Fairmont Peace Hotel On the Bund

Shanghai is known as Asia’s Art Deco jewel – and nowhere is this more evident than in the city’s most iconic building, the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the historic Bund. A stay at what was formerly the Cathay Hotel in the 1930s offers a transporting, immersive experience into the old-world glamour of Shanghai’s roaring heyday, from the heavily Le Labo-scented hallways to the ornate octagonally domed ceiling made up of enormous panes of coloured glass, kept under wraps for decades after the Cultural Revolution and now a sightseeing destination in its own right. The aesthetic extends to the classic and elegant rooms, replete with Art Deco furnishings and flourishes – whether in an air vent or light fixture, it’s a pleasure to notice the smallest details. Make sure not to miss the Old Jazz Band, made up of veteran musicians – its eldest member is a 95-year- old trumpeter – who played there before the war, and perform nightly in the hotel’s famous piano bar.