The green army camouflage exterior of Shanghai’s latest boutique hotel looks laughably conspicuous amidst the surrounding flats and abandoned factory buildings on the outskirts of Jing’an district. But the Ivy isn't going for subtlety. Instead, this former 1950s cinema vamps up the interplay of ancient and modern Chinese design with an effect that is as endearingly eclectic as the city itself.

Ivy Shanghai is the first mainland property by CHI International, a Hong Kong-based hotel management firm that already has resorts and serviced apartments in Hong Kong and Fiji. They purchased the old cinema as a distressed asset after the previous developer went bankrupt. With a slightly out-of-the-way location (it's a good 20 minute walk to Jing’an Temple metro station on high-end shopping street Nanjing Xi Lu), they brought in up-and-coming American-French designer Dillon Garris and determined to do something “totally off the wall”.

Thirty-three-year-old Garris won his first design award at 19 and opened his own Paris office aged 26. His repertoire includes everything from Rupert Murdoch’s penthouse in Soho to the Shama serviced apartments in Hong Kong and a 28-metre Italian yacht. The Ivy, however, was his first full hotel project.

“We wanted to grab people’s attention and give visitors the full-on Shanghai experience,” says Garris. This translates to all manner of quirky Chinese references, starting with bright red lattice screens and moon gates at the entrance. Heading to the rooms, undulating corridors that follow the raking of the old theater are lined with red doors and carpet, while neon-lit room numbers and pop art stencils adorn the walls. Things get particularly whimsical in the soaring skylit atrium lounge, where the original big screen once hung. Grey brick walls reminiscent of Shanghai lanes, and red lattice stretching two storeys now enclose a resident’s coffee bar and wifi lounge under a floating canopy of cloud-like lanterns. 
                                                                              
Heritage cinematic elements have also been reworked with fun effect. A large billboard stands above the front entrance, and you enter the lift to the flashes of paparazzi (not quite as tacky as it sounds). A lobby library fronted by a low-hanging chandelier is strewn with sofas and a collection of books and DVDs, with a projector for intimate movie screenings. And we particularly liked the random movie quotes and Chinese opera masks painted on the hallway walls.

“Parts of the hotel are wild, just like the streets of Shanghai can be, but you are in a very serene, cocooned environment within the rooms,” Garris says of the 46 contemporary-styled guestrooms. His custom-designed furniture borrows from the clean, sculptural lines of Chinese tradition and adds a cheeky twist – like the red leather poof-chairs with classic wooden armrests; lamps and sidetables shaped like ancient coins; and pop art murals on the wall showcasing the iconic stretch of Shanghai Bund with giant cartoon snails floating down the Huangpu River. The pick of the rooms, the ‘Ritzy Suite’, comes with a giant ‘Double Happiness’ sliding moon gate separating the four-poster bed from the expansive living quarters. Finishings in all rooms are slick, with thoughtful extras like water filters attached to the bathroom tap, red cashmere throws and an extensive pillow menu (the Chinese herb pillow is especially nice).

Thankfully, the militaristic façade is not to be a permanent fixture. Inspired by Shanghai’s efforts at building a ‘green city’, Garris thought he’d help by cladding the front of the hotel in a wall of ivy. The current camouflage paint job is “really just to catch people’s attention” until the ivy takes over, Garris explains. “It’s very much about shock value.”

On our visit the Ivy was still very much a work in progress. The Japanese teppanyaki restaurant was closed and a lot of details in the lounges still needed completing. However if management can finish the public areas off to the standard of the rooms, and keep prices competitive, the hotel – like its ivy façade – may grow to be something quite impressive.

709 Jiaozhou Lu, Shanghai
021 3221 2600
www.ivyshanghai.com