Red Capital Residence

Built around several courtyards the Red Capital Residence is the kind of place you expect to find on movie sets.

• The Maoist-era knickknacks and Communist kitsch down to Mao’s original Red Flag limousine
• The hutong location
• The renovated courtyard style

Book early, as accommodations are limited at this extraordinary place, a shrine to Old China and Communist kitsch. The buildings are designed around several courtyards, in the traditional Chinese manner, the kind of place that usually exists only on movie sets. It is the brainchild of China scholar and entrepreneur Laurence Brahm, who realized that there was a dollar to be made from nostalgia, even though this theme harks back to the darker days of the recent past, when the nation was ruled by Mao Zedong. Some might find the commitment to verisimilitude a bit much—there are no televisions in the rooms and the dark wood everywhere can make the place seem dingy—but this is as close to the real old-days deal as it gets. The hotel also offers a tour of the city by Red Flag limousine, the model used by Mao and his cronies.

Leisure-travelers who hark after a long-gone China and who want to enjoy a traditional Chinese courtyard experience.