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SOFITEL FOSHAN, GUANGDONG

DEPARTURE

INFO

The hottest openings, from

a sizzling steakhouse in San Diego

to a seductive Scandi stopover

Four stories

Raising the steaks

‘There’s something here for everyone’ tends

to be an overused marketing tag, but in

the case of the Sofitel Foshan, it is, for once,

pretty much on the money. Undaunted by

what must have been a challenging design

brief, the Hong Kong-based studio CCD

gamely divides the Guangdong property’s

325 rooms into four distinct themes –

modern, postmodern, neo-Chinese and

classic French, the latter featuring a

particularly soigné blend of eggshell-blue

tufted headboards, timber flooring, pale silk

rugs and faux-Louis XV side tables. The

hotel offers a full complement of diversions,

not least a So Spa stocked with L’Occitane

products and traditional herbal treatments,

a sky bar and outdoor terrace on the 60th

floor, and pasta vongole at restaurant

Allegria. Daven Wu

3 Hebin Road South, Lecong , tel: 86.757 2881

2222, sofitel.com. Rates: from CNY1,000 ($156)

When a designer best known for his

high-end hospitality fit-outs decides to

open his own restaurant, you know

you’re in for something special. Paul Basile

has indulged every wish with his $6.5m

custom-built steakhouse, housed in a

former 1930s drugstore and soda fountain:

there’s a Californian walnut ceiling sourced

from a single tree, bespoke oversized

camel-coloured leather booths, dendriform

architectural ‘blooms’, a glass-enclosed

dry-ageing and butchery room, a suspended

steel and curved walnut veneer staircase,

a cocktail bar, and a roof terrace. Partnering

with local culinary collective CH Projects,

Michelin-starred executive chef Jason

McLeod ensures the menu lives up to

its glamorous setting. Emilee Tombs

1909 India Street, tel: 1.619 202 4577,

bornandraisedsteak.com

HIGH TIME

Right, the Sofitel

Foshan’s Sky Bar on

level 60 features indoor

and outdoor spaces

and panoramic views

IN THE HOT SEAT

Below, leather booths

at the 250-seater Born

& Raised steakhouse in

San Diego’s Little Italy

BORN & RAISED, SAN DIEGO

Photography: Cheng Chung Design, Robert Benson

∑ 153

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