The PuLi Shanghai has unveiled its reimagined guestrooms, marking the completion of the first phase of the hotel’s extensive renovation. Once again designed by Layan Design Studio, the visionary team behind the hotel’s original conception, the new guestrooms are inspired by the concept of a “Collector’s Home”. Blending the hotel’s deep-rooted Eastern sensibility with contemporary Western design, the renewed space preserves the distinctive spirit and identity of The PuLi Shanghai while offering a refined expression of the guest experience.
A Homage to Time and Craft
The reimagined guestrooms evoke the intimate setting of a discerning collector’s private residence. Artworks, sculptures, and books are placed organically throughout the living space, tables and chairs have been replaced by low-slung sofas and coffee tables and newly designed blinds with wider louvres allowing natural light to shift freely throughout the day.
Throughout the transformation, the signature design elements have been carefully preserved, ensuring the hotel’s cultural memory remains intact. The hand-carved camphor wood foo dogs and dragon-scaled screens continue to stand within the guestrooms, forming the most recognisable symbols of The PuLi.
New additions include a lacquered tea box, finished through traditional urushi techniques, homing handcrafted tea ware designed by Leziyan and fired using kiln-wood techniques. The decorative copper mirror within the bedroom is equally shaped by time, forged through multiple stages of high-temperature refinement and hand-finishing, and the privately commissioned artwork collection from two distinguished Asian artists – Zheng Zaidong and Tay Bak Chiang – explores expressive techniques and the contemporary interpretation of the ancient Chinese tradition of scholar’s rock appreciation.
Each object within the hotel is far more than decorative. Behind every piece lies meticulous craftsmanship and a disciplined dedication to process. Imperfect in form yet rich in character, every piece preserves the warmth of the maker’s hand.
