Waterhouse: New hotel charms with Rough Luxe

Shanghai – A new hotel in China has been designed to reflect the historic surroundings of the city.

At the Waterhouse hotel, brick and cement walls combined with dark wood panels create a pared-down aesthetic with a strong Rough Luxe feel. Visitors can rent vintage motor scooters with sidecars or old-fashioned bicycles for tours of the city’s historic areas.

‘This is a hotel that puts the emphasis on the traveller in search of some meaning, not just the luxury component of living,’ says Lyndon Neri, founding partner of Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, who was commissioned to transform the 30s building. The Waterhouse, a member of Design Hotels, is the creation of entrepreneur and hotelier Peng Loh, also responsible for hotels such as the Town Hall Hotel and Apartments in London.