URBN Hotel Shanghai

“Yes, well, I’m more worried about what China is doing.” It’s the last refuge of the unrepentant carbon-guzzler, who will, in the next sentence, go on to remind you that there are a billion people there, just in case you somehow didn’t know, and they’re all busily undoing whatever environmental good you and your hybrid automobile might hope to accomplish. Here’s a rebuttal, in the form of a boutique hotel that’s not only as sleek and stylish as any in the world, but green as well.

Carbon-neutral, in fact, not just through paid-for offsets but through clever energy-reduction measures as well. It’s a retrofit of an old post office, rather than a new build, it re-uses local Shanghai bricks and reclaimed hardwoods, and it features a number of high-tech energy-saving measures, the details of which are frankly too boring to get into. But trust us, they’re great.

Feeling smug about one’s tiny environmental footprint would be cold comfort, though, if the hotel weren’t otherwise a fine one. Happily this one is. You’ll find king-sized platform beds, walk-in showers and separate stone bathtubs, all the electronic gadgetry you could wish for, and even in-room fitness kits.

The location, two blocks off Nanjing Road, places you right in the thick of it, surrounded by more shopping and nightlife options than you’ll know what to do with. The owners, a pair of young property developers, have plans for a total of twenty URBN hotels around China — before long, with any luck, it’ll be the Chinese complaining about the West’s environmental insensitivity.

Travel advisory: Passport and visa requirements differ from country to country. Please check with your local authority before booking.