Four Seasons Hotel, Shanghai

Just a block south of Nanjing Road in the heart of downtown, this 37-floor luxury tower sits snuggled among similarly soaring office buildings. Its location, along with its proximity to the Shanghai Exhibition Centre and extensive conference facilities, means the hotel is big with conventioneers—but ordinary lovers of Four Seasons–style luxury will be just as comfortable here. (Female guests, for example, can indulge in the “Men Don’t Get It” concierge service, offering spa, shopping, and entertainment advice.) The 421 guest rooms are airy and comfortable, though the room design is a little classically conservative, with dark wood antique repro furnishings, overstuffed armchairs and sofas, and rather minimal Chinese detailing (a few silk throw pillows here and there are about it). All have DVD players, Wi-Fi, iPod connections, and—by the end of 2008—flat-screen TV’s. The pleasant lobby lounge, with its large windows, high ceilings, and nightly live piano music, is one of the grandest in town.