Suzhou is the location for the first Tonino Lamborghini Boutique Hotel outside of Italy.
The 92-room property – a former state guesthouse – stands by the banks of Jin Li Lake in the Suzhou Industrial Park and is owned by Shanghai-based real estate developer Join In Group, which also owns the Crowne Plaza Hotel nearby.
Tonino, son of the automobile industrialist, Ferruccio Lamborghini, is a successful businessman in his own right and has gone into hospitality, F&B, fashion and information technology. He launched the first hotel bearing his name in 2006 in Collecchio, Parma, Italy. When the younger Lamborghini attended the launch of the Suzhou property in late May, he revealed there would be about nine more to come on line at destinations such as Sanya, Zhuhai, Hangzhou and Kunshan.
Set in a secluded part of a complex that includes the bigger Crowne Plaza Hotel, the hotel boasts an impressive lobby with high ceilings and a reception counter that doubles as a bar, which reminds us of a similar design at The Puli Shanghai. Picture windows that wrap the building look out to classical Chinese gardens, a famous trademark of Suzhou. Antique furniture passed on from the property's previous life has been thoughtfully restored and mixed with contemporary additions.
All guestrooms have lake views and facilities include a French restaurant (purportedly the first in Suzhou), an indoor swimming pool, spa and gym, a boardroom for 12 and multi-function rooms that open onto a scenic roof deck. Right off the lobby is a small Tonino Lamborghini shop carrying lifestyle items such as watches, lighters and money clips and The Library lounge, which is ideal for small discussions, afternoon tea and evening cocktails.
Hotel representatives told Business Traveller they were targeting companies in need of an elegant venue to arrange meetings for their top executives, starting with China-based firms. “After their meetings, they can enjoy special dinner, prepared by our French chef,” said a spokesperson.
Please see the above slideshow for images taken during Business Traveller's recent visit to the hotel.
For more details, visit www.ToninoLamborghiniHotel.com
Margie T Logarta
