Banyan Tree Shanghai on the Bund opens today, and it’s making itself stand out from Shanghai’s many other hotels by being the first to offer views of the Huangpu River from every room. That alone will lure in vacationers, but its location in the thick of the Pudong’s Lujiazui financial district makes it great for business travelers.
This stunning new hotel offers 130 rooms and suites, ranging from standard accommodations with 40-inch flat-screen TVs, marble-topped bathroom sinks and neutral fabrics, to the Banyan Suite, a breathtaking retreat on the 12-story hotel’s top floor with more than 1,000 square feet of living space, a dining area, a timber sundeck, one of those Banyan Tree hosts and its own pool. But that won’t be the only en-suite pool in the hotel; check out the aptly named Oasis with Romantic Pool or Panorama Oasis with Romantic Pool rooms, whose private natatoriums sit in front of floor-to-ceiling widows.
The hospitality minds behind this riverfront gem didn’t just apply their thoughtful execution on the rooms. Three onsite restaurants — seafood-heavy Oceans (sure to be a spot for business lunches), the Cantonese-style Ming Yuan and sashimi and sushi eatery Tai Hei — were all conceived with the high-end traveler in mind. Banyan Tree Spa features experts of Eastern and Western methods who trained at the hotel’s own Spa Academy. There’s also a well-appointed health club and four swanky, easily configurable meeting rooms.
We’re interested in trying out the Shanghai hotel’s Banyan Tree host, a new caretaking service for the brand. The hotel has arranged for 12 senior concierges of different nationalities to be at guests’ beck and 4 a.m. call from the moment they arrive. Banyan Tree promises that it will be a new level of customized service.
Banyan Tree’s newest outpost is just further evidence of Shanghai’s flourishing luxury hotel scene. Forbes Travel Guide announced its first ratings in the city in the spring; the recent opening of Four Seasons Shanghai, Pudong marked the city’s second hotel from the company; and Twelve at Hengshan, from Starwoods’ Luxury Collection, and a Bvlgari are in the works as well.
Photo Courtesy of Banyan Tree
