Tour the Commune by the Great Wall near Beijing, China

The Commune by the Great Wall features award-winning architecture, a luxurious spa and, perhaps most valuable of all, a private path to a stretch of one of the world’s best-known landmarks: the Great Wall.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Despite some communal aspects — shared kitchens and living rooms in its huge villas — the Commune hardly calls to mind the money-saving, ruling class-disdaining life. Instead, it is an unforgettable weekend escape just an hour from Beijing.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

The mountains can be seen from a bathroom villa at the Commune.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Rooms face the hills at the Commune by the Great Wall.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

An attendant stands outside the Anantara Spa at the Commune.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Massage tables await at the hotel’s Anantara Spa.  (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

The pool at the Commune is geared toward children.  (Susan Spano/Los Angeles Times)

The Commune, now managed by the Kempinksi hotel group, won a prize at the 2002 Venice Biennale.  (Susan Spano/Los Angeles Times)

The hotel sits on almost five miles of mountain land; the 11 original villas each have four to six bedrooms and butler service. The newer, more modest accommodations — where we decamped — comprise 265 bedrooms in villas dotted along a hillside road.  (Susan Spano/Los Angeles Times)