By LAWRENCE TAN

Preferred Hotel Group brings a slice of Paris to Beijing with its newest hotel, the Legendale Hotel Beijing, the group’s second hotel in Beijing after the avant garde Opposite House in Sanlitun.

“In contrast to the cutting-edge modernity of our first Preferred Hotels & Resorts hotel in Beijing, Legendale Hotel presents utmost luxury with an European elegance,” said Mark Simmons, the group’s area managing director in Asia.

The 390-room hotel’s exterior is reminiscent of a 19th century Parisian building with its multiple-domed roof and decorative turrets. Inside the hotel, one finds imported antique furniture from Europe, rich fabrics and decorations, even a 17-storey-high atrium and an antique fireplace at the lobby, that make for a neo-classical ambience.

Minutes away from both the major shopping belts and national landmarks like the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the hotel’s convenient location in Dongcheng District also lets you explore another historical feature and mainstay of Beijing – that of the narrow alleyways interconnecting traditional Peking courtyards called hutongs.