Poland Hotels Booking

In Shanghai, its French Concession, the old trading quarter run by colonial France, remains a charming low-rise neighborhood of tree-lined avenues.

Here a few small, intimate hotels have opened over the past 18 months. One is the Mansion Hotel, a gracious and spacious 1930s villa.

This was once the clubhouse of Du Yue Sheng, aka ‘Big Ears Du’, one of the city’s wealthiest and most notorious gangsters.

He was a triad king who had his base in the French Concession where he bought houses and police chiefs with equal ease. He lived for many years in the mansion which later became the Donghu Hotel on Donghu Lu, and amongst his many businesses ran a bank which owned the Central Plaza building on Yanan Lu near the Bund. He had a number of wives, many concubines and links into the highest levels of Chinese politics, particularly the Nationalists led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

(You can read the full story of this interesting if not over-savory character in Tales of Old Shanghai which I strongly commend to you.)

In The Mansion hotel the fittings are of that period with rosewood cabinets, Art Nouveau lights and Shanghai-style 1930s winged armchairs.

The Mansion Hotel is about a 20-minute taxi ride from The Bund and a 15-minute drive from The People’s Square in the heart of the city. It is opposite a splendid onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church, now a library, and is close to little boutiques and cafes along Xinle and Shaanxi Roads.

There are 30 bedrooms and have all the modern gizmos which are essential to traveling life. Big flat screen TVs, printers, faxes and scanners are standard fittings in each room.

Each room is also equipped with free Wifi and also offers free broadband access. ‘Big Ears Du’ would have approved. He was ever an excellent communicator.
Source: The Independent on Sunday

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

As mentioned in a previous post on March 20, Swissôtel Grand, Shanghai will open to the public later this month. It is offering a special rate on its ‘Classic Rooms’. If you book between May and August 2008, a one-night stay is RMB 1,295 (about US$178) inc. breakfast + tax and service charge.

Other deals include 20% discounts on food, bevs and spa treatments for members of the “Miles and More” program of Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines. And there are also benefits for those who belong to Asia Miles, Air China, Jet Airways and JAL. 
Source: Swissôtel Grand, Shanghai

author Anna Bartram, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

In aid of this year’s ‘World Earth Day’ on April 22, Mandara Spa at JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai will donate US$1 from each spa treatment to the Arbor Day Foundation. This is a non-profit US-based organization of nearly one million members that plants and promotes the conservation of trees. Mandara Spas worldwide are making similar efforts to support this cause.

Marriott International has recently signed an agreement with the State of Amazonas in Brazil to fund US$2 million to an environmental management plan to be carried out by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation. Guests at Marriott hotels will be able to contribute to this fund by the end of the year.
Source: JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai

author Anna Bartram, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

International Branded Hotels Shanghai (IBHS) has donated RMB225,000 (around US$32,000) to the Shanghai Charity Foundation. The cheque was presented by William Hall, Chairman of IBHS, (on the left of the photo) at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University on March 21. The money will be used to help children with congenital heart disease who are treated at the hospital.

IBHS currently has 60 members which are all four- and five-star hotels in Shanghai. William Hall said the hotels work with various charities individually or under a group banner. IBHS plans to hold several fundraising events in 2008; the major one being the Annual Charity Golf Tournament in June which will run for its fifth year in a row.
Source: IBHS

author Anna Bartram, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

While it may be a problem for some guests with leanings towards claustrophia the perhaps soon to be built Songjiang hotel is an amazing innovative design. It is a 400-bed, five-star resort hotel set in a deep quarry in the Songjiang district of China and within easy distance of Shanghai.

Bristol based Atkins Design Studio designed the hotel and said it was inspired by the water and landscape features of the quarry it is to be set in.

The structure’s foundation will be laid into the 100 metre deep quarry and rise two levels higher than the rock face of the quarry. This will enable it to have several underwater public areas, restaurants and guest rooms facing a ten-meter deep aquarium.

When and if completed (nothing seems to be firmly set as yet) it should be totally astounding. Note that we have mentioned this hotel before and will continue to mention it until it becomes a reality. It is a fascinating idea.
Source: Journal de l’Atelier d’Architecture

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

URBN hotels are for environmentally conscious visitors. From the building’s design and materials to cleaning products to energy-efficiency, URBN hotels are eco-friendly.

The first, which is in Shanghai in Jiao Zhou Road is a 28-room full-service hotel.

The building design used an existing structure and locally sourced materials such as reclaimed hardwoods and old Shanghai bricks. Passive solar shades, rain water retention basins and water-based air conditioning have been used to decrease the hotel’s environmental impact. Low-VOC paints were used and interiors are cleaned with environmentally sensitive products.

What carbon emissions the hotel does produce — such as staff travel, stock deliveries and the energy consumed by each guest — will be tracked and offset by investing in clean energy development and energy efficiency projects elsewhere in China.

Guests can also buy international standard carbon credits from the hotel to offset their flights.

Over the next three years, 20 URBN hotels and resorts are set to open in Beijing, Hangzhou, Dalian, and Suzhou, containing up to 70 rooms each.
Source: Inhabitat.com

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com