The Best Hotels Near Wuyuan Skywells, by the Record
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The skywells in the name are literal, narrow internal courtyards built centuries ago to pull daylight into a Huizhou-style mansion before electricity had opinions about it. The property has been restored into a luxury boutique hotel, with weathered old masonry set against freshly crafted traditional woodwork and modern furniture throughout. It sits in the rural Wuyuan hills, well outside anywhere resembling a city, which is rather the point.
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A 250-room resort where the wetland park meets a curve of traditional Huizhou architecture along Hengjiang Bay, with private balconies looking out over either the river or a garden courtyard. Interiors borrow the patterns and materials of old Huizhou building. The house Chinese restaurant spans Hui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Cantonese cooking across eight private rooms. Mount Huangshan's cable cars are under half an hour away, which is the point.
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Hot springs at the edge of a village that has been frozen in whitewashed Ming-dynasty amber long enough to attract UNESCO designation and a Crouching Tiger film crew. This 80-room resort pairs contemporary dark stone and warm timber interiors with that backdrop, and adds a golf course for guests who find ancient ink-wash scenery insufficiently recreational. Mount Huangshan is about an hour south if the pool isn't enough of a draw.