Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Shanghai's stature as China's business capital hasn’t stopped it from catering both to business and leisure travelers, especially with its handful of boutique hotels. Business hotels can be divided into two categories: modern Western-style properties, with all the latest amenities, and older hotels built during the city's glory days. The latter make up for a lack of service, modern fixtures, and convenient facilities with an abundance of charm, tradition, and history.
Judging by the number of international chain hotels in Shanghai, the city has proven just how much it has opened to the outside world. Many aren't merely hotels; they're landmarks on the Shanghai skyline. Even the historic properties feel the pressure to update their rooms and facilities.
Shanghai may have an excellent subway system and cheap, plentiful taxis, but if you want to take full advantage of the city's popular sights, restaurants, and nightlife, opt to stay in downtown Puxi, incorporating the quiet, leafy green Former French Concession, the historic Bund promenade, and the bustling shopping street of Nanjing Dong Lu. From these neighborhoods you'll have easy access to the rest of Shanghai.
Amid bustling downtown Puxi, this 37-story luxury hotel is an elegant oasis, with a lobby that has palm trees, fountains, and golden-hue marble as warm as sunshine, and with spacious rooms (just 12 or 15 to a floor) that have a chic gold palette. Although it caters to a largely business clientele, it's still a good choice for leisure travelers thanks to impeccable service, a glass-enclosed indoor pool, and a spa that offers traditional treatments. Though a bit dated, rooms are well-appointed, with flat-screen TVs, DVD/CD players, safes big enough for laptops, and bathrooms that have marble showers and tubs. Nanjing Road is within a 10-minute walk, and metro Line 2 is just down the block.
Although this property has two newer buildings, the beautifully restored Morris Estate villas showcase how opulently Shanghai's tai-pan (expatriate millionaire businessmen) once lived; rooms here have plush beds, cozy reading areas, and art deco–inspired decor. And the history at this hotel didn't stop in the 1920s and '30s: after 1949, when it was a government-owned guesthouse, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Richard Nixon all slept here. Large, safely fenced-in grounds and an indoor pool make this a good option for families.
This hotel is great if you're traveling with kids: not only is it across from Century Park, where tandem bikes and pleasure boats are available, but it also has an indoor play area with slides, climbing equipment, and a giant ball pit. Parents can take the edge off at The Brew, where the brewmaster churns out craft beers and delicious ciders. Rooms have clean lines and simple furnishings and are spacious and comfortable, especially the plush beds. Behind the hotel is a shopping complex with a slew of Western-style restaurants. The hotel is within easy driving distance of Pudong International Airport, and it's on top of metro Line 7 and a short walk to Line 2.
It's hard to beat the Portman Ritz-Carlton's prime Shanghai Centre location or its family-friendly facilities, which include a large fitness center, basketball courts, a playground, and a trampoline. The 50-story hotel attracts business travelers as well as families with four floors of executive club rooms. The lobby is a popular networking spot that exudes cool refinement with its ebony, marble, and chrome touches. In addition to the Shanghai Centre's surrounding shops and restaurants, the hotel has its own top-notch restaurants.
A prominent skyline landmark—topped by a revolving, 45th-floor restaurant in what looks like a flying saucer—this hotel caters primarily to business travelers with lower Park Tower rooms that face People's Square and higher City Tower rooms. Suites have huge living rooms, kitchen/dining rooms, and spacious baths that make them convenient for families, though, and there are deep discounts for weekend stays.
The Ritz-Carlton Pudong has a 55th-floor spa with staggering views of the Huangpu River and the entire downtown skyline, an impressive Italian restaurant, and a rooftop bar that's such a good lookout point you may never want to leave. The service is impeccable, with prices to match. Rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows and streamlined, art deco–inspired furnishings.
With its distinctive room layouts, glittering glass staircase, and 90-plus works of art on display, the Westin Shanghai is a jewel on the Bund. Crowne Deluxe rooms are miniature suites; sliding doors divide the sitting area, bathroom, and bedroom. Luxurious amenities include rain-forest showers, extra deep tubs, and Westin's trademark Heavenly Beds.
