On Shanghai’s North Bund, in a low-key but up-and-coming district, the new W Hotel’s location might not yet fit with the brand’s buzzy ideal, but what the neighbourhood lacks is more than made up for inside.
Global firm G.A Design and Melbourne-based Fabio Ongarato Design have cannily created a sense of place without slipping into obvious clichés. As such, light-filled atriums with vertical neon installations nod to the jumble of laundry often seen hanging in the city’s narrow laneways. Metal accent walls reference the brickwork of traditional shikumen houses and, playfully, each of the 374 rooms has a giant pair of chopsticks and a pillow in the shape of the city’s famous xiaolongbao (soup) dumpling.
Diversions include the AWAY spa, a gym with a spin studio and, for gourmands, there are five dining options, including YEN, which serves up modern Cantonese fare. Thanks to the curvature of the building, nearly all rooms have spectacular views of the city, but for the full, pulsing, W experience don’t miss a sunset cocktail at the hotel’s pool and surrounding WET deck, which is perfectly located for prime skyline viewing.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
No.66 Lvshun Road
-
All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressingPart of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
-
Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationshipAnnouncing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
-
Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craftThe heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in ShanghaiPrada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
-
Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing caféJM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillityAlila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotelMandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotelPalazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
