Glamorous Art Deco tower atop Shanghai IFC in Lujiazui, home to the famous 58th-floor Flair rooftop. The best skyline views of the bunch — a design-and-views base across the river from the scene.
The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong occupies the top eighteen-or-so floors of the Shanghai IFC South Tower in Lujiazui, and it trades on glamour: a contemporary reinterpretation of 1920s–30s Shanghai Art Deco, floor-to-ceiling windows framing the Huangpu, the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Bund skyline across the water. The headline draw is Flair, the 58th-floor rooftop restaurant and bar — among the highest open-air terraces in China and a destination in its own right. Elsewhere there's the Italian Scena di Angelo, the Cantonese Jin Xuan (a Michelin and Black Pearl name), the Aura Lounge, an indoor pool with hot tub and cabanas, and a club lounge.
Entry rooms tend to start around ¥1,700–2,500, with suites climbing far higher at peak. You're connected to IFC Mall and Lujiazui metro (Lines 2 and 14), with arguably the best skyline views of any hotel on this list. The trade-off is that you're across the river from the nightlife — the gay venues and the French Concession are a 15–25 minute taxi, or Metro Line 2 to Line 1 for Huaihai Road. So this is a design-and-views base rather than a walk-to-the-bars one. LGBT-friendliness here is Marriott brand-level (the 30-plus-year record, #LoveTravels, a perfect HRC score) rather than a property programme.