URBN Hotel (Yayue Jiudian)

Description:

• Open in late 2007, this factory warehouse turned boutique hotel with a Zen garden-style courtyard prides itself on being the first carbon-neutral hotel in Shanghai: the hotel's furnishings and materials are locally sourced or recycled (don't miss the ingeniously recycled cardboard tables in the rooms) and the hotel will pay for carbon offsets, which may explain the more expensive rates charged here. Rooms are decorated in a simple, contemporary style, but have all the necessary amenities including free Wi-Fi, DVD players, and iPod docking stations. The living spaces are designed to be multifunctional, so you may find your bed on a platform facing a sunken wraparound lounge area, which can be innovative or impractical, depending on your needs. Not all guests may be willing to accept some of the hotel's design and functional quirks (such as the use of fluorescent lightbulbs) and occasionally spotty service, but this "green" property has its heart in the right place. Guests may also use the nearby boutique One Wellness gym, billed as the first carbon-neutral gym in Shanghai. Finally, the hotel's roomtwentyeight restaurant offers wonderful alfresco dining amidst bamboo fronds in the warm summer months.

• © Frommer's 2012