Fairmont Peace Hotel

The Fairmont Peace Hotel occupies Sassoon House, the Art Deco tower at the corner of the Bund and East Nanjing Road. Sir Victor Sassoon built it between 1926 and 1929 to designs by Palmer and Turner, and it opened as the Cathay Hotel, considered more luxurious than its neighbours. Noël Coward wrote Private Lives during a stay. The building rises 77 metres to the roofline and 83 metres to the tip of its spire, and its Art Deco styling runs from the facade through to the interiors.

The hotel closed in 2007 for a three-year restoration and reopened in 2010 under the Fairmont name. It has 270 rooms and 39 suites in the north building, including a set of national suites decorated in the styles of different countries, such as Japan, India and China. The older south building across Nanjing Road, completed in 1908 as the Palace Hotel, is now the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, a residence for artists. Renovation plans were announced in 2025 ahead of a change of name to Raffles Peace Hotel Shanghai in 2027, with the hotel staying open during the work.

The restaurants make full use of the history. The Cathay Room on the ninth floor, once Sassoon's private banquet hall, serves French food, afternoon tea and Sunday brunch, with a terrace that wraps 270 degrees around the river view. Dragon Phoenix on the eighth floor serves Shanghainese and other regional Chinese cooking. The Jazz Bar, once known as the Horse and Hound, hosts the Old Jazz Band every night, a group whose story was the basis for the film As Time Goes By.

The Peace Museum traces the building's past since 1929, and guests are offered a free 30-minute guided tour. There is also a spa, a swimming pool, a fitness centre and indoor parking.

The hotel suits couples, history lovers and anyone who wants to wake up on the Bund itself. The location could hardly be more central: East Nanjing Road station on Lines 2 and 10 is a short walk away, the Bund promenade is across the road and the Huangpu ferries are within walking distance.