Staying at a Historic Hotel by West Lake: Enjoying Music, Scenery, and Affordable Luxury

A Stay at Grand Metropark Hotel Hangzhou 🌁Decor: Built in 1936, the hotel boasts a Republican-era architectural style with a garden layout. The exterior walls retain their original blue brick and gray tiles. The lobby features a high vaulted ceiling with crystal chandeliers, a spiral staircase with a deep red carpet, and guest rooms with wooden wall panels, leather sofas, and warm yellow wall lamps. Celadon vases with bamboo branches adorn the windowsills, and old photographs line the hallway corners, creating a nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of bygone days. 🏘️Room Type/Layout: I chose a Lake View Balcony Room, a 45㎡ space decorated primarily in walnut tones. A retro five-drawer chest sits at the entrance. The bathroom features mosaic tiles and a copper showerhead. The bedroom has a full-length glass window facing the lake, leading to a 6㎡ private balcony furnished with wicker chairs and a table. From the balcony sofa, you can enjoy a direct view of Baochu Pagoda and the boats on the lake. In the morning mist, the scenery is as poetic as the lyrics of "West Lake Spring": "Willows on both banks gently touch the waves." 🎠Activities: - A 3-minute walk to Broken Bridge, where you can enjoy the "peach and willow competing for beauty" in spring. - The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool (open in summer), shaded by parasol trees, where you can smell the fragrance of plants while swimming. - Take a stroll along the hotel's private lakeside path in the evening and watch the sunset paint the mountains golden red, occasionally spotting cormorants skimming the water. 🍽️Dining: The first-floor Western restaurant serves freshly baked baguettes with osmanthus honey for breakfast. The Chinese restaurant, "Hua Yuan," specializes in classic Hangzhou cuisine. The crab meat and tofu soup is smooth and flavorful, and the beggar's chicken, baked in lotus leaves, releases a rich aroma when unwrapped. I recommend dining on the lakeside terrace, where you can enjoy the subtle sounds of "West Lake Boat Song" in the twilight, complementing the sweet and sour flavors of the West Lake vinegar fish and the refreshing water shield soup. 💰️Average Cost: Rooms are approximately RMB 1,800-2,800/night, dining is RMB 120-300 per person, and afternoon tea sets start at RMB 268 (including Dingsheng Cake). 💗Other Tips: Inspired by the song "West Lake Waters Remain the Same," I chose to visit Hangzhou. I recommend staying in spring. The balcony tea table is stocked with Longjing tea leaves, perfect for brewing a cup while watching the "painted boats carrying spring away" on the lake. When checking out, ask the front desk for a customized hotel postcard and send it to a friend with a West Lake scenic postmark, preserving the gentle memory of "half a lake of green hills, half a lake of buildings."