Opened mid-October in northwest Beijing, Courtel is a hotel which mixes tradition and modernism, luxury and conviviality. Let's visit this charming place.  

"I wanted to have a typical Chinese hotel with an atmosphere that makes you feel at home." Courtel was opened on October 18th by Qi Xiao Qing, a Beijing bar owner. Located in an alley in Andingmen, in northwest Beijing, this is one of the only hotels in the city to offer all the services and comfort of a classical modern hotel together with elegance and traditional Chinese architecture. Split into 5 private courtyards (siheyuan) over more than 2,000 square meters, Courtel boasts twenty-four rooms (20 double rooms, 2 luxury suites and 2 dormitories), along with a Chinese and Western restaurant, and a bar.      .

As soon as we get at the reception, we know what to expect. Black clocks show the world time by using typical cultural references of each country. Cuba time is indicated by "Che Guevara time", London by "Beatles time", New Zealand by "Hakka time" or Beijing by "Sanlitun time" (one of the most lively areas in the Chinese capital). Qi Xiao Qing's friends and relatives, whom they affectionately call Lao Qi (Old Qi), will recognize this 39 year-old partygoer's bantering humour who currently owns three of the most popular expatriate bars (including Nanjie or Drum and Bell), as well as his sense of hospitality.

Complete with patched sleeve shirt, pony-tail, and good-natured smile, Lao Qi has always wanted to open a hotel even if "it involves many more responsibilities than running a bar." However, if this former bank employee and advertising agent from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, had a vague idea at the beginning of his project, this was it: he didn't want to open a "sexy with mini-skirted girls kind of place". After few years of thinking about it and six months of renovation, Courtel was born. 5 million yuan (about 500 000 euros) will be enough to transform the old dilapidated houses into five new individual courtyards, distinctively separated with heavy wooden doors.