WORLDHOTELS� Deluxe Collection affiliate Hotel Kunlun, recently voted Beijing's 'Best Business Hotel' by National Geographic Traveler, is responding to an increasing number of high-level Middle East delegations to the Chinese capital and hotel from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the U.A.E.

The initiative signals the opening of the first Muslim fine dining restaurant at the Beijing 5-star hotel, 24-hour Muslim room service and in-room provision of the Qur�an, a Mecca compass and prayer mat for Muslim guests. Increasingly, the hotel is hosting receptions and events catering for Middle Eastern expatriates based in Beijing.

Hotel Kunlun already boasts the largest variety of restaurants in any Beijing hotel -- with a total of 13 dining outlets serving a plethora of international cuisines including Chinese, Western, Japanese, Korean and Thai.

Now it is the first and only five star hotel in Beijing exclusively serving halal cuisine at its newly opened Middle Eastern restaurant, Crystal. All food is prepared strictly according to halal Muslim tradition and all of the kitchen and 20% of the serving staff Muslim.

'Crystal-Muslim Fine Dining' showcases the talents of Egyptian Chef Asmaa Abdelghani Aboucaid Elhadary and features four distinct cuisines including Middle Eastern Arab, Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Western.

The restaurant features an elegant main dining room in addition to three private rooms which comfortably seat 66. It is also open for afternoon tea and late night supper, as well as lunch and dinner.

"These are timely and admirable initiatives responding to the fast-growing Middle Eastern market. Hotel Kunlun is setting a benchmark with this niche catering for Muslims that many of our affiliates might also care to seriously consider," said Roland Jegge, Vice President Asia Pacific for WORLDHOTELS.

Located beside the Liangma River in Beijing\'s Central Business District, Hotel Kunlun boasts over 640 guestrooms and suites catering for both business travelers and leisure tourists. More than 15 small and medium-size banquet rooms, and an 800sqm grand banquet hall, all contribute to its exceptional capability for hosting international conferences and large-scale banquets.

More information on Hotel Kunlun, visit worldhotels.com/kunlun/

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Note to editors:

About WORLDHOTELS - WORLDHOTELS is an exclusive collection of the world\'s most unique independent hotels. Under the banner "Unique Hotels for Unique People", it now has almost 500 affiliate properties in more than 300 destinations and 70 countries worldwide. - For nearly 40 years, the company's mission has been to offer business and leisure travellers easy access to a wide range of accommodation options with a strong emphasis on hotels of character and distinction. - WORLDHOTELS' guests benefit from an extensive portfolio of partnerships, including frequent flyer programmes from 20 of the world's leading international airlines, including Air France/KLM, United Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa. - Through state-of-the-art distribution and technology and global marketing campaigns, WORLDHOTELS gives independent hotels the collective strength of a strong, global hotel brand whilst still allowing them to retain their strong individual character and unique identity.

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Issued on behalf of WORLDHOTELS by Grebstad Hicks Communications.

For further information, please contact: Grebstad Hicks Communications Ms. Carol Kong Tel: 852 2810 0532 E-mail: carol.kong@ghcasia.com WORLDHOTELS Mr. Roland Jegge Tel: 65 6227 5535 E-mail: rjegge@worldhotels.com