Kempinski Hotel Khan Palace

The Kempinski Khan Palace has been part of Ulaanbaatar's fabric far longer than its glass-tower rivals, and it wears the seniority comfortably. Positioned on the eastern stretch of Peace Avenue near the embassy quarter, the hotel is mid-rise and mansion-mannered rather than monumental, with a clubby European interior of dark wood, brass and thick carpets that suits the city's hard-edged winters.

Rooms are classic and well kept, quiet at the back, with executive floors adding lounge access; suites are generous, and the housekeeping standard is notably consistent. The hotel's reputation rests heavily on its food and its bar: the restaurant's European cooking and Mongolian specialities have a devoted following, the deli's breads and pastries are an expatriate institution, and the whisky selection runs deep for the longitude.

Service has the practised, personal quality of a house with low staff turnover, and the front desk's expedition fluency—storage, drivers, dawn airport runs for Gobi flights—matches anyone's. The centre and Sükhbaatar Square are ten minutes by car along Peace Avenue. Against the Shangri-La's scale, the Kempinski offers something quieter and more personal: a European club in the Mongolian capital, and many repeat visitors' habitual home.