Around the Planet

The last time I was in China, doing a tour around Canton, our guide was a chirpy and pleasant man from Foshan, who managed to get everybody smiling, and even singing, on the course of the trip. However, at the mention of Shanghai, he went off into a mild rant: “People from Shanghai - they think that Shanghai has got everything, so they think that they never need to go anywhere else. They think that Shanghai is the centre of the universe!”

Well, apart from being one of China’s top trendy cities, famous for its music and its fashion, as well as its blend of historical sites and ultra-modern architecture, there is definitely something that Shanghai has got, and that’s some pretty good hotels: Hyatt on the Bund and Grand Hyatt Shanghai will soon be joined by the new Park Hyatt Shanghai, which will open in July.

The recently opened Hyatt on the Bund, is directly on the Bund which is the city’s western waterfront on the Huang Pu River, in the historic Puxi District. The hotel is surrounded by the classical architecture of Shanghai’s former colonial settlements, and offers spectacular views of both the Bund and the modern skyscrapers of Pudong, which is Shanghai’s rapidly growing financial and business district across the river. Cleverly designed by the company Remedios Siembieda, all of the hotel’s six hundred plus rooms have the same spectacular view through floor-to-ceiling windows. On the 32nd and 33rd floors is the Vue Lounge where guests and visitors can take in the view in a relaxed setting.

On the other side of the river, Pudong offers visitors the modern attractions of the Shanghai Museum on People’s Square and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, along with the historical sites of the old city of Nan Shi, and Wen Temple. Located directly in its centre, the Grand Hyatt Shanghai occupies floors 53 to 87 of the Jin Mao Tower, with its conical-shaped architecture offering a postmodern twist on the traditional Chinese tiered pagoda. Grand Hyatt’s stunning art deco interiors line one of the largest barrel-vaulted atriums in the world, at thirty one floors high, and all the five hundred plus rooms offer far-reaching views from what is currently the highest hotel in the world. In addition to numerous top-notch restaurants and bars, the hotel features the slick Pu-J’s Bar designed by SuperPotato, the Japanese design firm led by Takashi Sugimoto, and known for its highly polished projects around the world.

The soon-to-open Park Hyatt Shanghai is but a stone’s throw away from the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, on floors 79 through 93 of the 101-storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, also known as “The Vertical Complex City”. The new hotel will offer interiors designed by New York-based Tony Chi, in the spirit of a modern Chinese residence, and this hotel will usurp the Grand Hyatt’s current status as the highest hotel in the world when it opens in July 2008. All guestrooms will boast stunning city views, and floors 91 to 93 will feature the highest dining, entertainment and meeting destinations in the world.

So has Shanghai got everything? In terms of hotels, it certainly has got a lot.