The Bund is a kilometre and a half of European banking and trading houses built between the 1860s and the 1930s along the western bank of the Huangpu river. Fifty-two buildings in neoclassical, art deco and beaux-arts styles, put up by the foreign concessions when Shanghai was the busiest port in Asia.
Directly across the water is Pudong, which was farmland and warehouses until 1990 and now holds four of the tallest buildings in the world. The Shanghai Tower alone is 632 metres.
The view belongs to the old side
That geography produces a rule that decides where to stay.
From the Bund you look at Pudong: the tower cluster, lit at night, across 500 metres of water. It is the image of Shanghai and the one people come for.
From Pudong you look at the Bund: a low, handsome line of stone buildings. It is a good view. It is not the famous one.
So if the skyline is the point, book on the Bund and face east. If space, spas and the tallest hotel rooms in the world are the point, Pudong has them, and you look at the historic bank facades instead.
There is a third option that many returning visitors prefer: the former French Concession, a few kilometres inland, with plane-tree streets, lane houses and the best restaurants and bars in the city. No river view at all.
The thirteen below are grouped that way.
On the Bund
Facing Pudong across the water.
The Peninsula Shanghai occupies a purpose-built art deco block at the northern end of the Bund, designed to look as though it has always been there, with the best rooms in Shanghai and terraces facing the river. It is the finest hotel in the city.
The Peninsula Shanghai
North Bund · 5★ · $$$$
Art deco block with terraces facing Pudong
Check availabilityWaldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund sits in the 1910 Shanghai Club building, whose Long Bar was once the longest in the world and has been restored, with a small room count and river-facing suites.
Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund
The Bund · 5★ · $$$$
The 1910 Shanghai Club with its restored Long Bar
Check availabilityFairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund occupies the 1929 Cathay Hotel, the art deco landmark with the green pyramid roof, restored and still holding its jazz bar. It is the most historic address on the river.
Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund
The Bund · 5★ · $$$
The 1929 art deco landmark with the green pyramid roof
Check availabilityThe Shanghai EDITION sits a street back from the Bund in a converted 1930s power company building, with a rooftop bar that has become the most sought-after view in Shanghai.
The Shanghai EDITION
Behind the Bund · 5★ · $$$$
Converted power company building with the city's best rooftop
Check availabilityBanyan Tree Shanghai On the Bund occupies a position on the southern Bund with a spa, a pool and rooms looking north up the curve of the waterfront.
Banyan Tree Shanghai On the Bund
South Bund · 5★ · $$$
Spa and pool looking north up the waterfront curve
Check availabilitySuzhou Creek and Jing'an
North and west of the Bund. Quieter, and where the newer design hotels are.
Bulgari Hotel Shanghai occupies a tower beside the restored 1930s Shanghai Chamber of Commerce building on Suzhou Creek, with a spa, a pool and an Italian interior that is the most polished in the city.
Bulgari Hotel Shanghai
Suzhou Creek · 5★ · $$$$
Beside a restored 1930s chamber of commerce building
Check availabilityThe Middle House sits in Jing'an in a Neri and Hu building with a courtyard, two very good restaurants and the most considered contemporary design in Shanghai.
The former French Concession
Plane trees, lane houses and the restaurants. No river.
Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li occupies a restored 1930s shikumen lane compound, the terraced lane houses that are Shanghai's own building type, with 55 suites among the alleys and a spa. It is the most atmospheric hotel in the city.
Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li
Former French Concession · 5★ · $$$$
Fifty-five suites in a restored shikumen lane compound
Check availabilityPudong
Across the water. The towers, the space and the height.
Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies floors 79 to 93 of the Shanghai World Financial Center, with a pool and restaurant near the top and the Bund below. The rooms are among the highest in the world.
Park Hyatt Shanghai
Pudong · 5★ · $$$$
Floors 79 to 93 of the World Financial Center
Check availabilityThe Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong sits in the Shanghai IFC with a bar on the 58th floor looking straight across at the Bund, a spa and large rooms.
The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
Pudong IFC · 5★ · $$$$
A 58th-floor bar looking straight at the Bund
Check availabilityFour Seasons Hotel Pudong, Shanghai occupies a tower with the largest standard rooms in Shanghai, a spa and river-facing accommodation across the water from the historic waterfront.
Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai sits on the Pudong riverfront with a garden, a pool and a lower-rise layout than its neighbours.
Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai
Pudong riverfront · 5★ · $$$$
Garden and pool in a lower-rise riverside layout
Check availabilityOutside the city
Amanyangyun occupies a site an hour southwest where a forest of 10,000 camphor trees and a set of Ming dynasty houses were moved stone by stone from Jiangxi province and rebuilt. It is a remarkable act of preservation and it is a long way from anything.
What we have left off
The serviced apartments across Jing'an and Pudong are excluded. Shanghai has a very large supply of them serving long-stay business visitors, and they are apartments rather than hotels.
What to do
Walk the Bund at night and again at seven in the morning, when it belongs to people exercising rather than photographing.
Cross to Pudong and go up something. The Shanghai Tower's observation deck is the highest; the bar on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao is cheaper and has a better view because it includes the Tower.
Spend a day in the former French Concession: Wukang Road, the lane houses, the Propaganda Poster Art Centre and the bars around Anfu Road.
See the Yu Garden and the old city, early, and the Shanghai Museum on People's Square.
Take the train to Suzhou, 25 minutes on the high-speed line, for the classical gardens.
Practical notes
Pudong airport is 45 minutes to an hour from the centre, or eight minutes on the maglev to its terminus then a metro connection. Hongqiao is closer and mostly domestic.
Spring and autumn are the best seasons. Summer is hot and humid, winter is grey and cold, and both are cheaper. Chinese New Year closes a great deal.
Check current visa and entry rules before travelling; China's arrangements, including transit exemptions, have changed repeatedly.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Shanghai Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Bund or Pudong?
Bund if you want to look at the skyline. Pudong if you want to be in it, with more space and height.
Is the French Concession a good base?
For a second visit, very. It has the restaurants and the walking, and no river view.
How far is the airport?
Pudong is 45 minutes by road or eight on the maglev plus a metro connection.
How many nights?
Four. Three for the city and a fourth for Suzhou or the water towns.