SHANGHAI—Recently, all the glamour in the Shanghai hotel scene has been on the futuristic Pudong side of the Huangpu, the river that divides the city in two. A rash of ultramodern luxury hotels like the Grand Hyatt and the Park Hyatt, both in two of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, alongside the Shangri-La and St. Regis, literally and metaphorically looked down on the stately but decaying procession of buildings along the Bund.
But now the tables are turning, and the Bund, with its mixture of East-meets-West architecture, soon will be the place to stay again.
Shanghai was a byword for glamour and excess in the roaring ’30s, and in the city known as the Paris of the East, the Bund was its Champs Élysées. As the city gears up for the Shanghai Expo next year, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited is returning to its roots by opening The Peninsula Shanghai in the autumn. The group owned and operated two of the Bund’s most famous hotels—the Palace and Astor House Hotels—in the first half of the last century. The new property is a purpose-built hotel that the designers say is a modern interpretation of art deco and pays homage to its historic neighbours.
|
The Bund, Shanghai |
Paul Tchen, general manager of The Peninsula Shanghai, believes that the Peninsula’s location is very fitting. “The Bund is testimony of the rich and diverse heritage of Shanghai, combining the best of the East and the West. Having owned and managed hotels along the Bund in the 1930s, it was only natural for The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited to return to her roots with the opening of The Peninsula Shanghai in 2009," he said.
Then on New Years Eve, the Peace Hotel will reopen after receiving a three-year, US$65-million facelift that promises to return the shabby old matron to the glamorous starlet of the Shanghai scene she once was. Luxury hotel operator Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will run the hotel with China’s biggest hotel group Jin Jiang. And in 2011, the former Shanghai Club at No. 2 The Bund, once the city’s most exclusive gentleman’s club, will be turned into the Waldorf Astoria On The Bund Shanghai.
Despite being closed until the end of the year, visitors flocked to see the Peace Hotel’s exterior, which still dominates the Bund, with its dark green roof contrasting with the more stately buildings beside it. Known as the Cathay Hotel when the hotel was finished in 1929, owner Sir Victor Sassoon, the scion of one of the city’s most wealthy families, wanted the hotel to serve as “the Claridges of the East.” And indeed it did, with stars like Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Noel Coward all passing through the doors. A bomb destroyed the hotel's eastern entrance during World War II, and following the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the premises were closed for several years before reopening as a hotel, though it was a shadow of its former self after decades of neglect.
Ian Wilson, Fairmont’s regional vice president, Asia, believes the Peace Hotel is a perfect addition to the company’s stable of properties.
“Fairmont has a collection of grand hotels, some of which date back from the 19th century, and many of them are prominent in their community,” he said. “We believe that the Peace Hotel is a perfect addition because of its position in the hearts of Chinese people and role in the history of China.”
Hirsch Bedner Associates is responsible for the hotel renovations.
“The Peace Hotel has been a Shanghai landmark for more than a century and is the most famous hotel in China, and arguably throughout Asia,” said Michael Bedner, HBA’s chairman and CEO. “It is our intention to recreate the grandeur and majesty of this major Asian landmark, and restore it to its place as one of the world’s finest hotels.”
HBA also has been appointed by Hilton Hotels Corp. to convert the Shanghai Club into the Waldorf-Astoria. The original building, which still has its original Sicilian marble columns and imported stained glass, once boasted a mahogany L-shaped bar reputed to be the world's longest. This building will be converted into 22 suites that will be connected to a brand new tower that will hold another 266 rooms.
“Restoring or converting these properties, such as is the quest for the Waldorf-Astoria in Shanghai, is a true labor of love for the design team, the ultimate challenge of taking the historical context and adding the up-to-date convenience and style of current expectations,” said HBA Principal Ian Carr, who is responsible for HBA’s Shanghai projects. “The hotel, when completed, will become a bellwether property for this high-end, emerging brand.”
The trio of properties will attract a particular sector of the market to Shanghai, said William Hill, chairman of the International Brand Hotels Shanghai.
“The hotels may attract clientele that follow these particular brands,” he said. “They will be international standard historic hotels of which there is a lack of at the moment.”
Wilson doesn’t begrudge the opening of the Peninsula and eventually the Waldorf-Astoria because he expects the three properties to drive high-end retail, restaurants and real estate to the area.
“Together these three hotels firmly establish the Bund as they place to stay in Shanghai,” he said.
To some, the Bund’s return to being a glamorous destination is all too familiar. Shanghai historian Peter Hibbard began his research into the Bund 23 years ago and is writing a book for the Peninsula’s opening and was also the original project historian for the Peace Hotel renovations. With the opening of these new hotels, the Bund is merely returning to its rightful preeminent position, Hibbard said. The Bund’s return to life is “nothing new; this is just how it was before,” he said.