Opening 2027

Capella

Capella Nanjing

Name: Capella Nanjing
Address: Nanjing, China

David Chipperfield-designed, with heritage suites and villas; Capella's third hotel in mainland China.

Nanjing, China

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The day it opens + our first honest verdict. No paid placements. Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

First look

Capella's run through mainland China continues in Nanjing, with an opening reported for 2027. The design is by David Chipperfield, and the room mix is reported to combine heritage suites with standalone villas. A general manager has already been appointed, which usually signals a project moving past the paper stage.

This would be Capella's third hotel in mainland China, after Shanghai and the Hainan resort, so the brand clearly sees room to keep growing there rather than treating any one city as the anchor. Chipperfield is a serious name to attach to a heritage-led property, and the suites-plus-villas format suggests Capella wants this to read as more than a city business hotel. What we will be watching for is how the historic fabric of Nanjing shapes the building, and whether the villa component lands as genuinely residential or just a premium room category.

Not yet scored. We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — this is a first look, not a verdict.

What we'll be watching

We haven't stayed yet — here's what will decide whether it lands when we do.

Whether the scale works against Capella's model. Capella Shanghai runs 55 villas across a converted shikumen block — intimate, residential, deliberately small. Nanjing is reported at 185 keys including 30 heritage suites and a villa component. That is more than three times the Shanghai count, and a very different test for a brand whose reputation was built on not feeling like a big hotel. We'll be watching whether 185 keys here reads as a genuine Capella or just a large hotel with Capella service layered on top.
Whether David Chipperfield's hand actually honours the Meiyuan Village fabric. The design threads a new build around a 360-year-old ginkgo tree in a historic neighbourhood near the Presidential Palace — that is an ambitious brief, and Chipperfield's practice does serious architecture rather than decorative gestures. We'll be watching whether the result feels rooted in this specific corner of Nanjing, or whether the heritage simply becomes backdrop.
Whether the three restaurants pull their weight in a city that does not yet have an established luxury-hotel dining scene to borrow from. Capella Bangkok built a serious food reputation partly by landing in a market that rewarded it. Nanjing is a different proposition — a historically rich but less internationally visited city, where filling three restaurant concepts and making them worth the trip is a harder ask. We'll be watching whether the dining is a draw or an afterthought.
Whether Nanjing proves the right third step for the brand in China. The first two — shikumen Shanghai and the Hainan beach resort — cover different typologies and audiences. Nanjing is a cultural capital with real history but a thinner pool of international luxury travellers than either. The GM appointment well ahead of opening is a positive signal. We'll be watching whether the market is ready for Capella, or whether Capella has to build the market itself.

First look · gallery

Renderings & press imagery, courtesy of the hotel — details may change before opening.

Sofie, who runs the Fat Voyage booking desk with Nicolas

Want us to get you in when it opens?

Nothing to book yet — rates usually load a few months out. We're Sofie and Nicolas; tell us roughly what you're after and we'll come back the moment Capella Nanjing is bookable, with rates, what the rooms are actually like, and whether we'd go in the first season.

You'll be dealing with the two of us the whole way through, which is why we only take on a handful of trips at a time — if we're full, we'll say so. We reply by email, usually within one working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.

Before it opens

When does Capella Nanjing open?

Capella Nanjing is slated to open in 2027, with some trade coverage specifying early 2027. The brand has appointed a general manager ahead of the opening, which signals the project is moving, though treat any pre-opening date as expected rather than fixed.

Where is Capella Nanjing located?

It sits adjacent to Changjiang Road in Nanjing's historic Meiyuan Village district, close to the Presidential Palace, the Jiangning Weaving Museum, and the Oriental Metropolitan Museum. Meiyuan New Village is a Republic-of-China-era neighbourhood known for the 1946–47 KMT-CPC negotiations; it is the setting that gives this part of Nanjing its particular historical weight, in a city that has served as capital multiple times over more than two thousand years.

Is this Capella's first hotel in Nanjing, and who operates it?

Yes, it is the brand's first property in Nanjing. It is operated by Capella Hotel Group and will be the brand's third hotel in mainland China, following Capella Shanghai and Capella Tufu Bay in Hainan.

How many rooms will Capella Nanjing have?

The property is reported at 185 guestrooms including 30 heritage suites, plus a villa component. Some sources cite a total of around 190 keys across rooms, suites and villas. The architecture and interiors are by David Chipperfield Architects Shanghai.

What restaurants and facilities will Capella Nanjing have?

Plans call for three signature restaurants, an Auriga Spa — the brand's signature wellness concept — and Capella's signature Living Room gathering space. The property is designed around a 360-year-old ginkgo tree set in historic gardens, integrated into the Meiyuan Village heritage fabric by David Chipperfield Architects Shanghai.

Will Fat Voyage score Capella Nanjing?

We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — drawn from luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests, never paid placements. This is a first look, not a verdict; we'll score it once there's enough independent signal to be fair.

Open now

What you can book today

Capella Nanjing is still under wraps. Here's what's already open and scored in our collection — more from Capella, and nearby in China.

Fat Legend

Capella

Capella Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand

Capella Bangkok runs on people who know your name and act on it, and the reviews make that concrete rather than vague. One guest's Culturist heard she was tired from the flight and had a bubble bath and a private mask-making workshop waiting before she asked twice. Another had a tuk-tuk driver try to hustle him right outside the property; the team pulled him back inside and handled it themselves. Golf and Oat at the pool, Vam at the Tea Lounge, May at Stella bar all come up by name for the same reason: they remember what you drink, what you ordered yesterday, what you're celebrating. Every room has a genuine river view and outdoor space, plunge-pool villas included, and the Auriga Spa's jacuzzi and steam rooms get called some guests' best ever, full stop. The catch is fixed and worth knowing before you book: you're on the wrong side of the river from Sukhumvit and Thonglor, and getting to the malls or the BTS means the hotel boat and some planning rather than a walk out the door. Breakfast is otherwise a genuine highlight — Japanese and Korean dishes draw praise from everyone — but Thai guests specifically flag the Thai dishes as adapted rather than the real thing. The pet policy is real but unevenly briefed: one dog-owning guest asked front desk staff where dogs were allowed and got sent to a second colleague, then a third, and the "Dog Not Allowed" sign at Phra Nakhon turned out not to mean what it said. Book it for the service and the river, not for proximity to anywhere else. Families get looked after properly rather than just tolerated, kids included, and if your Bangkok is a calm base with a two-Michelin-star restaurant and a spa people keep calling their best ever, nothing on this side of the city touches it.

Fat Favorite

Capella

Capella Ubud

Ubud, Indonesia

Capella Ubud gets talked about for two things: Bill Bensley's tented design and staff who seem to know your schedule by day two. Vidi the duty manager keeps coming up as the one who makes people feel tracked rather than processed, greeting returning guests in their own language and steering them through the property like he's done it a hundred times. The 23 tents are individually themed, copper bathtubs and outdoor showers and all, and Api Jiwa is the meal people build a night around, alongside excursions like the Wos River Temple ritual that read as genuine rather than staged. The concept is also what you're actually signing up for, and it splits people. These are canvas-walled tents with open-plan bathrooms and no glass, linked by roughly 120 steps up and down a jungle valley: extraordinary to look at, harder to live in for a week if you want a normal room and a phone that works. One 2026 stay found dead power outlets, a soaked deck cushion, and a broken room phone with no way to reach reception short of climbing those steps in the rain. When the theatrical design meets an off day, there's no easy backup, and that's the real risk here, not the concept itself. The bar and a few restaurant dishes have also been flagged as a notch below the service around them, which says more about how good the staff are than how bad the kitchen is. Book it for an experience, not a hotel room. Nobody who loves this place is comparing it to a conventional five-star, they're comparing it to nowhere else in Bali. If a proper bed-and-bath layout matters more to you than atmosphere, that's a fair reason to look elsewhere; people who've made that trade tend to land at Amandari instead. For everyone else, it's the tents, the temple ritual, and staff who remember your birthday without being told twice.

Fat Favorite

Aman

Amanfayun

Hangzhou, China

What you're paying for at Amanfayun isn't the room. It's a reconstructed Longjing tea village strung along a stream beside Lingyin Temple, with monk-led chants at Yongfu at dawn and a footpath gate that lets you beat the tour buses. That's the whole case for the property. Travellers separated by years describe the same thing: the stream-lined pool against centuries-old stone, the tea gardens, the sense of arriving somewhere old rather than merely nice. One guest's grandparents got personal attention getting around the grounds; another's toddler had every staff member charmed within a day. The food backs it up too: the vegetarian restaurant and Steam House draw near-unanimous praise, and Hangzhou House, the Michelin-starred restaurant on property but run separately from Aman, has fans calling it among the best hotel meals in China. The rooms are the catch, and it isn't minor: the "cottages" get called too dark by admirers and critics alike, from a 2024 review through one from this June, so this isn't one unlucky villa. Hangzhou House also splits opinion hard: one couple paid around SGD 350 for two and found the mushroom dish bland and the service checked-out, while others rank the same meal among the best in China. Service overall skews warm, but there's a real minority describing poor English and a dismissive front desk, including one traveller turned away rudely when asking how to reach a nearby restaurant with a frail parent in tow. Worth flagging too: the public footpath lets non-guests wander the grounds, which cuts against the exclusivity a rate like this implies, and the traffic-controlled West Lake area makes arrival logistics genuinely complicated. Book it for the temple access and the atmosphere, not for a flawless five-star room. On the setting, the food, and the sense of stepping into old Hangzhou, nothing else nearby comes close.

Fat Legend

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China

The case for the Four Seasons Hong Kong is simple: it's the easiest 5-star base on the island, and the staff back it up in ways that don't show up on a rate sheet. One guest's partner had a small hole in her dress fixed during a routine pressing, no request needed. Another wanted a mango at breakfast, mentioned it once, and it appeared minutes later. A porter walked bags all the way to the Airport Express platform. That's the same shape of story from 2019 through this summer, told by different travellers who have nothing to do with each other. The building is the honest trade-off. Several recent stays, including one detailed enough to score infrastructure separately, note the spa and gym feel dated next to newer Four Seasons openings, and the harbour view depends entirely on which floor and side you land: one January 2026 guest got a construction site instead of Victoria Harbour. None of that touches the three Michelin-starred restaurants on property. Lung King Heen and Caprice both pull the same travellers back on repeat visits, and the pool draws the kind of praise regulars save for the best in the city. The one comparison worth knowing: people who've also done the Rosewood across the harbour tend to rate that hotel's rooms and design higher, while putting the Four Seasons ahead on service and calling it the better call if you actually want to be based on Hong Kong Island. That's a real trade, not a knock against either. Book this one for the location and the staff who remember you between stays, not for a freshly renovated building. On those two, nothing else in Central comes close.

Get notified

Be first when Capella Nanjing opens

We'll email you the day it opens — and our first honest verdict once guests have actually stayed. No paid placements, ever.

Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

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