Best Design Hotels in Shanghai (2026)

Thirty meticulously restored 1930s shikumen townhouses gathered around cobblestoned lanes in the Former French Concession. Each residence is an individual villa with private garden or terrace; Capella's service — butlers available around the clock, a private cinema, a tea house — wraps it all in unhurried elegance. The antithesis of the tower hotel.

• Ultra-luxury
• Heritage
• Boutique
• Romance

★ 9.8 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation

Occupying the 1928 North China Daily News building at the northern tip of the Bund, The Peninsula Shanghai is the Bund hotel that generations of Shanghai romantics have dreamed about. Grand Art Deco rooms, a rooftop bar with the Pudong skyline as backdrop, and the finest afternoon tea in China make this the standard against which every other Bund hotel is measured.

• Heritage
• Luxury
• Romance
• Views

★ 9.7 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation

The 1929 Sassoon House — green pyramid rooftop and art deco grandeur at the Bund's centrepoint — is one of Shanghai's greatest buildings, and the Fairmont's stewardship has preserved every inch of its theatrical character. The Jazz Bar, where the Old Jazz Band has played since the 1980s, offers nightly performances that feel less like entertainment than time travel.

• Heritage
• Iconic
• Bund
• Jazz

★ 9.5 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation

Piero Lissoni's design is all amber travertine, warm oak, and library walls of curated books — a hotel that feels genuinely residential on leafy Jinan Lu. The rooftop pool, the Grill restaurant, and the House Collective service philosophy create a stay that regulars return to more as a favourite home than a hotel.

• Design
• French Concession
• Lifestyle
• Dining

★ 9.4 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation

China's first carbon-neutral hotel occupies a converted factory complex in Jing'an — exposed brick, reclaimed timber, and salvaged industrial fittings create a warmth that purpose-built hotels rarely achieve. The courtyard garden, the excellent cocktail bar, and the genuinely warm service have made it a cult favourite with repeat visitors.

• Boutique
• Sustainability
• Design
• Value

★ 9.1 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation

A boutique gem on the quietest stretch of Fuxing Road — eleven individually designed rooms in a restored 1930s villa, each one a careful blend of Shanghai Art Deco and contemporary French sensibility. The intimate scale means service feels almost private, and the neighbourhood restaurants and bars are among Shanghai's finest.

• Boutique
• Heritage
• Romance
• Neighbourhood

★ 9 Hotelier's Choice score, 40+ criteria · Many rooms include free cancellation