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Lowest price over the last 30 days: RMB 1,500.00 (approx. US$ 237)
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Guest Reviews
What recent guests liked:
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“The design is amazing. The rooms and the shared space. … ”
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“Interesting location, unique design.”
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“The room. I expected the hotel to be more happening, … ”
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“The design, the restaurant”
The Waterhouse at South Bund
Maojiayuan Road 1-3, Huangpu District
Shanghai, China
Style: Cutting-Edge
Atmosphere: Happening
19 Rooms
When you put together an all-star team you don’t necessarily get all-star results — but then again, sometimes you do. The Waterhouse is the brainchild of one adventurous developer, in the person of Loh Lik Peng, the man behind Singapore’s New Majestic, and a pair of talented designers, the Shanghai-based partnership of Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu.
First there’s the affiliated warehouse-turned-ginormous-performance-space next door. Second there’s the industrial chic décor of the hotel itself, with furniture by such bold-faced names as Antonio Citterio and Finn Juhl. And finally there’s the emphasis on seeing and being seen; several rooms look into other rooms, and some shutters have mirrors, enabling guests to artfully interact with fellow voyeurs across the courtyard.
Sociability rules at Table No. 1, where the restaurant’s communal tables mean you’ll be getting to know your neighbors, or at least hearing them. (You’ll have to go elsewhere for your Hu cai, as this place serves seasonal European fare in family-sized portions.) And the seats on the rooftop bar are easily rearranged, so you can form diads, triads, and beyond to your heart’s content as you take in the skyline and waterway. The hotel certainly wants to be a destination for residents and visitors alike, part of an overarching renovation of the Shiliupu neighborhood — near the hotel is a conglomeration of trendy restaurants and bars called The Cool Docks, which we hope sounds better in Chinese.
Perhaps this emphasis on interaction is meant to counterbalance the coldness that sometimes appears as an unhappy by-product of heavily designed spaces. Here, though, the tans of unfinished wood and grays of burnished brick emit a pleasing warmth — and a somewhat necessary one, too, since, lacking certain luxury-hotel norms, you won’t be able to work up a sweat at an on-site gym or drive out the toxins at an in-house spa. The Waterhouse strips it down to food, drink, and a room, and delivers all three with supreme confidence — really, what else do you need from a hotel, or to make a connection?
