The culturally provocative design by Milan-based maestro Piero Lissoni is evident as soon as you enter the intimate lobby.
Bamboo-ribboned walls of jade-green porcelain and contemporary Chinese artworks surround a low-slung 3,760-piece Venetian chandelier.
From an intimate tented camp in the green foothills of Bali to a converted 19th-century Jesuit retreat in Tamil Nadu, our editors and reviewers have roamed the Asia-Pacific region to bring together DestinAsian’s annual collection of the year’s top hotel openings. Read on to discover which new properties stood out from the rest in terms of service, setting, amenities, and a singular sense of style.
The fourth hotel in Swire’s The House Collective (after Beijing, Hong Kong, and Chengdu) is quite the brooding minx. Located slap-bang beside Nanjing West Road and surrounded by shopping, dining, and entertainment options galore, The Middle House basks in urban glamour given its own refreshing spin.
The culturally provocative design by Milan-based maestro Piero Lissoni is evident as soon as you enter the intimate lobby, where bamboo-ribboned walls of jade-green porcelain and contemporary Chinese artworks surround a low-slung 3,760-piece Venetian chandelier. Spacious guest rooms, decorated with dark-wood floors and streamlined Italian furnishings, make you grin with playful touches: pops of canary-yellow and indigo, a complimentary “Maxi Bar,” and the giant chinoiserie tassel by the bed that triggers the master switch. Cheeky all-glass bathrooms border on promiscuous.
Filled with urban buzz, Café Gray Deluxe covers the entire third floor with a wraparound terrace overlooking the cityscape, while Sui Tang Li in the neighboring residential tower serves up modern Shanghainese and Cantonese cuisine, including excellent dim sum and “five elements”–inspired cocktails. Equally impressive is Mi Xun, a vast subterranean space that is home to a swimming pool, 24-hour gym, juice bar, HYPOXI studio, and a spa using products by Cha Ling, LVMH’s new China-tea skincare brand.
86-21/3216-8199; www.themiddlehousehotel.com; doubles from US$335.
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2018 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“The Luxe List 2018: The Middle House, Shanghai”).
