Flagship Chinese restaurant 500 Weihai Road, led by chef de cuisine Scott Bao serves up modern Shanghainese cuisine with a focus on seafood. The lunchtime a la carte buffet is a great way to work your way through delicate tasting portions of various signature dishes like the light yet flavourful matsutake mushroom soup or braised abalone with rice.
In contrast to the refined moodiness of the public spaces, the 92 guest rooms and 94 suites are designed in a lighter, neutral palette that make the most of the natural daylight to create light-filled dwellings that offer panoramic views of the Shanghai skyline. Traditional Chinese touches include woven rattan screens, timber marquetry and paper louvers.
I had no complaints with my mid-tier king bed city view studio, which was a surprisingly spacious 66 sq m, complete with a walk-in wardrobe, a generous work desk and a cosy lounge area for unwinding or late-night room service feasts.
Naturally, no Alila stay is complete without a Spa Alila session and a visit to the wellness area with its heated pool, Turkish bath and hydrotherapy pool. While there are several comprehensive wellness journeys on offer, time-starved travellers can still squeeze in a 60-minute treatment that delivers quick but satisfying results. I opted for the invigorating Chinese tuina-style massage and was impressed by how my therapist’s deep pressure technique worked out the tension in my neck, shoulders, and calves — the unholy trinity of travel-induced knots.
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