Grand Hyatt Shanghai, Shanghai, China

In any city other than Shanghai, the Grand Hyatt would be an embarrassing remnant of the ostentatious and overblown excess of the mid nineties. In Shanghai, it’s a winning combination proving that hotels can be culturally relevant.

Shanghai, the New York of the early twenty first century is a booming, cosmopolitan, appearances driven city almost devoid of a culture outside the business deal. Fifteen years ago, its skyline consisted of apartment blocks and the low-rise heights of the European built Deco buildings of the Bund and the French Concession. Now, it’s possible to navigate the entire city using each of the distinctive, self congratulatory landmark towers built on land and wealth acquired dubiously by entrepreneurial owners.

Towering above the newly reclaimed swamp-lands of Pudong is the Grand Hyatt, the jewel in the business crown of the city, where uncountable deals have been done in the dizzy heights of the ‘Cloud 9’ sky-bar, ‘Cucina’ the Italian restaurant, the private rooms of the Chinese restaurant and over container loads of Chivas Regal. The Jin Mao Tower itself is Art Deco inspired. Inside, the hotel is firmly ensconced in the future. Mid nineties minimalism with floor to ceiling glass walls, high technology and glass bathrooms hints at pervading masculinity of the building. More interesting are the Chinese styled rooms featuring walls painted in poetic Chinese script inspiring big vistas and grand scales. The Western rooms languish with neutral toned feature walls of textural fabric and glass topped desks. In room dining features sashimi, there’s a late-night bar serving just desserts and late nineties euro-pop in the gym.

The lobby and the bars are some of the busiest in the city. The Grand Hyatt is a revolving door of suited business men meeting and greeting, drinking and dealing and creating a buzz that stinks of new money, and opportunistic greed. The service is attentive, efficient and impersonal. You’re just another wallet revolving through the doors of this ostentacious centre in the latest engine of growth in the global economy. In Shanghai, that can only be a wonderful omen.