The hotel’s lobby features a soaring ceiling rotunda in gold leaf with a bamboo-like fluted pattern at the top. Locally commissioned art includes a massive, twist-ing sculpture centered over a reflection pool and wall-mounted sculptures of free-form organic shape beyond.

The hope, says General Manager George Yang, is that the hotel will help build up a new central business district in Chengdu by targeting multiple groups. “The hotel targets transient guests; the serviced apartments cater to the special needs of long-term guests, and the office tower is the indispensable complement for establishing a multifunctional community,” Yang says.

Because several meeting rooms look out and over the lobby lounge designers gave it lots of dazzling points to ponder: a central chandelier of triangular crystal prisms; a curved, double-height glass-and-mahogany wine wall; and a tri-panel panda-in-tree painting by a local artist.

Premium toiletries and a separate shower cubiclewith a rainforest shower-head highlight suite baths

Likewise, the 532 guestrooms and 63 suites juxtapose clean-lined simplicity in furniture shapes, bathroom design and layout, with locally produced art and artifacts, wood veneers and stones that lend a more residential feeling to each space. Five-fixture bathrooms are finished in marble.

Differing slightly from the guestroom scheme, 26 serviced apartments include one-bedroom standard and deluxe apartments, two-bedroom standard and deluxe apartments, and three-bedroom deluxe apartments, ranging from 84 sq. m to 196 sq. m. The design scheme here again is East/West with clean lines, a modern feel and a mustard/brown/orange palette. All rooms give vistas of the Jinjiang River through floor-to-ceiling windows.

HBA design associates Tracie Co and Paulo Dias aimed for a residential feel for the apartments because these are largely used by executives and expats from the adjacent office tower here for long periods of time.

Design standouts within the property include the main lobby with its soaring rotunda, gold-leafed ceiling and massive, central sculpture, as well as the spa. Inspired by the architectural principles of Chinese and Himalayan temples, CHI, The Spa at Shangri-La, is designed with Chinese and Himalayan artifacts and invokes the Chinese principles of harmony and balance through uses of stone, wood, metal, fire and water.

Since the grand opening in May 2007, Shangri-La Chengdu has been achieving an occupancy rate of above 60%. The bulk of guests are vacationers from Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, and business travelers from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Thus far, 13 of the hotel’s serviced apartments have been purchased. And as the hotel’s adjacent office tower fills up with big international companies and joint-venture enterprises, more traffic is expected to flow into the hotel’s spa and foodservice venues, as well as the health club, which offers memberships to those in the tower. “We are aiming to become the leading 5-star luxury hotel in southwest China,” Yang says.

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Executive river view king guestrooms and the Shan-gri-La suites feature mahogany woods, warm golden tones, peaches, pale greens and muted shades of brown.	With a more cosmopolitan feel than hotel guestrooms, 26 serviced apartments offer a choice of one- to three-bedroom units, ranging from 84 sq. m to 196 sq. m.
The Horizon Club Lounge is used for more personalized check-in and offers an assortment of privileged amenities.	Spa treatment rooms feature textured limestone and wood walls, as well as infinity tubs.