Opened for 36 years
The first five-star hotel in Shanghai was closed for renovation
On February 16, Huating Hotel, Shanghai's first foreign-related five-star hotel, will officially close its doors, followed by a comprehensive renovation plan.
This is the second major renovation in the hotel's 36 years of operation, which will cover all guest rooms, suites and bathrooms, public areas, restaurants, banquet venues, and building facades, and is scheduled to be completed in two years.
At that time, the revitalized Huating Hotel will continue to be managed and operated by Jin Jiang International Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
This is a hotel that carries the memories of a generation of Shanghainese.
Many friends remember that in the 1990s, a wedding banquet of 360 yuan a table and a can of Coke for 10 yuan; the lobby escalator was the favorite amusement project when I was a child; I needed to book Chinese New Year's Eve meal in advance to party with my brothers and sisters in the hotel...
Huating Hotel also won many firsts in Shanghai's hotel industry, which is the first Sino-foreign cooperatively managed international hotel since Shanghai's reform and opening up, which was initially jointly managed by Sheraton.
More than 1,000 rooms became the largest hotel in Shanghai at that time.
It also pioneered many fashion services, such as 24-hour room service, 24-hour business center, butler service and so on.
Knowing the news of the hotel's closure and renovation, MISS went to the hotel at the first time. Hotel rooms are still tight, with only one high-rise room remaining.
At present, Ctrip has closed reservations after February 15, and friends with nostalgia have seized the time.
01
The enlightenment of a five-star hotel in Shanghai
S-shaped architecture into a classic
Every time I pass by Huating Hotel, MISS can't help but look at it more, the dark brown S-shaped building complements the Shanghai Gymnasium opposite, although the floor is not high, it still attracts attention.
The hotel was selected at the corner of Caoxi North Road and Zhongshan West Road, which was finally elected after two years of repeated discussions. First, the area here is large enough to cover 1.96 hectares; second, Xujiahui is the southwest gateway of Shanghai, with convenient transportation.
In 1983, the construction of Huating Hotel began, and the original design plan was proposed by the Hong Kong architects, and then expanded by the East China Design Institute and the Shanghai Architectural Design Institute.
At first, the design team planned to build a straight up and down building, but considering the hexagonal swimming pool and the circular Shanghai Gymnasium around it, it was finally decided to use circles and arcs to form an S-shaped appearance.
The S-shaped design, every three floors into a step, to build a garden room, so that the hotel will not block the sun from the high-rise residents.
The problem of design and planning was solved, and the construction team encountered difficulties with tight deadlines. With a total construction area of more than 100,000 square meters, 1,020 large-scale rooms are required to be built within four years, which is almost an impossible task.
In order to complete the construction period, the team at that time lived in the basement of a nearby house, where hundreds of people gathered to negotiate, conclude contracts, accept, store items, etc. There were no canteens, and workers were fed with dry food and boiling water when they were hungry.
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. (From "Thoughtful Shanghai")
After nearly 39 months of hard work, the 1,020-room Huating Hotel was officially completed in November 1986, nearly a year ahead of the expected construction period.
02
First collaboration with Sheraton
Butler service has been emulated
After the opening, Huating did a groundbreaking thing.
Co-managed the hotel with the Sheraton brand, becoming the largest and earliest five-star hotel in Shanghai.
As a result, the hotel has successfully entered the international market as soon as it opens, and Sheraton guests in more than 80 countries around the world can book Huating Hotel at any time.
The interior's grand spiral staircase and crimson marble floor tiles, which are polished by wax, still look fashionable today.
The scene of the staff wearing uniform costumes and leather shoes on duty was rare in Shanghai at that time. In addition, it has also created a 24-hour feedback system for guest complaints, a daily visitor system for lobby managers, and the establishment of a butler department, which has attracted other hotels in Shanghai to follow suit.
When I learned that the hotel was going to be closed for renovation, my friend recalled that he had seen a fashion show at Huating Hotel many years ago and was envied by his friends for a while.
Until 1997, Huating ended the management of Sheraton, managed by Jin Jiang Group, and renamed Shanghai Kunlun Huating Hotel.
At the same time, Huating Hotel renovated for the first time, renovating the guest rooms and public areas, and expanding the room size of the suites.
03
Over 1000 rooms
Not only to receive foreign guests
It is no accident that Huating Hotel was built.
In the early 1980s, Shanghai had only ten large hotels, including Jin Jiang and the Peace Hotel, with about 4,000 rooms that met the standards for receiving foreign guests. At the same time, the door of the country was opened and overseas people poured into Shanghai, resulting in a situation where it was difficult to find a room.
Zhao Renrong, former chairman of the Sheraton Huating Hotel, recalled that when a group of foreign tourists came to Shanghai to play, they were stranded at the airport due to the lack of reception hotels. In desperation, he was sent to Suzhou, Nanjing, and Wuxi for the night, and was picked up the next day.
In order to solve this problem, the Shanghai Municipal Government began to plan and build a super-large hotel, and huating hotel was born.
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.
Fast forward thirty-six years, luxury hotels in Shanghai have blossomed everywhere, and the presence of Huating Hotel seems to continue to decline.
When I recall the Huating Hotel, the elevated stream of the hotel window, the once iconic Shanghai Stadium, is the charm of the old five-star hotel.
Images taken by the Bund Design Hotel are not permitted to be used without permission
The information comes from Zhou Zhou Shanghai and the surging news
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