Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is to manage a new five-star hotel in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. The Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo, is scheduled to open early 2007.

Designed by Hong Kong-based Wong & Tung International Company, the 550-room Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo will be located in the city's major commercial district in Jiangdong Street, only a 20-minute drive from the airport, and will feature spectacular views of the junction of three rivers. The hotel will be the group's second property in Zhejiang Province following the opening of the Shangri-La Hotel, Hangzhou in 1984.

Contemporary yet classically styled, the hotel's guest rooms will measure a minimum of 45 square meters, and will provide guests with the full array of Shangri-La services and facilities, including 24-hour room service, same day laundry and valet service, satellite TV, data ports and broadband internet access. In addition, there will be wireless in the hotel's public areas. There will be five floors of Horizon Club accommodation which will offer a host of special amenities and privileges, as well as an Horizon Club lounge for daily breakfast and cocktails, meeting rooms, express check-in and check-out services.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo will also provide a selection of bars and restaurants including a lobby lounge, a coffee shop, a Chinese restaurant, an innovative specialty restaurant, as well as a rooftop restaurant and bar featuring stunning views of the city and the rivers.

The hotel's meeting and banqueting facilities will boast a 2,000-square-meter grand ballroom, complemented by other function rooms to cater to different event requirements. Other major hotel facilities will include a business center, spa and health club with an indoor swimming pool.

Commenting on the new hotel, Shangri-La's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Giovanni Angelini, said: 'Mainland China remains the key focus of the group's expansion plan in Asia. The Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo will complement and strengthen the group's growing presence in mainland China, where it is the largest luxury hotel company, operating 17 hotels and with more than 15 projects under development.'

Located in the center of China's east coastline and in the south of the Yangtze Delta, Ningbo is one of China's major trading ports since the Tang dynasty. This bustling city has a population of more than five million, and is an ideal base for visits to the nearby Putuo Mountain, one of China's premier tourist attractions.

(CNTA.com June 15, 2004)