If you're spending the night, the most atmospheric hotel is still the very fine five-star, 384-unit Shangri-La Hotel Hangzhou (Hangzhou Xianggelila Fandian), Beishan Lu 78, on the north shore of West Lake (tel. 800/942-5050 or 0571/8797-7951; fax 0571/8799-6637; www.shangri-la.com). Standard rooms with hillside or garden views cost ¥1,650 to ¥1,750 ($200-$210), while a room with a view of West Lake costs ¥2,250 ($270). You can expect 35% discounts off the rack rate. Another top choice is the classy Hyatt Regency Hangzhou (Kaiyue Dajiudian), Ho3bin Lu 28, on the northeastern shore of West Lake (tel. 0571/8779-1234; fax 0571/8779-1818; www.hangzhou.regency.hyatt.com). Rooms are plush and modern with standard doubles ranging from ¥1,700 to ¥2,100 ($213-$263) before the typical 20% discount. A little further south on the eastern shore of the lake is the 200-unit Sofitel Westlake Hangzhou (Hangzhou Suofeite Xihu Dajiudian), Xihu Da Dao 333, (tel. 800/221-4542 or 0571-8707-5858; fax 0571/8707-8383; www.sofitel.com). Standard rooms start at ¥1,200 ($145), while lake-view rooms cost ¥1,736 ($210) before the average 40% discounts. For a cheaper alternative, the 60-unit Jiexin Century Hotel (Jiexin Shiji Jiudian), also known as the Yiyuan Binguan, Nanshan Lu 220, (tel. 0571/8707-0100; fax 0571/8708-7010) on the eastern edges of the lake is affiliated with the China Academy of Fine Arts and offers clean, renovated (2005) doubles starting at ¥745/$93 (discounted to around ¥300/$38).
For dining, try the Hangzhou institution Lou Wai Lou, Gushan Lu 30 (tel. 0571/8796-9023), on Solitary Hill Island, between the Xiling Seal Engraving Society and the Zhejiang Library. Hours are daily from 11:30am to 2pm and from 5 to 8pm; specialties, such as Beggar's Chicken (jiaohua ji), cost about ¥100 ($12) here, but a main course of local dongpo pork costs half that. In the summer, this restaurant offers dinner cruises on West Lake. The Shangri-La Hotel's signature restaurant, Shang Palace (tel. 0571/8797-7951), is more elegant and also more expensive, with a meal for two costing ¥200 ($25) and up. The international restaurants at the new development Xi Hu Tiandi (West Lake Heaven and Earth) on the southeastern shore of the lake should provide plenty of comfort food.
