Shanghai’s Peace Hotel, the epicentre of the city’s 1930s hedonism, has reopened after a three-year £50 million restoration.
The hotel will now be managed by Fairmont, the Canadian hoteliers who run the Savoy and New York’s Plaza hotel.
Built in 1929, and originally named The Cathay, the hotel once hosted Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw and Noel Coward, who penned Private Lives in one its suites.
The restoration of the hotel has brought back to life the Octagon lobby, previously concealed behind a fake ceiling, and several other period details.
The Shanghai government forced a painstaking restoration, having recently discovered the value of maintaining the city’s heritage.
