The PuLi

A downtown hotel with an uptown address, the PuLi is a designer enclave in the bustling Jing'an district.

• The bath tubs with the great views
• The plugged-in management
• The rooms that overlook Jing'An park and temple.

The PuLi—which opened in 2009, with 229 rooms in a 26-story tower—is a downtown hotel with an uptown address, a boutique hostelry with more than design going for it, and an urban lodging that can feel like a resort. Like the Chinese pavilion at 2010's Shanghai Expo—an inverted pyramid balanced on its point—the PuLi reflects, though more subtly, the topsy-turvy, Wonderland city around it, where the sky is full of buildings, not clouds, the “Old Town” is mostly new, and the super-charged capitalist economy is the work of a Communist government. The front entrance? It’s not located on the front at all, but on the side of the hotel, down a long bamboo-lined driveway that’s virtually unmarked. Reception desk? It’s literally part of the lobby bar—you could register and order a drink at the same time, if you wanted. Concierge desk? That would be next door, in the library.

But once you’ve checked in, you’ll hardly notice the deliberate disconnects and inventive fusions, so coolly efficient is the hotel, which was created by veterans of the Peninsula and Oberoi chains for a Taiwanese owner. Settle in for a minute on one of the low-slung sofas in the lobby, which is lined with backlit panels of Jim Thompson silk, and a waiter will likely serve you a glass of water, without your asking. Stand in the shower in your room, whose outer wall is all glass, or sink into the adjacent 2-foot-deep tub, and it takes only a few seconds to go from thinking, “Why put the tub right against these huge windows?” to… “This is a great view, and I’m going to enjoy it!” (In case you don’t feel the same, however, or worry the neighbors won’t, there are push-button floor-to-ceiling blinds.)

Designed by Jaya Ibrahim and the Layan Group, who are responsible for the Aman group’s extraordinary Summer Palace outside Beijing, the PuLi is small for Shanghai, yet everything about it is spacious. That bar in the lobby is over 100 feet long, and so is the 2nd-floor restaurant above it. Likewise, the smallest guest room (there are 7 categories) is almost 500 square feet. In addition, the majority of the streamlined accommodations, which in their neutral palettes and dark wood furnishings owe obvious debts to early Christian Liaigre and late Armani Casa, are open plan; in most there are no doors to separate the sleeping areas from the bathrooms. On the plus side, you’ll never feel hemmed in here. On the con: Even in the 1-bedroom suites, which have a large living room with a dining table, plus a small wet bar and extra half-bath, you’ll always know exactly where your bedmate is, and you might not want to know every time he’s brushing his teeth. When you’re brushing yours, though, you will notice that one good splash from the tap into the tall, vanity-less freestanding sink and—oh gosh!—you’ve gotten water on the beautiful floor. Minimalist perfection isn’t always practical, but it’s pretty.

Cool-hunters. Individualists who want to break out of the Peninsula-Park Hyatt-Four Seasons-Ritz Carlton bubble. And anyone who works for LVMH, Gucci Group, Richemont, etc.—the major international fashion brands have their offices and their largest Shanghai stores in the luxury towers and malls nearby. (The PuLi was Giorgio Armani’s casa, when the designer was last in town.)