The Morning News reporter learned today that as the first five-star international hotel built after Shanghai's reform and opening up, Huating Hotel will officially close down next Wednesday (February 16), and then start a comprehensive renovation plan.
Huating Hotel announced its closure on February 9
According to the introduction provided by Huating Hotel, Huating Hotel is the first international hotel managed by Sino-foreign cooperation since the reform and opening up of Shanghai. Named after the ancient place name "Huating" in Shanghai, Huating Hotel is one of the six largest hotels in the country approved by the State Council in 1978.
The reporter inquired about the information and found that the S-shaped building that rose in the 1980s of the Huating Hotel is just like the first letter of the beginning of the English Spring, which means that Huating spring is early, and also symbolizes the arrival of spring in Shanghai's tourism industry in the era of reform and opening up.
On August 28, 1983, Huating Hotel officially broke ground, after nearly 39 months of day and night hard work, meticulous construction, with 1020 rooms of various rooms, Huating Hotel was officially completed and opened in November 1986. As one of the few high-end hotels in China at that time, Huating Hotel received more than 3 million guests at home and abroad in the first ten years of its opening, making a significant contribution to Shanghai's tourism industry.
A retired employee who has worked at Huating Hotel for more than 30 years once recalled:
I will not forget that this unique and magnificent "S" shaped building, which was still covered with spider web scaffolding, went into intensive work as the opening army entered the work. I don't forget that every day I wear a hard hat on my head, a bucket of water is transported from the square to the floor, with a shovel and blade, and even a hammer to shovel the cement off in a room full of paint smell, and then fine processing.
For the huating hotel is about to close for renovation, many Shanghai citizens express their nostalgia and recall their happy times in this hotel. Princess Rose, a foodie, told reporters:
Every year before the lunar year, we come here to gather with the brothers and sisters of the foodie group and "Chinese New Year's Eve dinner" in advance. In the earliest days, there was a bowling project in huating hotel, and I remember that my friend brought me here, and I thought this hotel was very advanced.
During the summer vacation of 2021, Jiang Tian, a self-media person, took his parents to huating hotel for two nights:
I have lived in Huating Hotel less than three hundred meters for more than 20 years, but I have never taken my parents to Huating for a cup of coffee, lived for one night, and ignored the delicious scenery in front of my home.
So that time let the parents who "only be in this mountain and don't know the true face of Xuhui" feel the retro charm of the oldest five-star hotel in Shanghai where even Messi lived. Looking out the window, overlooking the most complex viaduct in Shanghai in the past, and the Wanti Hall, which is in full swing, it is absolutely invincible.
Huating Hotel and Caoxi North Road High-rise Residential Complex (provided by Lou Chenghao)
Lou Chenghao, an expert in the protection of old buildings in Shanghai and former director of the archives (department) of Shanghai Modern Architectural Design Group, told reporters that he had learned that the hotel was going to close for renovation, and a few days ago, he also took photos of the huating hotel and the high-rise residential complex on Caoxi North Road.
Huating Hotel said that in recent years, Shanghai's hotel industry has developed rapidly, with the changes in the industry environment, the change of consumer preferences, and the hotel's own needs to enhance, Huating Hotel's renovation will cover all guest rooms, suites and bathrooms, public areas, restaurants, banquet venues, and building facades and other areas. At that time, the rejuvenated Huating Hotel will continue to be managed and operated by Jin Jiang International Hotel Management Co., Ltd., welcoming a new generation of travelers with a new look and eye-catching attitude.
Source: Thoughtful Shanghai