Related stories

Lay the Round Table in the Forest at Moon River Hotel and Resorts Hilton Meetings Enhanced by New Executive Tower Chocolate Moon Cakes Changpu River Resurfaces Chang An Grand Hotel - New Executive Room Promotion Package

Executive Getaways: Moon River Club and Resort and Beijing Longxi Hotspring Resort

To enjoy a perfect "away from it all weekend," with your spouse, or your corporate "ideas team," several things have to be just right. Getting there can't exhaust you; there must be a full range of activities; and the dining options within reach have to be excellent and varied.

In the near-Beijing resort market, there are several options; Business Beijing focuses on two.

Moon River Club and Resort, in Tongzhou, east of Downtown Beijing, bills itself as a "seven-star" location, and is certainly convenient, easily reachable from Beijing's CBD by travelling east to just past the East Fifth Ring Road.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Moon River is its décor. Everything, we are assured, is completely authentic, from the amazingly detailed ancient robes hung in museum-quality display cases on the walls, to the smaller artworks scattered about the place. Each of the four restaurants (Italian, Japanese, and two Chinese) is tastefully decorated in original styles, offers excellent food and service, and will pleasantly surprise you with the reasonable prices of the fare. The wine list is of particular interest.

Although the rooms are not particularly large, they are well laid out and, like the rest of Moon River, well-decorated, cosy, yet opulent.

A full range of sporting activities is on offer, from badminton to tennis, but one of the key features is their driving range, which, unlike some others in Beijing, is well grassed (even this late in the year) and expertly staffed night and day. There are 62 positions, so unless you're there on a public holiday, it's unlikely you'll feel crowded, or, if you've got a good drive, the centre of a circus. The "clubhouse" at the range, which includes both putting and pitching greens, has a light and warm bar area. Golf professionals are available at reasonable rates to help with your slice, or whatever else may ail your game.

Beijing Longxi Hotspring Resort, although further away past the Sixth Ring Road, is equally convenient to reach, as it's in a lesser-travelled part of Beijing, in south-western Daxing District.

The "main attraction" at Longxi is clearly the two-dozen-odd pools (protected from the weather by a huge glass roof), offering water (and other bathing treatments) anywhere from freezing to hotter-than-you-can-stand. Attached are massage and skin treatment rooms, with the cleanest, most well organised and most extensive system of lockers, showers, and changing areas that you'll find anywhere.

Three seasons of the year, Longxi's 18-hole golf course promises a good series of well-landscaped challenges, but in winter, the wind will probably scare away all but the hardiest golfers. There's plenty inside to enjoy, though, if you want something other than hot spring treatments. Pool, billiards (on full-size tables), ping-pong, and archery are all on offer -- the latter sure to be popular in the wake of China's Olympic successes in the sport.

Longxi also offers several choices for eats -- one "western" and three Chinese restaurants including a high-quality Xinjiang eatery. Each has a complement of private rooms, which are well-served by assigned staff members. There's no chance you'll be locked in and forgotten, as can happen in some of Beijing's busier fanguanr. Here the servers are both attentive and ready with genuinely helpful ordering suggestions.

If you arrived early Saturday morning at either of these resorts, enjoyed the activities on offer to the full, wined and dined Saturday night in high style, and then trekked home again late on Sunday afternoon, you could well find yourself rested and recharged for less than the price of the air-tickets alone to one of China's more well-known "resort" destinations. So think of booking your next weekend away right here in Beijing.

Moon River Club & Resort Reservations: +86 10 8952 3737

Beijing Longxi Hotspring Resort Reservations: +86 10 8928 2222