The coming out party of Shanghai’s boutique hotels has just begun…
Our city is long past its coming out. Now one of the most talked about destinations in the world, Shanghai is as much of a center for tourism as it is for commerce. Travelers here face a glut of accommodation, dining, and entertainment options that seemingly suit everyone, from the budget-conscious to the cash-happy.
However, near the top, luxury accommodation in this city is dominated by a slew of recognizable hoteliers. Around People’s Square alone, 14 four- to five-star hotels from the big-hitting multinational and Chinese brands compete for the attention (read buck) of rich visitors. And it is this top-end development that continues to attract the most investment. But as new high-rise hotels crowd the skyline, Shanghai may be on the verge of a new era – the age of the boutique hotel.
“The first wave of hospitality choices in a city tends to be rather safe – mostly chain hotels,” says Michael Ball, CEO of global hotel group World Hotels, an association of more than 500 independent hotels. “The next wave is when people want something different than where they’ve already been. It’s at this tipping point where people experiment – hoteliers and designers – and they feel confident and start daring to be different. Shanghai has gotten to that point.”
Enter two news hotels, Eton Hotel, recently opened in Pudong, and JIA, which is set to open on Nanjing Lu this month. JIA is the brainchild of Yenn Wong, the 26-year-old Singaporean founder and owner of JIA Hong Kong. JIA Hong Kong was the first boutique hotel in Asia to be designed by global design guru and multi-millionaire businessman Philippe Starck. Starck has been associated with many of the world’s most famed boutique outfits, so Wong has an association with using the best.
JIA Shanghai is a joint venture between Wong and Hong Kong-based businessman John Aryananda, and both consider it to be Shanghai’s “first chic, boutique residence.”
Though Philippe Starck’s signature isn’t on our JIA, Melbourne-based BURO Architects, together with Hecker Phelan and Guthrie Interiors (HPG), have provided a design plan that Wong promises will match the same hip, elegant feel as the Causeway Bay original. With furniture pieces by Knoll, Minotti, and Moroso and lighting by Flos and Artimide, JIA is meant to please the most aesthetically-demanding.
“We used a number of different designers for the project as we wanted to create different ambiances in the rooms, lobby and restaurant. We were inspired by the beauty of old 1920s buildings and the Shanghai vibe, and JIA’s philosophy of homey living,” Wong explains. Expensive homey living that is: patrons should expect to pay around ¥2,140 per night for a studio room, while penthouse suites will cost upwards of ¥11,660 per night.
The hotel will be located at 931 Nanjing Lu, at the intersection of Taixing Lu, and will offer 55 guest rooms including an Executive Floor on the top level, two spacious (and pricey) penthouse suites, a restaurant, a fitness facility and rooftop with panoramic views.
READY FOR A CHANGE?
After the success of JIA Hong Kong, Wong is optimistic about its second incarnation in Shanghai, despite its lack of a precedent in our big brand-driven city. “When my father’s company, PC Asia, purchased the 25-storey Causeway Bay building in 2001, it was a two-star hostel targeted at mainland Chinese tourists. I looked at the environment – it wasn’t classy but it had lots of character. I knew it was the perfect opportunity to create an exciting and innovative hotel development, something that was beautiful, but that provided a fun experience for people. Now we are excited for Shanghai.”
In its three years in the market, Wong’s Hong Kong venture has already made it to Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Hot List’ and its restaurant, OPIA, was voted ‘Best Restaurant’ in Harper’s Bazaar 2006 Style Awards. It was also recently voted by the Independent (London) newspaper as one of the five best boutique hotels in Greater China – not that China yet has much in the way of competition. And it’s for that reason that Wong believes Shanghai is ripe for change, for options somewhere between the bed and breakfast villas and the opulent template hotels.
“I definitely think Shanghai will embrace our concept. The five-star hotels have a lot to offer but there is definitely a group of clientele that wants to stay somewhere different and would like something more private and personal. This is a group of people who are very lifestyle-oriented, travels frequently, and are looking for unique properties and experiences.”
But is Shanghai ready for – or even interested in – designer boutique hotels? Judging on numbers alone, it seems so. World Hotels has seen remarkable growth in the China region in the last year alone. In Shanghai, the number of hotels in the group has jumped from one to seven.
For these reasons, Michael Ball is hopeful about the future of independent, boutique accommodations in Shanghai. He is though a bit wary of whether the designer hotel concept will survive. “The modern approach – it can be overdone,” he says. “If function gets lost, practicality just isn’t there. Places that are too designed can be a bit fadish.” But ultimately, Ball believes our city is ready for new blood and fresh ideas.
Pudong’s sleek new Eton Hotel, one of World Hotels most recent additions, can also be called a boutique hotel despite its relatively large size. “Boutique has become a misused term. People usually think a boutique hotel has to be small – but that is not always the case. I think a boutique hotel has to have real individuality.”
Some argue that these places already exist here, and that in fact, the alternative, boutique hotel (or something close to it) does pretty good business. From tiny to towering, nostalgic to futuristic, hotels of all makes have begun brandishing the label to differentiate themselves in a competitive market. In Shanghai, places as disparate as the charming, garden side Ruijin Hotel to the glitzy, 462-room Eton Hotel can call themselves “boutique.”
But hotels like the legendary Ruijin Hotel, though certainly unique and charming, are a far cry from the quirky, trendy hotels that boast the “boutique” label in most cosmopolitan cities. Hotels promising a little bit of Old Shanghai are not few, but where are the city’s Schrager-style masterpieces of hospitality? Toffler Niemuth, Ruijin Hotel’s Assistant Sales Manager, assures that these historic villas should be considered boutique because of the hotel’s commitment to individuality and service.
“The term ‘boutique’ has been cannabilized,” Niemuth explains. “You can be small, or you can be big… and the perception is that the hotel should be stylish. But it doesn’t have to be. Being boutique is really about the level of service – having a staff that remembers your name, your preferences.”
With the tallest building on the property only four storeys high, the Ruijin Hotel is committed to retaining a cozy yet classic atmosphere. Though formally considered a garden villa hotel, it’s a 62-room state-owned property with four well-preserved main buildings built in the 1920s to 1930s. The Ruijin Hotel has a long history as a high-end yet intimate alternative to the luxury brand names just around the corner, with (in)famous figures like Richard Nixon and Ho Chi Minh having stayed in the villas. Clientele are 70-80% foreign, while the Chinese Communist Party holds regular meetings here and keeps a section of the hotel reserved year-round for their use. “People come here for the history and the culture,” Niemuth explains. “People don’t always want to stay at the same hotels they’ve seen in 30 cities across the world. There’s history here; the Ruijin may not be ultra-modern, but it’s unique.”
Niemuth doesn’t believe Shanghai’s hospitality market will be dominated with funky, designer lifestyle hotels any time soon. “It’s hard to be a boutique hotel here because the revenue you need to pay for the land prices here is so high,” she says.
ALREADY COVERED
With 16 new five-star hotels scheduled to be built here every year between now and 2010, it seems that high-rise, big-name hoteliers have at least one considerable advantage over smaller boutique endeavors: cash. And while some groups like W Hotels and the Eton Group have managed to build brand loyalty around a more unique, boutique identity, this somewhat paradoxical success does not necessary mean that there will be room in the market for more small-scale, luxury hoteliers.
Yang Yongcheng, Manager of the Old House Inn, a popular 12-room boutique bed and breakfast on Huashan Lu, sees it more simply. He believes the market these designer hotels target – affluent, style-conscious visitors – is already covered by the high-rise hotels and the cozier places like Old House Inn. Yang doesn’t believe his guests are any different than those designer boutique hotels are trying to attract.
“We see Americans, Europeans, people from all over China… business people and travelers. They choose our hotel because they like the small, boutique feel – they see that our place has an artistic touch,” Yang explains. The historic house is equipped with antique furniture and modern amenities, allowing patrons a slice-of-life feel without removing them entirely from their comfort zones. With non-locals making up the majority of patrons at high-end, high-priced Shanghai hotels, playing into many of their desires for an “authentic” Chinese experience is an obvious strategy for smaller hoteliers. And for the most part, that formula seems to be working.
Whether or not Shanghai will be receptive to the chic boutique hotel concept is yet to be seen. But regardless of its success or downfall, the arrival of Eton and JIA is a healthy reminder to its competitors that individuality and a little creative risk are not necessarily to be feared – even here. In times of internet-aided price transparency and greater supply, hotels must be pushed to create authentic identities for themselves, lest they be glazed over in an increasingly segmented and highly competitive market. “Hotels today must differentiate themselves by doing something unique,” Ball asserts. “In Shanghai, it’s remarkable how fast this has happened.”
