The Peninsula Shanghai

"Set the scene for us. Both a game-changer in the re-emergence of Shanghai as one of the most thrilling and dynamic cities in the world, and a gorgeous embodiment of what the game here was always all about—a unique fusion of East and West, old and new, silken elegance and wild energy. An accomplished Art Deco landmark that puts you right in the heart of China’s most fascinating city, the place is like a Busby Berkeley film set: vast, gleaming, high-contrast, perpetually in motion, immaculately aswirl with a cast of thousands. Wow. What’s the story behind it? The first of the Peninsula hotels opened in Hong Kong in 1928. It remains, for many, a yardstick—one by which other hotels are measured and generally found wanting. Its Shanghai sister commands similar respect. The hotel’s sentimental value to owner Sir Michael Kadoorie is immense. His forebears came to Shanghai from Baghdad in the mid-19th century. The opening of No. 32 The Bund in 2009, was, in a sense, an especially glorious and long-awaited homecoming. That's quite the pedigree. What can we expect from the bedrooms? Stealth luxe. Hour by hour, day by day, the more time you spend here, the more you come to realize how wonderfully spoiling and thoughtfully designed these rooms are. There is no wow-bang-pow-splat stuff going on here. Subdued, though never dull; approximately 1920s in feel, though without a hint of pastiche. Really the only thing to concern yourself with is the precise position of your room. You want the best possible view of the skyscrapers of Pudong, on the opposite side of the river, which are lit up at night like a gigantic jukebox, pulsating with all the can-do energy of modern China. How about the food and drink? The hotel’s two-Michelin-starred Yi Long Court is widely held to be among the best Cantonese restaurants in the city. I could happily live off the fried rice with king crab. Sir Elly’s Terrace, on the 14th floor, has some of the finest views of any rooftop bar in the city; Salon de Ning, in the basement, has no views at all, but the combination of animal-print upholstery and dynamite cocktails are liable to bring on startling visions of a different kind. We're still stuck on that fried rice with king crab. Any little anecdotes you can offer about the service? One of the loveliest sights in Shanghai is that of people of all ages flying kites in the early morning, as soon as the sun starts to rise. The first time I witnessed this peculiar phenomenon, I wondered whether I was hallucinating. But no. Loads of Shanghainese do it every day. When I happened to mention this to the concierge at the Pen, he arranged for me to meet a kite-maker elsewhere in the city, in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce with a translator. And I sat down and made a kite with this marvelous kite-making guy. Above and beyond, we think. What type of person stays here? Everyone and anyone. Shanghai has always been China’s front door to the world, one of the most wildly cosmopolitan of cities, and it still is. Got it. What’s the neighborhood scene like? The Pen occupies a prime spot at the far end of The Bund, a little curve, a mere eyelash of a street on the western bank of the Huangpu River, and one of the most fascinating, inscrutable, mysterious, glamorous, confounding streets in the world. All of Shanghai is here and in adjoining the alleys and side-streets. It is true that there are other hotels on The Bund: the Waldorf Astoria, with its famous Long Bar; the Fairmont Peace Hotel, which used to be Sir Victor Sassoon’s legendary Cathay (you can still make out the ghostly outline of the letters spelling out the original name above one or two of the doors). And there are marvelous hotels elsewhere in the city: the Mandarin Oriental in Pudong; the Capella in the French Concession; the Bulgari, which recently opened overlooking the Suzhou Creek and is as slick as an otter’s pocket. But the Pen is the Pen and I brook no further argument. Hear, hear! Anything we missed? You missed having dinner with Scarlett Johansson on the rooftop terrace. Which was my first introduction to the hotel, a few years ago, just after she finished making The Avengers. I am still not entirely sure how it all came about. Bummer. And anything you’d change? I would slim down the columns in the lobby. Bit too chunky for my taste. Fair point. So is it worth it—and why? This is, for my money, and despite some stiff competition, the top hotel in the most exciting city on the face of the earth at this particular moment in time." - Steve King