Hotel Dragons in Guangzhou City

Staying at www.hoteldongfang.com. The room is lovely, compact, well designed, and with a soft elegance. Muted sage, basil, and rosemary green accents with contemporary textures. The entry (there is one!) boasts a roomy closet with heavy wood hangars and none of that nonsense with the head of the hangar so small you can’t steal it for home use. (No, I’m not lifting hangars, just appreciate the fact that they are real sized so easy to use.) They also have a nice little breakfast counter in limestone with an electric water pot for tea and coffee Another great idea!

There is a writing desk with leather inset and work lamp, and a console with storage for clothes and the TV is the old fashioned box style exposed. I’m surprised it isn’t a flat screen. A beautiful bench with a limestone top serves as a luggage rack, and it’s much easier than the usual cheap folding ones. The bath is all inclusive with a tub (though I need an extra foot or two to really stretch out) and a full shower. Not a lot of counter space but well placed shelves for all the vanity necessities. The lighting is the only element that really is ineffective as a woman who does put on a bit of a face.

Enjoyed lunch and lots of tea with Ready Zhang, the organizer of this venture, and his assistant. Many types of dumplings, my favorite were fried with shrimp inside. I effectively dodged the fried chicken paws (Ready’s English) and the pig’s hooves (looking like a black beet). I tried the steamed dough with sweet filling, kind of resembled a poached egg, it was ball shaped and white with filling the color of egg yolks. I also tasted the “porridge” which was a gruel like mix of rice and veggies, gray and runny. I’ll pass on it next time. I managed almost all with chop sticks but ran into trouble with some of the crispy fried items, just too slick and I had to revert to a fork.