Hotel Indigo Shanghai: The Bund gets a new resident

Hyatt on the Bund’s famous Bund view is about to get some competition, from the south Bund of all places. InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG) launched its first upscale boutique brand in Asia in Shanghai last Thursday. 

The 184-room Hotel Indigo sits directly on the water, looking down the Bund from the recently renovated promenade at the Shuliupu docks, offering rare views of both sides of the river and the iconic curve of the Huangpu. 

To mark the brand’s China launch, the hotel commissioned Huang Kai, director of popular movie “Park Shanghai,” to create a 3D film about the hotel’s neighborhood, which includes the dock as well as Yu Gardens. 

Local design

“No Indigo is like the next in terms of the physical design,” explains IHG regional manager Keith Barr. “Each one is driven by a neighborhood story, inspired service and intriguing design -- the three things we focus on.

“Here the storyline is about the neighborhood,” he continues. “What you’ll hear about here is the Bund, Shuliupu, about the historic Yu Gardens -- and you’ll see design features around the hotel that reflect the neighborhood.”

Barr gave design examples including the shape of the lobby to reflect the “the steamship stack of historic steamers that used to dock at Shuliupu,” as well as a wall by the elevators made from pieces of old ships the hotel designers sourced from a local scrap yard. 

Barr notes that this is the first of five Hotel Indigos planned for the Asia-Pacific region. Other properties have been signed for Xiamen, Taipai, Hong Kong and Bangkok and will open over the next three years. 

IHG already has Indigo hotels in London, Costa Rica and the United States.

IHG's China expansion

The opening of Hotel Indigo in Shanghai is part of IHG’s continued expansion in Asia.

“This is the year we’ve said we’re going to surpass US$1 billion in China,” says Barr. That revenue will come from the almost 50,000 rooms in 137 hotels the company has in China.

The group operates Holiday Inn and the Crowne Plaza brands, as well as InterContinental. IHG is the world's biggest hotelier by room count.

“We expect our business to double in the next five years in China, in terms of number of rooms,” continues Barr, noting today's growth is a far cry from 1984 when the brand opened its first Holiday Inn in Beijing.

IHG's growth is reflective of the growth of the hotel industry in China as a whole. Some estimate that by 2025 China will have more hotel rooms than the United States today, much of the demand driven by rapid urbanization and record GDP growth.