Shanghai’s newest kid on the boutique block is the Ivy. This glam hotel is housed within a former 1950s cinema, with interiors by très chic French- American designer Dillon Garris. Garris made his mark on the five-star, Hong Kong-based Sharma serviced apartments and designed Rupert Murdoch’s über-cool dwellings. At the Ivy, you can expect polished, wooden floors, red leather foot-poufs and side tables shaped like ancient Chinese coins. The opening special offer is a tempting room rate of RMB850++ (S$182) – massively reduced from the usual price of RMB2,288 (S$491).

Till 31 Dec. 709 Jiaozhou Rd, Jing’an District, Shanghai (+86 21 3221 2600, www.ivyshanghai.com).