Two Sides of Shanghai: Regent Pudong + InterContinental Harbour City Review (2026)
Shanghai doesn't do subtle. It's a city where you can wake up 40 floors above the neon of the Lujiazui skyline one night, and the next be on a private island in the middle of a lake by the sea. So when we planned our stay, we didn't want to pick just one Shanghai. We wanted both.
We split the trip between two very different luxury hotels: the Regent Shanghai Pudong, high in the skyscraper heart of the city, and the InterContinental Shanghai Harbour City, a resort island on Dishui Lake out in the futuristic Lingang district. One is Art Deco glamour with the Pearl Tower out your window; the other is a lakefront escape that feels a world away from the city. Here's how each one stacks up.
Regent Shanghai Pudong
Skyline living in Lujiazui
The Regent sits inside the 21st Century Tower on Century Avenue, right in Pudong's Lujiazui financial district — the cluster of super-tall towers you picture when you picture modern Shanghai. You're within walking distance of two metro stations and major malls, minutes from the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, and the Bund is just across the river. It's the "in the middle of everything, up in the sky" half of the trip.
This is where the Regent earns its reputation. The design is Art Deco-inspired — Macassar ebony, stingray-leather accents, deep reds — with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the skyline, the Pearl Tower, and the Huangpu River. Rooms run large (46–51 sqm), with 400-thread-count linens, a sunken soaking tub and walk-in rain shower, Frederic Malle toiletries, a Frette robe, an Illy coffee machine, and the little luxuries Regent is known for — a daily-refreshed complimentary minibar and free laundry. Higher-category rooms add access to the Regent Club lounge on the 35th floor for evening cocktails with a view.
The showpiece is the top-floor infinity-edge pool — jade-tiled, with the skyline stretched out beyond it — plus a spa and 24-hour gym on the same wellness floor. Dining covers a lot of ground: Camelia (all-day Italian), Shàng-Xí (an elegant Cantonese restaurant spread across private dining rooms), and Mi Teppanyaki (Japanese). [personal note: your favorite meal here — and as vegetarians, how well did they handle meat-free requests? That's exactly the detail our readers ask us about.]
Our take: If you want to be in Shanghai — the skyline, the energy, the Art Deco glamour — the Regent Pudong nails it. It's a polished, MICHELIN Guide–listed, Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts property in the best possible location for a first (or fifth) trip.
InterContinental Shanghai Harbour City (Dishui Lake)
An actual island resort, 40 minutes from the skyline
Now for the plot twist. Head about 40 km southeast toward the coast, and the city gives way to Lingang — a planned district built around Dishui Lake, a perfectly circular man-made lake 2.5 km across. On the lake's South Island sits the InterContinental Shanghai Harbour City: a flower-shaped resort occupying its own 75,000-square-metre island, and, as far as we can tell, the only true island hotel in Shanghai. It reopened in 2023 after a top-to-bottom transformation (it was previously a Crowne Plaza), and it now reads as a full resort — five restaurants, an Eden-like lakefront setting, and the kind of quiet you don't associate with Shanghai at all.
The standout is the setting. Book a Premium Lake View Balcony Room, and you're looking straight out over the water. On Saturday nights at 8 PM, the lake hosts a light-and-fireworks show ("Lingang Moments, Ring of Time") centered on the giant "Water Drop" sculpture — and you can watch it from your balcony or from the outdoor pool.
You're also near some genuinely cool Lingang attractions — the Shanghai Astronomy Museum (the world's largest), Haichang Ocean Park, and the Nanhuizui coastal park are all close by. And practically speaking, it's only about 30–40 minutes from Pudong International Airport, which makes it a smart first or last night if you're flying in or out of PVG.
Our take: This is the "escape the city" half of the trip. It's not where you stay to walk to the skyline — it's where you go to slow down, watch the lake, and remember you're technically still in Shanghai.
Regent Pudong vs. InterContinental Harbour City: which should you book?
Book the Regent Pudong if: you want to be in the skyscraper heart of the city, walkable to the metro, malls, and the Bund, with that Pearl Tower view from your room.
Book the InterContinental Harbour City if: you want a resort-style escape, you're flying in/out of PVG, or you just want a quieter, more scenic pace.
Do what we did and book both if you want to see the two extremes of this city — dazzling downtown skyline and futuristic lakefront — in one trip.
Planning your own Shanghai trip and want help landing the right suite, the right view, or an upgrade like the ones we get? That's exactly what we do!
