Park Hyatt Changbaishan

The Park Hyatt Changbaishan is the “crown jewel” of the Changbaishan Four-Season Resort in northeastern China’s Changbai Mountains.  Designed as an exclusive five-star country estate, the Park Hyatt’s 30,000 square meters and 150 guest rooms and suites provide a luxurious retreat, balancing privacy and exclusivity with convenient access to the ski way and main ski village. The architecture balances natural stone and wood exteriors to give the building a sense of naturally emerging from the landscape.  The roof forms are also hipped to provide a continuous eave line around the building, minimizing the visual impact within the landscape and further creating a connection to the natural setting.

The guest experience begins with arrival through a gated portal and below a skier bridge to a private landscaped court.  Guests then arrive at the main hotel building, called The Manor House, which serves as the center of activity at the Park Hyatt.  The Manor House contains the main guest functions of the hotel including check-in, hotel bar and lounge, ski valet, two restaurants, indoor pool, outdoor hot tubs, gymnasium, spa, and meeting room facility with separate outdoor terrace.  The Manor House sits along the snow front with direct ski mountain access and an events lawn for use in summer, with a lobby that takes full advantage of the “ski beach” and panoramic ski mountain views.  Three levels of guest rooms above ring the arrival court with views of the ski slopes and surrounding mountains.  In keeping with the theme of a country estate, a second building of guest rooms called The Carriage House is located along the private ski way.  Several Villas which contain a variety of suites line the property and are provided with exclusive ski-in and ski-out access, highlighted by two Presidential Villas, which are designed as individual guest houses.

Due to major changes to the Master Plan by the client during the course of design, Zehren designed the Park Hyatt two separate times, with the second time in close collaboration with the Hyatt Hotel Group and their interior designer.