URBN Hotels Shanghai
Style Contemporary carbon-neutral cool
Setting French Concession quarter
Amid the everyday bustle of Shanghai’s Jiao Zhou road, the high wooden gates of China’s first carbon-neutral boutique hotel promise unexpected tranquillity in exclusive, sophisticated surroundings. Fashioned from reclaimed materials, including hardwoods, house bricks and even antique leather suitcases, Urbn Hotels Shanghai offers a glimpse of yesterday’s Shanghai, but in terms of outlook and design, it’s as modern as they come.
Need to know
- Rooms 26, including a spa suite and two penthouses.
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Rates
Double rooms from $205.14 (CNY1,300), excluding tax at 15 per cent.
Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (CNY1,300), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
- More details Rates include afternoon tea and a range of soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits, but exclude breakfast.
- Facilities Rooftop gardens, in-room spa treatments, gym, DVD/CD library, WiFi throughout (CNY150 a day). In rooms: flatscreen TV, iPod-compatible sound system, minibar.
- Check-out Noon, but flexible, depending on availability.
- Children Urbn welcomes kids of 12 years and up.
- Eco-friendly Built out of reclaimed brick from old Shanghai houses, the hotel’s carbon neutral offsetting everything from lighting to staff commutes, and recycles wherever possible.
- Also In keeping with the hotel’s impressive eco-credentials, you can buy carbon credits directly from Urbn to offset your flights.
Food and drink at URBN Hotels Shanghai
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Hotel restaurant
Urbn's sleek onsite restaurant, Downstairs with David Laris, is Shanghai's only carbon-neutral restaurant. Acclaimed Australian chef David Laris oversees the sustainably-focused menu, which features brilliant brunches and laid-back lunches of truffled macaroni cheese or mussles with french fries. Things step up a notch at dinner, when the kitchen turns out contemporary dishes such as pan-fried scallops with chilli and chorizo, or a wagyu sirloin with tomato jam. Urbn Lounge serves a generous afternoon tea to guests, which might include savoury tarts, sandwiches, scones and profiteroles, plus a range of soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits.
- Dress code High-street chic (preferably in eco-friendly fabrics).
- Top table For the best views, book a table beside one of Downstaris' floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the courtyard.
- Last orders Downstairs is open throughout the day, from a blinkingly early 6.30am for breakfast until the kitchen closes at 12am. Drinks are available in the lounge until 2am.
- Room service A 24-hour snack selection, with Downstairs meals available in your room during restaurant opening hours.
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Hotel bar
As well as the slinky cocktail area adjoining the restaurant, there’s a thrillingly Bond-ish guests-only lounge on the rooftop called Upstairs, which is accessed through a code-locked door in an innocuous concrete wall.
URBN Hotels Shanghai JiaoZhou No.183 (between Beijing Lu and XinZa Lu lu, and is near Nanjing Road, and Jing An Temple), Shanghai, 200040
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Smith extra at URBN Hotels Shanghai
A one-hour massage each
In the know
Our favourite rooms
Rooms 2 and 3 come with a wonderful sense of space, cosy wraparound sofas in the sunken lounge and sublime garden views. The Courtyard Suite, however, is the one for serious hedonists with its private courtyard and spa treatment room.
Packing tips
Bring an exercise book for your Mandarin language notes – Urbn staff give lessons for beginners.
Also
Try your hand (and foot) at Tai Chi or yoga – Urbn can arrange classes – or spice up your culinary skills with a Chinese cooking course.
