With the debut of Andaz Shanghai ITC, Shanghai gains not just another luxury address, but a sharply attuned vantage point on a city where heritage façades and vertical futurism now coexist in compelling equilibrium.
Shanghai is not lacking for good hotels, but when a new opening like Andaz Shanghai ITC drops into the Chinese megalopolis it makes a confident statement about where the city’s cultural pulse is heading next.
Set within the soaring ITC Xujiahui complex — one of the most ambitious mixed-use developments in Shanghai’s storied Xuhui District in recent time — the 276-key property occupies a neighbourhood that has long stood at the intersection of commerce and culture. Xujiahui was once at the forefront of Shanghai’s engagement with the outside world; today, it is a vertical landscape of glass and steel rising beside century-old European façades and plane tree-lined streets.
That tension between past and present is precisely where Andaz positions itself.
The design narrative of Andaz Shanghai ITC revolves around nostalgia — but not in a sepia-toned, museum-piece way. Instead, it is nostalgia refracted through contemporary Shanghai: glass-brick walls inspired by laneway houses, moss-hued rugs echoing historic alleyways, corridors marked by the silhouette of plane trees that still define the streets below. Even the varied room doors subtly reinforce the illusion of a residential enclave rather than a hotel corridor.
The brand name “Andaz” — Hindi for personal style — has always implied a sense of place over formula. Here, that translates into what the hotel calls a “vertical Shanghai neighbourhood”: a stacked, skyward interpretation of the city’s shifting identities. The third-floor entrance acts as a transitional threshold between the street’s energy and the elevated calm of the 14th-floor lobby, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame a skyline that juxtaposes Art Deco heritage with modern megastructures.
For younger, design-conscious travellers — the kind who see cities not as checklist destinations but as living ecosystems — this interplay feels particularly resonant. Shanghai, after all, is once again in a phase of reinvention, and Andaz Shanghai ITC captures that sense of movement rather than freezing it in time.
All of its rooms and suites begin at a generous 45 sqm, scaling up to a 147 sqm Executive Suite that reads more penthouse than hotel accommodation. Floor-to-ceiling windows ensure that the city is never far from view; heritage rooftops and skyscrapers share the same cinematic frame.
Interiors adopt a maisonette-inspired layout with freestanding wardrobes leading into spa-like bathrooms finished with textured 3D tiles. Technology is seamlessly integrated — 55” IPTV screens, Nespresso machines, Simmons firm mattresses — without dominating the aesthetic. The Byredo Eleventh Hour amenities, curated exclusively for Andaz, add a contemporary, globally aware polish that aligns with the brand’s cosmopolitan ethos.
Importantly, the rooms avoid the overt theatricality that sometimes accompanies design-led hotels. Instead, here they lean into comfort and fluidity, with seating zones that transition from lounge to workspace, materials that feel tactile rather than decorative.
As for dining? In a metropolis where food literacy runs high, the hotel’s trio of dining venues aim to punch above their weight class. There’s East Wing, which offers a spacious, station-led breakfast and lunch concept before shifting into classic Shanghainese dishes by night, while West Wing adopts a European-Shanghainese deli and wine bar format, its vintage-inflected mood underscoring Shanghai’s long-standing dialogue with Europe.
And above it all, the Rooftop Bar is poised to become a social perch for the city’s creative class. Tea-infused cocktails and fashion-themed décor — complete with haute couture photography — position it squarely within Shanghai’s image-conscious, forward-facing nightlife scene. The views, stretching across one of the world’s most populous urban landscapes, provide an appropriately dramatic backdrop.
The opening of Andaz Shanghai ITC comes as Shanghai reasserts itself as one of Asia’s most compelling urban narratives. For contemporary travellers — particularly younger guests drawn to cities that balance heritage with innovation — Andaz Shanghai ITC offers both vantage point and immersion sited uniquely as it is at the confluence of Shanghai’s heritage and futurism.
For more information or to book a stay, visit: www.hyatt.com/andaz/en-US/shaax-andaz-shanghai-itc.
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