Dreaming by Erhai Lake: Collecting Dali's Natural Beauty at Hotel Indigo

Collecting Dali's natural beauty at Hotel Indigo. Choosing Dali Erhai Tianyu Hotel Indigo as your residence is not only because it is conveniently located just 20 minutes from the airport, but also because of the floor-to-ceiling windows that privately frame the reflection of the 19 peaks of Cangshan Mountain, a poetic note to Erhai Lake written by those who truly understand Dali. The designer has condensed the story of Dali fishermen living in harmony with Erhai Lake into architectural language. Light and shadow flow on the 180-degree glass curtain wall, making you feel as if you have stepped into the setting of an art film, where the sky is folded into the shape of Dali's natural beauty. Take the elevator straight to the clouds, and the sound of Erhai Lake washes over your feet the moment you open the 180-degree lake-view room. The 36㎡ space seems to have been enchanted with a magic that folds time and space. The bathtub and the viewing balcony form a golden section line. The airflow of the Dyson hair dryer rolls up the gauze curtains. The lights of thousands of homes in Dali and the streamers of the TV tower are on the left, and the sparkling waves of Erhai Lake are on the right. When your body sinks into the 2-meter-wide cloud bed, the entire floor-to-ceiling window transforms into an IMAX screen, witnessing Erhai Lake's most private awakening ceremony at dawn—dark clouds are dyed into scarlet satin, and the glow of the sun gilds the snow-capped Cangshan Mountain. At this time, the rooftop infinity pool is suspended in the sea of clouds, and you seem to touch Dali's dividing line between morning and dusk while swimming. As IHG's most humanistic brand, Hotel Indigo deconstructs Bai culture into spatial aesthetics. The book pavilion in the lobby displays "Dali Feng Wu Zhi", the Jiama prints on the walls of the guest rooms tell the legend of Benzhugong, and the most amazing thing is the localization of the all-day dining restaurant: grilled milk fan is rolled into clouds on the iron plate, freshly torn bait blocks bloom with rose sauce, and the Guoqiao rice noodles tumbling in the copper pot are filled with the sunlight of the plateau. When night falls, the moon lamp on the balcony turns on automatically, echoing the fishing lights of Shuanglang on the opposite bank. Snuggled in a custom-made rattan chair, reading "The Travels of Xu Xiake" prepared by the hotel, the wind sends the faint sound of the Sanxian from Xiaguan City. This residence, which has been open for eight years, has always maintained the surprise of the first encounter, and the butler team has polished the service to be as gentle as jade—the morning run map marks the best photography spots, the bedtime snack is a milk fan pastry carved into a camellia, and even the laundry list is printed with Bai tie-dye patterns. Some say that staying in a star hotel will make you miss the real Dali, but here, the natural beauty is no longer an ethereal legend. When the snow of Cangshan Mountain illuminates every corner of the room, and when the moon of Erhai Lake falls into your private plunge pool, you will understand that the best trip is to let the scenery live in your life.