East is East...West is West
China is the new frontier for hotel companies and Shanghai its El Dorado. Andy Williamson takes a look at one of the city’s boldest new arrivals, Le Royal Méridien Shanghai
While Europe was wallowing in the depths of the Dark Ages, where superstition ruled over science, the Middle Kingdom was enjoying a golden age where culture, creativity and civilisation reached new heights. In the 19th century the roles were reversed: while Europe launched the industrial revolution and inventions proliferated, China experienced a period of retreat and self-imposed isolation.
It was during this latter period that the first modern luxury hotels sprung up in Europe, a development that has evolved down to the present day. China meanwhile remained largely cut-off from these advances. This year, HotelSpec takes a look at examples of new luxury hotels in the East and West.
Europe is a mature marketplace and, due to the relatively few available sites in the major cities, one that it is becoming increasingly hard for new players to enter. Rocco Forte Hotels, which its eponymous founder set up in 1996, aims to provide a five-star hotel in each key European city, although each one will be deliberately different in style and atmosphere.
In 2006 the company established a presence in Germany for the first time, but did not settle for half measures. Last year saw the opening of not one but two new properties. The Hotel de Rome in Berlin and the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt are both conversions, but of very different buildings. The former was a banking head office, while the latter was originally a private residence. The company is opening a third German hotel in 2007, a new-build, 132-room establishment in Munich.
The Hotel de Rome and the Villa Kennedy are the subject of the third of this year’s introductory articles.
China, despite its late start in hotel terms, is the new battleground for the world’s major hotel companies. China in the 21st century, with its surging economy, huge population and liberalising marketplace, is underdeveloped in terms of hotel supply and so offers great opportunities. While developers in Europe have to squeeze into a crowded marketplace, China offers a blank slate for designers and developers – with the focus on big, bold and brassy. It is the site of some of world’s most lavish architectural and engineering experiments. Also, less fettered by tradition and planning restrictions, it gives designers a great outlet for their creativity.
All the big players of the hotel world are queuing up to establish a presence in this vital market. For example, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is looking to increase its presence from 47 to 125 properties by the end of 2008, including the opening of up to 35 of its flagship InterContinental brand properties. Hilton is keen to secure a partner to expand in China and to help it develop an ambitious 100 properties within the next five years
Kempinski Hotels, which plans to have 16 hotels in the country by 2009, has placed China’s secondary cities at the front of its expansion strategy. In the case of Commune by the Great Wall, there is no heavily populated city to feed demand, but rather the presence of one of the abiding legacy’s of China’s golden age – the Great Wall. The hotel is located 50 miles from Beijing and pushes the traditional notion of a hotel to the limit. The project began as a dozen highly individual, self-contained villas designed by a dozen prominent Asian architects. These have been used as the template for rolling out more villas. The startlingly results are the focus of the second introductory article.
However, we begin our look at China’s new-wave of luxury hotels in Shanghai, the city that epitomises the country’s economic resurgence. International brands are jostling to set up shop in this vibrant, dynamic urban colossus of 19 million.
This is not the first time that the international community has flocked to Shanghai, although this time it is on very different terms from before. The 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, which followed China’s defeat in the First Opium War against Britain, obliged the Celestial Kingdom to open a number of treaty ports to international trade. The biggest of these was Shanghai. In quick time what was once a sleeping fishing village had become the country’s most-important city. It became the largest trading city in the Orient and, at one point, ranked behind only New York and London as the world’s third largest financial centre.
Foreigners came to hold extraterritorial rights and set up an International Settlement where they lived, worked and played. Immigrants from across the world descended on Shanghai and it quickly developed a reputation for its decadence and worldly delights. Grand hotels sprung up to cater for the growing raft of wealthy visitors, as typified by the Cathay Hotel. Now renamed the Peace Hotel, this 12-storey, Art Deco delight – with its pyramidal, copper-sheathed roof – is a symbol of the old school of international-style grand hotel.
Shanghai is a very different place now. This has been given physical form by the rash of brash new towers that have sprung up in the Pudong district, across the Huangpu River from the International Settlement. These include the Jin Mao Tower, which lays claim to being the world’s tallest hotel. The Grand Hyatt occupies floors 53 to 87.
Nipping at its heels is the 66-storey Le Royal Méridien Shanghai, which opened in October 2006. Le Méridien joined the Starwood Hotels & Resorts family of hotels in November 2005 and is part of the group’s ambitious plans for China. This envisages 27 new hotels by 2009, including W hotels in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The new Le Méridien is an interesting arrival in Shanghai. In a case of West meets East, the brand has its origins in Europe and a bold design aesthetic, epitomised by its brief dalliance with the Art+Tech style hotel. The brand aims to combine European service culture with a commitment to offering guests a truly authentic experience, integrating local culture and appealing to the creative guest.
Oliver Bonke, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Asia Pacific, notes: ‘China is a key growth market for this and our other hotel brands, and the design concept and service ethos of Le Royal Méridien Shanghai bring a flavour of the brand’s focus on art and culture and the European heritage to this destination.
‘Our clientele is one that cares deeply about art, fashion, film and design, and with Shanghai’s vibrant arts scene, rich cultural institutions and position as an international business epicentre, there is no better location for a Le Méridien.’
The Le Royal Méridien Shanghai is located in an historic spot on Nanjing Road East, overlooking the People’s Square and the Shanghai Museum. In the days of the International Settlement, this road, lined with trees and known as Bubbling Well Road, was the city’s main thoroughfare and its commercial heart. The concentration of shops and stores selling the latest goods from around the world was a symbol of the city’s modernity. This pride was epitomised by the Big Four department stores – Wing On, Sincere, Sun Sun and The Sun – which dotted its length. The last of these, now the Number One Department Store, sits at the feet of a sleek, modern skyscraper that is undeniably 21st century in design and outlook. Le Royal Méridien, at 333 metres and 66 storeys, typifies the new, get-ahead Shanghai.
The building is the work of Bilkey Llinas Design, founded by Robert Bilkey and Oscar Llinas, which has done work on a wide range of hotels, including the Four Seasons Hong Kong and the Grand Hyatt Bangkok. Bilkey sums up the practice’s philosophy: ‘Our goal is to create hotels that not only meet the guests’ functional requirements but are design experiences themselves.’
Even in the very modern in China there is a touch of the very ancient. Le Royal Méridien adheres to feng shui design principles. The two antennas on the top of the building aimed at the sky not only provide a distinct design feature, but they also represent greatness. The sharp edges of the building symbolise a ‘bagua’, the Chinese mirror placed in front of residences designed to ward off evil or harm to the building or it’s guests and to ensure prosperity and happiness.
The Chinese are enthusiastic consumers and, in keeping with the road’s tradition, the first seven floors of the skyscraper are turned over to the Shimao Brilliance Shopping Mall. Moving up through the building, full shopping bags and tired feet are countered by a selection of the hotel’s bars and restaurants on level 8.
The decor at the 360-seat Ai Mei Restaurant, which offers authentic Cantonese cuisine with Shanghainese and Sichuanese signature dishes, is a far cry from the mock-Ming interiors beloved of small towns in Britain. Instead it has been decked out in a contemporary and stylish garb, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of Nanjing Road, People’s Square and the Shanghai Grand Theatre. The attention grabber is a giant aquarium stocked with several thousand tropical fish. A series of small waterfalls set amid dazzling crystal lights make the restaurant look like a magical sea world – free-flowing, mysterious and lively. The Chinese desire for privacy has been catered for by the provision of 19 private dining rooms featuring glass walls and bead curtains.
The Favola Ristorante, Pizzeria and Wine Bar does Italian with a uniquely Chinese twist. The designers have again opted for contemporary decor and incorporated a private wine room, show kitchen and open pizza oven. Unlike most British pizzerias, the lounge area contains a bar with a stage for live entertainment.
Level 9 is the focus of the hotel’s meeting space. It has been designed to handle a variety of events, from small board meetings to executive conferences, galas and weddings. It has more than 2,000m2 of conference space, including two grand ballrooms – the only ones in the city with natural light – five meeting rooms and a VIP room.
After the indulgence of the lower floors, level 10 is all about health and well-being. It contains the hotel’s spa and health club as well as the Chill Juice Bar.
The hotel’s main lobby and reception is finally reached at level 11. Such a vertical hierarchy is typical of the modern perpendicular hotel. This level also contains another batch of the hotel’s 10 restaurants and bars. Le Bistro is the property’s all-day dining venue, serving international cuisine. The restaurant overlooks an outside garden and the designers have again used the floor-to-ceiling windows to allow diners to commune with the outdoors, thus bringing a feeling of space, flow and openness to the experience.
The same themes are echoed by the Allure French Restaurant. The design is open, with a set of glass stairs and a show kitchen enhancing the sense of both physical and metaphorical transparency.
Above the lobby comes the hotel’s tally of 770 guestrooms and suites, including eight imperial, four royal and one presidential suite – a sure reflection of the changing ways of the world. There is no chairman’s suite, but a total of 12 different room categories, with the higher categories on the higher floors. The Royal Club Lounge in on level 44, with the Royal Club rooms occupying levels 44–63.
The articulation of the fenestration ensures that all the bedrooms have dramatic views of the Huangpu River, People’s Park and the constantly evolving Shanghai skyline. The bedrooms continue the light, airy theme of the lower floors. Furniture is made of light-coloured wood and dark colours are used solely as highlights to contrast with the predominant pastel tones.
For a nation still beloved of feng shui, the rooms are surprisingly cluttered – perhaps a reflection of the conflict between tradition and modernity in the shape of technology and gadgets. There’s a glass working desk with ergonomic chair, a 42-inch plasma TV screen, a DVD, VCD and CD player, dual international telephone lines and wireless & broadband internet access. The artwork is by contemporary Chinese and international artists.
The suites obviously have more space than the bedrooms and this impression is accentuated by the absence of a dividing wall between the living room and the bedroom. Once again space and openness are the twin motifs.
This is repeated with the design of the bathrooms, which are separated from the bedrooms by twin frosted glass doors. Inside there is a rain shower system and a centrally located wash basin, which gives the impression that it is floating.
The pinnacle of the hotel, both literally and metaphorically, is the Nanjing Lu Semi-Private Club located on levels 64 to 66 and above the hotel’s 377m2 presidential suite, the city’s largest. Here, accompanied by a seafood ice bar, cigar room and private lounge, the select few are offered fabulous views of a city enjoying its second golden age.