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Niccolo Changsha Hotel Review: Inside Hunan's Highest Address, 452 Metres Above the Xiang River
CHANGSHA
Perched between the 86th and 93rd floors of Changsha IFS Tower One, Niccolo Changsha is one of the tallest hotels in Central China — and, for Hong Kong travellers looking for a short, high-speed getaway into the mainland, one of the easiest to reach. CSP Times checked in for a stay that took in the spa, the sky-high dining rooms, a Rolls-Royce-branded afternoon tea, and an evening exploring the city's coolest historic-district-turned-nightlife-strip.
Location: A 3.5-Hour Ride from Hong Kong West Kowloon
Getting to Changsha from Hong Kong is relatively easy to navigate. High-speed rail services run directly between Hong Kong West Kowloon and Changsha South, with a journey time of roughly 3.5 to 4 hours depending on the service — no transfers, no domestic terminal, just a single ticket and a comfortable seat (first and business class options are available, with business class being the most premium option). It's the kind of trip that makes a long weekend genuinely feasible: board in West Kowloon after breakfast, and you can be checking into your room in the clouds by mid-afternoon.
Once in Changsha, the hotel's location is arguably its biggest asset. Niccolo Changsha sits directly inside Tower One of Changsha IFS — the city's flagship shopping and dining complex — putting the hotel steps from Huangxing Road Pedestrian Street, Changsha's neon-lit shopping and food thoroughfare, and a short taxi ride from the historic Chaozong Street district. Changsha South high-speed rail station is around 30 minutes away by car, and Huanghua International Airport about 40 minutes, but with so much of the city's best eating, shopping and nightlife within walking distance, you may not need to venture far at all.
Accommodation: Sky-High Rooms with River and City Views
Niccolo Changsha's 241 rooms and suites occupy levels 86 to 91 of the tower, which means every window comes with a view worth pausing for — either over the Xiang River and Orange Isle, or across the city skyline towards Martyrs' Park. Rooms start at 45 square metres for the Deluxe category, scaling up considerably for the suites, and the design leans into a calm, contemporary palette. Given the building's height, it's worth noting rooms can occasionally feel enveloped by low cloud.
Facilities
The Spa at Niccolo occupies level 6 of the hotel and offers a full menu of facial and body treatments using international products and techniques. We booked in for a massage and a facial during our stay, and both delivered — unhurried, professionally executed, and a restorative counterpoint to a day of sightseeing.
The spa sits alongside a 20-metre indoor, temperature-controlled swimming pool and a fitness centre spanning more than 300 square metres, kitted out with Life Fitness equipment and a separate Pilates studio.
Dining: Changsha-Inspired Pasta and Breakfast Above the Clouds
Dinner on our first night was at Niccolo Kitchen, the hotel's signature restaurant on level 93, where an open kitchen blends Western technique with Asian and distinctly Hunanese touches. Two dishes stood out: a beautifully composed tartare, and a Changsha-style pasta that reimagined a Western staple through a distinctly local lens — a clever, well-balanced dish that captured exactly the kind of East-meets-West cooking Niccolo Kitchen is known for.
Breakfast the next morning kept the same spirit — a spread that moved comfortably between Western staples and Asian specialities, plate for plate. The standout, unsurprisingly for anyone who's spent time in Hunan, was the Changsha cold noodle: a chilled, chilli-laced local classic that made for a punchy, memorable start to the day and a small taste of the city before we'd even left the hotel.
The other food-and-drink highlight of the stay was a Rolls-Royce afternoon tea collaboration at The Tea Lounge on level 93 — an elevated, occasion-worthy take on the ritual, paired with the same panoramic views over the city and the Xiang River that make this floor of the hotel such a draw. Between the pastry menu and the backdrop, it's easy to see why afternoon tea here has become one of the hotel's signature experiences, Rolls-Royce branding aside.
Things to Do in Changsha: From the Hotel's Doorstep to Chaozong Street
One of the real pleasures of staying at Niccolo Changsha is how little you need to plan. On our first evening, we simply walked out of the hotel and into Huangxing Road Pedestrian Street, footsteps from the lobby — a sprawling, LED-lit shopping and street-food strip that's as much a spectacle as it is a place to browse.
For a change of pace, we spent an afternoon exploring the Chaozong Street Historical Culture District, an approximately eight-minute taxi ride from the hotel. The neighbourhood does a genuinely good job of balancing old and new — traditional Changsha-style architecture sits alongside design-forward independent cafés, cultural spaces and boutique retail, making it one of the hippest pockets of the city right now. It's also home to CMYK, the acclaimed cocktail bar that's climbed Asia's 50 Best Bars list in recent years (ranking as high as No. 16), built inside a renovated old house along the street and worth a stop whether or not you're a cocktail enthusiast.
Beyond the immediate neighbourhood, Changsha rewards a longer stay: Orange Isle and its riverside park, Yuelu Mountain and its centuries-old academy, the Hunan Museum, and the city's famously fiery Hunanese food scene are all easily reachable, making Niccolo Changsha a strong base for anything from a quick overnight to a fuller long-weekend itinerary.
The Verdict
Niccolo Changsha earns its reputation as one of the city's leading luxury addresses: a central location, rooms and views that make the most of the tower's height, a spa and wellness floor worth carving out time for, and a dining programme — from the Niccolo Kitchen tartare to the Rolls-Royce afternoon tea — that gives guests real reason to stay on property. Add in easy access via high-speed rail from Hong Kong and a doorstep location beside both a buzzing pedestrian street and the city's most fashionable historic district, and it's a compelling case for treating Changsha as more than just a stopover.
Location: Tower 1, Changsha IFS, 188 Jiefang West Road, Furong District, Changsha, Hunan 410005, China (Chinese address: 长沙市芙蓉区解放西路188号国金中心1号塔楼) | Phone: +86 731 8895 8888 | Website: niccolohotels.com/en/niccolo-changsha
Disclaimer: The writer was invited by Niccolo Changsha to experience the property. All observations, assessments, and opinions expressed are based on the writer’s independent experience and professional judgement.
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