The Park Hotel

 
Originally this choice location, on Nanking Road just opposite the Race Course, was to house the Joint Savings Society Bank, with the Hotel occupying only the upper floors. Ultimately the Park Hotel occupied the entire premises and the J.S.S. Bank established its main operation at Szechuan Road (see Banks).

Designed by Ladislaus Hudec, when completed in 1934 the hotel was the highest building in Shanghai, with 22 floors and over 200 rooms and suites. The top floor featured a nigh tclub with a retracting roof where one could dance under the stars. The club is still there but the roof no longer retracts.

The hotel survived intact for nearly fifty years but sadly, unlike the Peace Hotel, recent renovations have truncated its lofty lobby and destroyed most of the interior detailing that once made it an Art Deco showcase.