This 37-story hotel is the first Four Seasons in mainland China, and is located between two major shopping streets, Nanjing and Huaihai in downtown Shanghai, not far from People's Square so you can punctuate shopping sprees with a bit of culture. Palm fronds and fountains decorate the lobby, the 439 rooms are spacious and airy (even the smaller ones are 420 sq. foot) with splashes of red, green and yellow, and while the indoor pool (open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.) is on the small side, it's rarely crowded. Families are welcomed with kid-friendly menus in all four of the house restaurants, child-size bathrobes, and babysitting services.

The Grand Hyatt Shanghai takes up the top 34 floors of the monolithic 88-story Jin Mao Tower—the fifth-tallest building in the world—so you can imagine the views: vertigo-inducing panoramas over the city's skyscrapers and streets, abetted by the ubiquitous floor-to-ceiling windows. (Request a west-facing room for views of the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the rest of the Shanghai skyline's kitschy excess.) If you can tear your gaze from the neon spectacle outside, you'll find the hotel's interiors are pretty sumptuous: All 555 rooms have contemporary furniture (lots of glass, lacquered wood, and velvety neutral-toned upholstery) accented by traditional Eastern artwork. The marble baths have multiple-head "shower towers" that engulf you in water and mist; if these aren't enough of a full-body experience, you can head to the steam baths and hot tubs at the on-site spa. The hotel's dozen restaurants, bars, and clubs include the Patio, a 33-story atrium where you can listen to live jazz; Cloud 9, on the 87th floor, where the views will make you dizzier than any cocktail; and Club Jin Mao, where you can sample local specialties, such as deep-fried eel with honey soy sauce and braised bean curd with hairy crab roe. While the Pudong location is oriented more for business than pleasure, the Line 2 Metro station is just a five-minute walk away, and a horde of cheap cabs waits outside to whisk you across the Huangpu River to the Old City.

Opened in late 2007, this twin-towered property doesn't get the 'Grand' title because there's already a Grand Hyatt nearby, however it's certainly of Grand Hyatt standard, but with a more contemporary deluxe style. Perched on the up-and-coming North Bund strip, overlooking the U-shaped bend in the Huangpu River, the hotel's visual positioning is one of its biggest selling points. The rooms, bars, and restaurants have panoramic views of old and new Shanghai, from the neoclassical Bund to the soaring Pudong skyline. The 631 guest rooms are equipped with floor-to-ceiling windows, rotating plasma TVs, iPod docks, DVD players, and glass-paneled bathrooms with rain forest showers. The Vue restaurant on the 30th and 31st floors serves modern takes on traditional European dishes and is designed like a modern residence with separate lounge, library, and kitchen areas—its roof deck offers Shanghai's premier cocktail-with-a-view setting. The centerpiece of Xindalu, another of the four restaurants, is a hand-built brick oven for preparing the restaurant's signature dish: roast Peking duck. The contemplative, water-themed Yuan Spa (Yuan means "source of the water") fuses Chinese and Asian wellness treatments in an elegant interior of blond wood and emerald-veined white marble.

Housed in a renovated 1920s townhouse on hip Nanjing Road, this is wunderkind Singaporean hotelier and restaurateur Yenn Wong's follow-up to the original Jia in Hong Kong, designed by Philippe Starck. The 55 rooms combine luxe comforts—think plush beds, blackout curtains, plasma TVs, iPod docks, and ceiling-mounted Bose speakers—with trendsetting boutique styling, including artwork by photographer Russel Wong, outsize tubs in gold Bisazza-tile bathrooms, and furnishings by Minotti, Moroso, and Hans Wegner. Each room has a small kitchenette with a microwave oven, cookware, and serving dishes. The two stunning penthouse suites have extra theatrical flourishes, including contemporary art, a sunken circular Jacuzzi, and a shower that converts into a steam room. The chic lobby lounge, where you'll be served complimentary continental breakfast and afternoon tea, is dressed with giant Chinese bird cages and lacquer tableware. Shanghai's shaker-makers reserve dinner tables at Issimo, a modern Italian eatery created by Japan-based restaurateur Salvatore Cuomo. This is the place to stay for sophisticated small hotel chic.

Soaring above People's Square in an angular 60-story building is this airy hotel, flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling windows. The lobby is on the 38th floor and the hotel continues 24 stories upward, so spectacular views over the city come as standard in the 342 rooms. Furnishings are Art Deco–esque, but some touches—the diamond-patterned hunter-green carpeting and rosewood paneling, for instance—feel a bit staid compared with the look of the city's newer hotels. Two lounges and three restaurants offer both Chinese and Western fare. None particularly stands out, though the 40th-floor Champagne Lounge is a good place for a nighttime drink with a view over People's Square. A spacious fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, and a branch of the Mandara Spa tick all the boxes for modern luxury, while a central location between the Bund and French Concession wins points for convenience.

The 18 antiques-filled guest rooms at this gem of a hotel are reminiscent of a romantic Parisian inn yet work for demanding business travelers as well as they do for vacationing couples. The young staff are uniformly helpful, making the extra effort to walk guests around the corner to flag down a taxi or recommend their favorite haunts, among them Xintiandi's hip bars and restaurants that draw both locals and expats. The three floors of rooms (there are no elevators) branch off long, narrow hallways decorated with Oriental rugs and stained glass windows. Four-poster beds, vintage-style bedside lamps, comfortable desks, and chocolate-scented candles round out these homes away from home. Standard bathrooms lack tubs, and the ring of a telephone in an adjacent room may be audible, but the hotel is extremely quiet given its central Shanghai location. Skip the stale hotel breakfast served in a French-themed eatery across the street; do, however, reserve a table at the in-house Japanese restaurant, packed nightly with fashionable diners.

The two-year-old hotel overlooking the Shanghai Museum—"in the middle of the action"—has sharp edges that in feng shui ward off harm, producing "quite a sight along the skyline." "Stylish and ultra-mod guest rooms" have floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall windows and "breathtaking views." "Staff are very professional." Ten restaurants and bars offer French, Cantonese, and more.

(770 rooms)

The former Regent is in "basically a residential area." Guest rooms done in glass, copper, silk, leather, and wood are on high floors, so "the views are outstanding." Contemporary design dominates, with glass walls and clean lines. On 02on2's pan-Asian dishes—Japanese curry, nasi goreng, Hainanese chicken rice—join Greek salad and fish-and-chips.

(511 rooms)

Shanghai hotels are rising ever higher—and top of the pile is this deluxe cloud buster on the 79th through 93rd floors of the 101-story, 1,615-foot Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong. The Park Hyatt Shanghai can now claim the twin titles of world's highest hotel and world's highest restaurant. New York City–based Tony Chi created the interiors to resemble a sophisticated modern Chinese residence, hence the series of gates, halls, and chambers. The lobby itself is on the 87th floor and the spa and fitness center have prime city views from the 85th level. The 174 rooms are an impressive size (an average room is 645 square feet), plus there is 24-hour butler service, a technology concierge, and a walk-in dressing room and flat-screen TV in the bathroom and bedroom. The hotel's highest highlight is 100 Century Avenue, an integrated three-level fine-dining restaurant (serving Western, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine) and lounge bar on the 91st to 93rd floors.

The Portman Ritz-Carlton was the city's first luxury hotel when it opened in 1998, on the major shopping thoroughfare Nanjing Lu. By the end of 2008, the hotel will have completed a multimillion-dollar, top-to-bottom face-lift of the guest rooms, bars, restaurants, and facilities. The circular pale-marble lobby gives way to 610 rooms—request one of the newly renovated ones, which feature gleaming dark-wood traditional furniture, accents of gold and brown, and sliding doors that lend an Oriental air. Guests are spoiled for choice when it comes to dining: There are four house restaurants to choose from, including Palladio, which serves modern Italian dishes in a formal setting. Luxury-brand lovers will delight in the neighboring upscale Plaza 66 mall. Though the hotel is centrally located at the Shanghai Center, surrounding office buildings mean that finding a cab during rush hour can be difficult—hotel guests do get preference in the taxi line, but the queue lengthens noticeably during peak times, from 4 pm until 8 pm.

With its new 36-floor glass tower, the Shangri-La is set to give its Pudong competitors a run for their money. It may not tower as high as the Grand Hyatt, but this hotel's gorgeous views stretch across the Huangpu River to the stately Bund and rival those of its taller (and sometimes more fogged-in) neighbor. All of the 950 modern rooms are unfussy, accented with Asian touches such as raw silk throws and pillows. Rooms also have broadband Internet, and satellite TV—just be sure to request accommodation that overlooks the water. Not one but two indoor pools and full-service gymnasiums satisfy the sporty, while those hoping to unwind can enjoy a massage in the Oriental opulence of the Chi spa. Eleven restaurants offer options to suit every taste, but there is no better place for a drink and nibble than Jade on 36, an eclectic fusion restaurant perched on the 36th floor. Though the Pudong location means that during rush hour (4 p.m.-9 p.m.) it can take 45 minutes to get downtown by car, taxis are cheap and plentiful, and those in a hurry can hop on the metro, which is only a five-minute walk from the hotel.

This eccentric 62-room hotel, composed of five Tudoresque villas that date to the 1920s, sprawls in the heart of the French Concession. Once the estate of the Morris family—newspaper tycoons and dog-racing enthusiasts—the imposing property (it includes 17 acres of wooded grounds) has morphed from communist army base to cadre leader guest house to its current incarnation of state-owned hotel. Rooms in Building Two, which once served as the family's living space, retain an old-fashioned flair, with Art Deco furniture and original wood paneling. Light sleepers should avoid Building Three, which faces Maoming Lu, a street lined with bars. Though the staff sometimes struggles with English and some rooms can appear a bit threadbare, a stay at the Ruijin is unique and memorable—you feel as if you're stepping back into colonial Shanghai. Return to the present with a drink at the city's hottest nightclub, Face Bar, or a Thai dinner at restaurant Lan Na Thai; both are located within the lush grounds.

The 328-room St. Regis has sizable sleeping quarters that are just about as grand as the sweeping, ballroomlike check-in area. Special amenities include 24-hour butler service, "rain forest showers" that simulate bathing beneath a waterfall, and ladies-only floors (three of them) that promise Bulgari bath products, complimentary women's magazines, and female butlers. The hotel also houses two lounges and three restaurants—including the lauded Italian spot Danieli's (try the roasted veal cutlet with morel mushroom sauce). The only downfall? It's located on the east side of the Yangtze River, in the Pudong district, but most visitors claim the level of lavishness is worth the short commute back into the center of the action.

Tucked away on a side street north of Jing'An Temple, this 26-room design hotel is built around an enclosed slate and bamboo courtyard with calming water fountains. Constructed using reclaimed local materials —such as gray factory bricks, mahogany, and slate—Urbn wears its eco-conscious credentials on its sleeve; the hotel also tracks its ecological footprint and matches it in carbon credits. The rooms, in five categories, are all relatively small but make good use of space with low-level beds and a sunken "lounge" area, complete with hemp cushions on the broad benches and a wall-hung flat-screen TV. Neat in-room design touches include mahogany floors and wall paneling, desk chairs made from compressed cardboard, and under-floor bathroom heating, plus free Wi-Fi and iPod docks. Contemporary Australian-Asian cuisine is served in the ground-floor restaurant, Roomtwentyeight.

Popular with travelers on an expense account, this centrally located hotel—part of the office-heavy Bund Center—is just a short walk from the swish restaurants and nightlife of the Bund. The glitzy atrium lobby features a neon-lit glass staircase and artificial palm trees, while the 570 rooms are kitted out in earth tones, with polished wood paneling and rain forest showerheads in the dark granite bathrooms. A new wing, the Grand Tower, opened in 2007; formerly serviced apartments, rooms here are more spacious, albeit pricier, than in the main building. With so many business travelers passing through the halls, service can feel a bit impersonal and corporate—front desk clerks eagerly push upgrades at check-in. There are three restaurants—we liked the wood-fired pizzas at Prego better than The Stage's buffet—as well as a fitness center, swimming pool, and branch of the Banyan Tree spa.