Situated amongst the city’s tallest glass giants, the Regent Shanghai Pudong provides a sophisticated sanctuary, balancing high-altitude glamour with deeply personal service.
There are hotels that offer a view, and then there are hotels that are the view. We arrived at the Regent Shanghai Pudong with little more than curiosity, as we haven’t been on this side of the Bund before. Entering the lobby, you are greeted by art deco lines, soaring ceilings, marble that catches the light softly, and bold hues offset by modern glass. Getting your hotel key and moving up the floors, what unfolds is the kind of stay of picturesque proportion you see on social media reels – iconic skyline views that are visually stunning.
Regent Shanghai Pudong sits in Lujiazui, Pudong’s luminous financial district, surrounded by four of the tallest structures ever built. The famous 632-metre Shanghai Tower looms directly outside, where the 492-metre Shanghai World Financial Center rises beside it, followed by the 468-metre Oriental Pearl Tower anchoring the riverfront view and the 421-metre Jin Mao Tower, completing a skyline that no other city on earth has managed to assemble in quite this way.
The Executive Suite and its surroundings
Floor-to-ceiling windows run the full length of the suite, and the towers fill them entirely. At night, the Pearl’s LED skin cycles through colour; neon climbs the facades, and the room fills with a shifting, wordless light show that belongs to no interior designer. The space itself is warm and considered, with stingray leather seating at the work desk, Macassar ebony details, Frette linen sheets, Fumarel toiletries, a large closet space, his and hers sinks with a separate vanity for makeup, and a deep soaking tub angled outward toward the city for a restful view – my favourite part of hotel stays.
The minibar arrives stocked with complimentary red wine, soft drinks and Chinese sweets, a small generosity that signals the tone of everything else. The club lounge, exclusive to executive suite guests, is where breakfast unfolds unhurriedly each morning. I enjoyed dim sum leafing through Chinese fashion magazines, and later visited to have evening drinks taken with the boulevard stretching away below in the amber half-light.
The hotel’s position offers unique proximity to the neighbourhood not readily available from the other side of the Bund. The Oriental Pearl Tower is a five-minute walk. The Shanghai World Financial Center is another five. The Bund itself is a short ride across the river, best arrived at in the early evening when Pudong’s lights begin to gather on the water opposite the old facades.
Further south, Yu Garden offers the most complete counterpoint to Lujiazui: narrow lanes, stone bridges, traditional teahouses where time moves at an entirely different speed. Moving between the two Shanghais in a single afternoon, the Regent at the centre of it was convenient.
The pool, the spa, and Shàng-Xí Dining
On the 41st floor, the infinity pool opens behind 270 degrees of floor-to-ceiling glass, and the effect – the first time you swim to the edge – takes your breath away. The towers are right there. During the day, the water is bright and the sky unobstructed; at night, neon trails across the surface in long, slow columns. You swim, and the city swims with you.
The FLARE Spa sits alongside it with quiet treatment rooms, NATURA BISSE rituals, steam and sauna tucked behind locker rooms that feel entirely removed from everything below. We also enjoyed the gym area that includes a Smith machine, cardio and weights for lifting that provide a proper workout for fitness-minded travellers.
Dinner at Shàng-Xí downstairs offers a similarly beautiful experience. The restaurant comprises five private dining rooms – Pearl, Amber, Purple Jade, Agate, and Jade – each named for the gemstone that inspires its décor, plus an intimate public space that holds no more than 22 guests at a time.
The Cantonese menu highlights unique food of the region, sauces built with patience, and fresh seasonal ingredients. The service team is world-class; our server, having worked previously in the Middle East and other regions, gave quiet attentiveness and a clear understanding of guests’ cultural preferences in service that was impressive. Soft lantern light offered a moody ambiance to enjoy the meal in the beautiful setting.
Why it matters
One morning I woke before the alarm, the room still dark, and just lay there watching the Pearl bounce soft morning rays in the distance while the Shanghai Tower gathered light above the haze. I didn’t reach for my phone. I just watched the city come to life slowly from inside the warmth of the suite before getting ready to venture outside and join others in the sun that day.
Lujiazui is built to impress from the outside, a skyline you photograph from the Bund, a postcard you send home. What the Regent does is put you on the other side of it with aesthetics, convenient proximity and kind staff support. By the time we left, that felt like the only way to have seen both sides of Shanghai. For travellers looking to experience Shanghai from Pudong, it is a recommended stay for sure.
Chelsea Toczauer is a California-based contributing editor specialising in luxury, travel, culture and global markets, with a focus on refined experiences and the global ecosystems that shape them.
