
5-star hotel
Embankment Resort Hotel
Forget the creaky floorboards of Wuzhen’s traditional timber inns. The Dishang Resort Hotel is a futuristic galleon of glass and steel docked at the edge of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Recently crowning the APR International Interior Design Awards 2024 (Gold Winner), the lobby feels like the ribcage of a leviathan, featuring massive ship-hull arches that frame the water town’s mist-topped pagodas. The 'Slow Living' philosophy here is surprisingly high-tech. This is frictionless luxury: facial recognition scans you into your room, where air-suspended mattresses and 'intelligent sound wave pillows' do the heavy lifting for your REM cycle. Bathrooms are kitted out with Dyson dryers and L'Occitane amenities, ensuring the humid canal air doesn't dampen your style. For dinner, bypass the international buffet for the Sichuan & Japanese Restaurant; the Grilled Eel here is a smoky, unctuous masterpiece that rivals any specialized unagi house in Shanghai. Verdict: A sophisticated anchor for the modern traveler who wants to gaze at the ancient world from the comfort of the twenty-first century.





