Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley

If you’re going to go on living in this world you’re going to have to get familiar with some bits of China outside of Beijing and Shanghai — and the ancient city of Wuhan seems a reasonable place to start. For one thing, it’s not just ancient, it’s very much a going concern. And it rather sweetens the deal when you learn it’s home to quite an impressive luxury hotel, in the form of Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley.

Rising some 29 rakish glass-and-metal stories above Wuhan’s Wuchang commercial district, the Hyatt Regency is, as they say, no boutique, at least not in scale. Nobody told the designers, though — for while this is in essence a very traditional high-end business hotel, it’s an extremely attractive one, all clean, contemporary lines, rich textures in stone, tile and wood, and the occasional gesture that’s cribbed straight from the boutique-hotel playbook, like the wooden slats that open the sightlines between your stylish bathroom and the equally stylish bedroom.

All mod cons, as they also say, are present and accounted for; this place is 21st-century luxury hospitality distilled to its very essence. Restaurants and bars abound, and the spa, equally, is thick with that no-expense-spared feeling — if you’re in China’s global business elite, or you’re lucky enough to do business with them, you could get used to this place in a hurry.

How to get there: Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley is located about 32 miles from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH), and about 10 miles from Wuchang Train Station.