Mandarin Oriental to Finally Open Beijing Hotel in 2018 ... But Not the One You're Thinking

Finally, after 10 years, Mandarin Oriental will open its first hotel in Beijing. At last.

But it's not the Mandarin Oriental hotel you're thinking of. Not the one next to the CCTV Tower that burned like a Roman candle in February 2009, when an illegal fireworks display (that had nothing to do with the hotel, its owners, or managers) ignited the roof, caught the building exterior's unique and flammable zinc coating on fire, and ultimately engulfed the entire structure, killing one firefighter in the process. The one that has had a Mandarin Oriental nameplate for at least two years on what should be its main entrance, hidden behind a metal door on the north side of the CCTV property. No, not that one. 

The Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing, as it is called, was announced in June 2015, with an "expected" opening date of 2016, and with the location cited as Wangfujing. That year came and went, and now a new announcement, released on Tuesday, says the new property is expected to open in 2018. It "is located within the Qianmen East Hutong Quarter which is undergoing a process of preservation and regeneration," the company said in a statement.

Mandarin Oriental made no further mention of an opening date for the Qianmen property, and unlike the 2015 press release, didn't even glance at the possibility of the other hotel opening during the same period. Beijing is still not listed as a destination on the hotel group's booking website.

Mandarin Oriental operates 30 hotels and eight residences in 20 countries and territories, including three in Hong Kong, and one each in Macau, Sanya, and Shanghai. 

Photos courtesy of Mandarin Oriental