In the midst of Asian dust, heat and humidity, the Golden Flower Hotel is an oasis blooming with hospitality.

Our late afternoon arrival at the Golden Flower Hotel in Xi'an, China was like receiving homecoming bear hugs from family and friends after a long absence.

Though my wife and I were strangers who came from far away Portland, Oregon, to visit the home of the legendary Terracotta Army, and though we could barely utter a word in Chinese, the Golden Flower instantly erased any concerns about cultural barriers. It’s a stately, soothing and polite oasis.

One tends to expect service excellence at a Five-Star hotel offering every desirable amenity like broadband access, fluffy robes and slippers, designer toiletries, complimentary suit pressing and shoe shines. And the classically elegant Golden Flower has plenty of that. Jet-lagged travelers even get a little help from the plush, ever-changing elevator carpets that have the day of the week woven into the nap.

Five Star Service
Beyond the upscale niceties that we find at the Golden Flower (a Shangri-La Hotel property), it is the genuine marquis hospitality from an exceptional staff that makes this hotel experience deserving of an extra star. Seemingly there is no reasonable request that I might conjure up that they cannot fulfill or at least try to fulfill with great determination. Clearly there is personal pride in their friendly professionalism.

The award-winning Golden Flower is fit for both royalty and statesmen, who in fact are frequent guests. It is also well suited for ordinary folk like me who like being treated like royalty and statesmen.

Located just 40 minutes from Xianyang International Airport and 30 minutes from the Terracotta Warrior Museum, the hotel offers the most spacious collection of guest rooms and suites in the city. With stylish décor and modern comforts throughout the facility, we were accommodated with a temperature controlled indoor swimming pool adjacent to a fully equipped fitness center and spa including Jacuzzi, steam and sauna.

Along with its Horizon Club meeting center and internet facilities, the hotel has three dining venues offering an array of international fare that includes classic Sichuan and Cantonese delights. The buffets are diverse, deliciously suited even to finicky eating habits and excellently prepared.

Besides a half dozen rooms for modest size events, the Garden Ballroom accommodates up to 600 people, like the capacity-crowd wedding that appeared one morning while I was there. The photographer in me couldn't help asking for permission to photograph it. The bride and groom happily agreed and within minutes I was mingling with their family and friends, snapping away and capturing treasured moments. As they say, a good time was had by all.

Sent Home With A Smile
Our Golden Flower experience was based on no special clout or status. My wife and I were far from our regular address. Yet after each day's activities in Xi'an, returning to the hotel truly felt like coming home. And when it was time for an early morning departure on our final day, the kitchen staff bid us farewell with a specially prepared take-away box of breakfast goodies, even though the hotel restaurant had not yet opened. Another touch of class.

Dan Christopher is an award-winning professional photographer and a veteran broadcast journalist well known throughout the Pacific Northwest. During his extraordinary 40-year career in television news in the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington market, Dan worked as a news anchor, reporter, producer and writer. Now, Dan is very pleased to be devoting his talents full-time to photography, a craft he truly loves.