Highlight the Exquisiteness
专注精致
——Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund
——上海外滩英迪格酒店

Boutique hotels always give prominence to their features of small size and exquisiteness. The Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund, with a large-scale hotel premises, emphasizes the elegance to the greatest maximum, which makes the hotel become the paragon of relentless pursuit of perfection. Integrated the European style with the local color impeccably, every detail of the design style embodies its elegance and punctiliousness. Embedding on the bedside, the black-and-white photograph of Yu Garden can intoxicate the guests in the lingering charm of southern scenery. Besides, equipped with a wooden chair painted green, two palace lanterns wrapped in red and blue, a set of bespoke ceramic utensil and a streamlined rattan chair, the meticulously embellished rooms make people can’t help showing their hearty approbation to Indigo Hotel which is definitely superior to the illustrious large hotels with hundreds of guest rooms but inferior services.
 
Shuttling on the way and toiling for bread, I have an ardent desire for a little balmy warmth from the hotel instead of just a monotonous space for me to beguile the night. Accompanied by a gentle lamp light, sipping the aromatic tea, the tranquil amenities would guarantee people a delighting and cordial hospitality, though it is not the genuine home. However, the crummy tea bags, inferior liquid soup and lotion produced by some obscure little factories in Guangdong province can really spoil guests’ zealousness and enthusiasm. The Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund, an intercontinental boutique hotel, demonstrates its generosity and prodigality on every facet of the exquisiteness. As soon as you check in, you will definitely feel at home when you see the scrumptious chocolates and the greeting letter hand written by the public relation department, as well as the light music CD with the logo of Indigo hotel.
 
What the boutique hotels impress their discerning guests are not the ostentation and sumptuousness but their circumspection and thoughtfulness. Prior to this, a senior manager required a grand piano in his room whatever hotel he was living in. Presumably, the manager was just bewitched by the desire for prodigality and extravagance, or merely infatuated by conspicuous consumption, instead of being an extreme enthusiast to piano. Admittedly, boutique hotels may not grant these gaudy and gingerbread stuffs, but they must guarantee every guest the most scrupulous services even in the most marginal respects. Not only the American-standard sanitary appliances but the multifunctional closetools in the bathrooms provide people with the greatest convenience. Furthermore, the superexcellent Bose audio, books and pictorial on the bookshelves are all available to us. When I beguile the spare time, the novel Tulip of Eileen Chang’s drew my attention, and then I started to read under the gentle lamplight.
 
To be distinguished from those tinpot products, all the tea bags are pressed with the logo of Tea Company on The Bund. Besides, the traditional interior design and the graffiti which can embodies the Shanghai color are pervaded with the artistic temperament of Eileen Chang who appreciated the homespun and vivacious New Year pictures. Holding an anthology of Eileen’s, from my perspective, the primitive design philosophy of the Indigo seems has some correlations with the folk culture of the old Shanghai in Eileen Chang’s style.
 
What is highly recommended is the scenery monopolized by the northernmost rooms in Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund, because the enormous French widows can offer people the nonpareil panorama of the bund on the one side and picturesque view on the other side, which is absolutely majestic and unparalleled. Both the view of west bank of the Huangpu River and the sparkling silhouettes of the metropolis contribute to the marvelous scenery.
 
When the total lunar eclipse, a rare grand spectacle over decades, uncovered its mysterious veil, it must be fantastic to walk along the bank of Huangpu River in the twilight, seeing the full moon turning into the half moon and the Oriental Pearl Tower glittering with multicolored lights. Looking to the north, the LED screen embedded on the building of the Citigroup becomes a miraculous skyscraper advertisement. Even sitting tranquilly on the thirty-sixth floor in Indigo, I can not neglect the incredible amenities and the dazzling splendor of the exotic building clusters in the band of Shanghai. What’s more, overlooking from the Indigo, the effulgence has extended from the Waldorf Astoria on The Bund to the infinity. Twinkling like the beautiful jewellery, the blue streetlight beside the pavement renovated in recent years connected the bund with the Hotel Indigo Shanghai.
 
What else can embody the elegance of Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the bund is that there are only few restaurants and bars. The only restaurant in sixth floor and the bar in thirtieth floor satiate every fastidious guest with its exquisiteness. In the morning, appreciating the nonpareil scenery of Huangpu River, I ordered a Benedict fried egg which is cooked in a quite different direction compared with the traditional way. Covered with an undercooked egg, the whole piece of bread toasted very dark can match with bacon or salmon slices, which provides more options for the discerning guests. Mellow but not greasy, the authentic Cheddar cheese would grant people an unprecedented flavor. At night, savoring a glass of Merlot from South Australia in char bar located on thirtieth floor of Indigo would bring you a perfect end.

    精品酒店的特点是小而精，上海外滩英迪格酒店并不小却是在精上做足了功夫，堪称精益求精的典范。外滩英迪格酒店的设计风格是欧式和江南地方特色融合，床头一面墙上是豫园愉园的放大黑白照片，马上将你的梦沉醉于江南，一把漆成绿色的木椅, 红和兰包的两只宫灯是床头灯，一套订制的陶瓷茶具，流线型的美人塌式藤椅，每个细节都有不露痕迹的精致于细腻，不由让人感叹精品酒店到底是精品，绝非流水线式的几百套客房大型酒店：名气不小，舒适度大打折扣。
 
    如笔者这类为生计常常于旅途上奔波的主儿，入住酒店感觉上不可能只是有一席之地容身睡觉，而是希望能在远离家人的酒店里能有一丝温暖一点感受，虽然不是家，但独处一室，孤灯一盏，茶香屡屡，一种温馨浅入心头，那种统一提供的袋装茶包，清一色广东乡镇小厂生产的浴液和润肤露，不说让人大倒胃口，也是性味索然。外滩英迪格是洲际精品酒店，在精致方面是不惜之本的。刚一入住，置于案头的一封问候信是酒店公关部手写的和制巧克力，一张印有英迪格酒店标志的轻音乐CD，都让笔者顿觉宾至如归。

    精品酒店给宾客的是细致入微的体贴，却不一定要在奢侈和浮华上给人印象深刻。之前的一位高级经理，无论住于何家酒店，都要求有一架小型三角钢琴。想必该经理绝非热爱钢琴到了每天都要练习，而仅为享受奢华待遇而已。或曰炫富经济学的忠实信徒。精品酒店不必提供诸如这类三角钢琴等华而不实的东西，却一定让客人在入住后在一个微小的细节上得到物有所值的照顾。英迪格的浴室里的洁具虽是美标产品，但带有全套冲洗设备的马桶却是功能最全。卧室内的BOSE音响也属质量上乘。壁上的书架还有上海相关的书箱和画册。一本张爱玲的《郁金香》吸引了笔者注意，不由自主在书桌的灯下读起来。

    除了茶包上都印有外滩茶公司以区别大路货，左墙白瓦式的室内设计以及走道墙上一幅幅上海民间风绘画，都很有些张爱玲推崇的民间艺术气息。张对当年的鲜艳土布或是活泼的年画赞赏有加，此时手中一本张爱玲的小说选集似乎印证了酒店的最初设计理念是从张爱玲式的老上海民间文化中寻求了某些灵感。

    住外滩英迪格，笔者特别推荐酒店对着外最北端的房间。原因是房间高大的落地窗一侧可遍览外滩浦东浦西景色，另一侧则可观豫园一带浦西景致，各有千秋，百看不厌。白天黄浦江西岸一览无余，夜晚灯火烂灿，令人炫目。

    正值十年一遇月全食，在空无一人的黄浦江岸边的夜色中独行看着一轮圆月逐渐变成半月，浦东方向东方明珠的球塔五颜六色变换着颜色。花旗大楼上的LED屏更是夸张地将整面墙变成几十层楼高的灯光广告，从外向北望去。上世纪的万国园建筑静在夜色的灯火中是如此多彩，在三十六层的层间里静坐于夜色中，清晰可见。外滩的灯火已从华尔道夫酒店的外滩二号一直延伸到远方。近年来重新修建的外滩人行路边的兰色路灯如同掌上明珠将英迪格和此外滩连接在了一起。

    外滩英迪格的精品还表现在设有过多的餐厅和酒吧。仅有六层一家餐厅和三十层的酒吧，仿佛是选择少了，但却以精致使客人仍有超值享受。早晨，在对着黄浦江的景色享用早晨。依旧点了一份班尼迪客蛋，不同于传统作法。这里是以整片面包烤至焦黄，放蛋黄沿未凝固的水扑蛋，火腿Bacon或三文鱼两选其一，这点上可谓让食客有更多选择。而奶酪则是标准Cheddar奶酪，味道浓郁却并不腻人，口感颇佳。晚上三十层的char酒吧来一杯产于南澳洲的Merlot，在精品酒店的一天可谓完美。