty price). I chose the cheapest option which was for a 60 minute aromatherapy Swedish massage. Upon choosing this, one of the masseuses will have you smell a bunch of different oils. I opted for Lavender. I was then taken to another room and provided with a robe and disposable underwear. The massage was very pleasant and relaxing and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to be pampered.

Iridium Pool

I don't know how I missed this but there is a gold-plated heated pool in the spa complex. The Boy and I were actually really worried that we had mailed our swimming suits back to the states. While disposable underwear was available, that didn't extend to disposable bathing suits. Since Dekang isn't very far, we immediately headed back and luckily found out swimming suits in the room. 

The pool is pretty fantastic. The air is heated and feels like a sauna. There are even couches with tea bags and bottles of water lining the entire area. The water isn't very deep and the temperature was around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. All around the pool, gold leaf is protected behind what looks to be a thick plastic coating. This pool is free for hotel guests but I got the distinct feeling you would be charged if you weren't. If you are a guest, bring your swimming suit and go for a dip, it is well worth the bragging rights! 

Shot of the changing room

Lockers. Be careful though, they are tough to open. Just keep wiggling with the magnetic key pressed against it!

The Iridium Pool.

Front shot of the Iridium Pool.

View from the pool.

Gold, water, and dragon.

The roof was actually pretty spectacular as well.

Can you see the gold now?

How about now?

It really glittered when I used flash.

More shots.

The lounge area with water and tea packets.

Gold!

A dragon made out of shells.

From outside the room.

Better shot of the Salon and main area.

Decanter by Haut-Brisson

Decanter is a really nice bar that is located on the first floor. This is the same Decanter near the path that leads to the spa. It is very much like a lounge and I highly recommend the specialty Lhasa Bloody Mary.  It is delicious and made from real tomatoes. Also be sure to try the regular cocktail list since they are bigger drinks and very tasty! This is also the place where you can book the romantic outdoor dining, although I would not recommend it in the winter... This is also a cigar bar. If you want a pre-dinner relaxing spot, this is the place to go. The specialty it advertises is that they will open a bottle of wine and you can choose the decanter to air it out in. I opted out of this and instead got a half-bottle for the room for later.

Outside

Inside

Better shot of the seats.

The half-bottle of wine.

Grounds

The grounds are very extensive and have all sorts of ponds and winding gardens. It is a little bleak during the day in the winter but really beautiful at night.

One of the buildings with the moon in the background.

More night shots of the complex.

View of the spa from Decanter.

Closer shot. You can almost see the pool.

Directions during the day!

View during the day.. Pretty sure that is the area where the romantic dinner takes place when it's warm.

The lovely spa.

Rooms.

One of the ponds.

Driveway for a golf cart?

Side shots!

Serenity

I liked the reflections a lot...

Hours and Suggestions

Here are some suggestions I have to improve St. Regis. 

The first is to post opening and closing times more clearly. It was difficult to figure out the hours of every thing. While there is a booklet in the room, these times don't coincide with what some of the staff told me. Different people had different opinions on the opening and closing times of each attraction. Here is what I tentatively found out:

Social: All day dining which opens for breakfast at 7:30am. Dinner buffet is from 6:00 or 6:30 to 10:00pm. You can order a la carte up until 11:00 pm.

Decanter by Haut-Brisson: Opens 4:00pm (or 4:30 according to the bartender) until 12:30am.

Iridium Spa: Not sure when it opens but it closes somewhere between 11:00pm-1:00am.

Iridium Pool: Not sure when it opens but it closes around 11:00pm.

The other suggestion I have is in terms of staff. While most of the receptionists speak English really well, the wait staff is another matter. I found that in Social, only a few spoke English really well, the rest didn't. This means that the English speakers are in high demand but short supply. The directions when it came to the buffet and wine list took a little time and was a bit confusing. Also, it wasn't until I specifically asked that I was provided with a menu for glasses of wine, instead of bottles.

My last suggestion is that the pathways to walk in the gardens be a bit more clear. I saw pathways through the gardens but none actually leading into any. I had to walk through a slight dirt path that staff had clearly tread down to even get to one. Also, in terms of long term goals, I would recommend more colorful, local flora that does well in the winter. The grounds would be more beautiful with plants that bloomed or looked their best during different times of the year.

This is not a suggestion but merely an additional bit of information.

For those in Lhasa during Christmas and who want a Christmasy feel, St. Regis has a variety of options (of varying prices). If you are interested, contact them and ask, or just go to the Christmas desk which is right in front of the Social to make a reservation.

If you are looking to be decadent and pampered, head to St. Regis.

Well, that's about it! I hope this covered everything. If anyone else has been here, feel free to add stuff I missed in the comments. Otherwise, feel free to write any general feedback/criticism you have.