Thursday, July 29, 2010

Shanghai's Peace Hotel opens after restoration

(SHANGHAI) The city's Peace Hotel, which once accommodated Charlie Chaplin and other celebrities, opened to guests yesterday after three years of restoration, the managers said in a statement.

Fairmont Peace Hotel will be managed by Chinese hotelier Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group) Co and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc, which runs the Savoy hotel in London.

Jin Jiang, which operates more than 600 hotels in China, spent HK$500 million (S$88 million) to restore the building.

Some of the main features of the hotel have been kept, including the lobby with an Octagon ceiling, the hoteliers said.

Rates start from 2,300 yuan (S$464) and go as high as more than 7,000 yuan for a night, the hotel's general manager, Kamal Naamani said at a press conference.

The hotel has 270 rooms including the so-called Nine Nations Suites.

The building, located on the Bund promenade overlooking the Huangpu River, has six restaurants and lounges, including the Jazz Bar patronised by former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

The Indian, English, Chinese and American suites have been preserved, while the French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and German rooms were redesigned.

The hotel was previously called the Cathay Hotel and was built by British businessman Victor Sassoon, opening in 1929. The art deco property reopened as the Peace Hotel in 1956.

Jin Jiang also has an agreement with Swatch Group AG to develop the south wing of the old Peace Hotel, called Swatch Art Peace Hotel, part of which will serve as an arts centre. -- Bloomberg

Source: Business Times, 29 Jul 2010

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