JIA, Shanghai

Buro/Hecker Phelan and Guthrie, the A-list Australian architecture and design partners, have transformed a 1924 building in Jingan, near People's Square, into an ultramodern temple filled with colorful printed fabrics, wallpaper, and furniture by the likes of Pier Giacomo and Patricia Urquiola. JIA consists of fifty-two rooms, plus two 1,000-plus-square-foot penthouse suites, both specially designed for high-profile guests (with bodyguards in tow). Space has not been sacrificed to style—even standard rooms clock in at almost 500 square feet. Jia means "home" in Madarin, and given how frenetic Shanghai is, we loved the property's host of cozy amenities: well-stocked marble kitchenettes, in-room board games, and help-yourself (complimentar) tea and bottled water. There's even free Wi-Fi-still a luxury among upscale properties. And with high-end stores occupying the first two floors and the city's boutique district just five minutes away, JIA is a shopper's paradise.