The Peace Hotel is a hotel on the Waitan waterfront in Shanghai, China, offering views of the surroundings. The hotel consists of two different buildings. The Sassoon House originally housed the Cathay Hotel and today is the Fairmont Peace Hotel, managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts of Canada. The southern building was built as the Palace Hotel and today serves as a residence and studio for artists, known as the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. Both buildings face the waterfront but are separated by Nanjing Road.

The larger northern building is called Sassoon House. The building was constructed by Sir Victor Sassoon of the Sassoon family, who built a business and real estate empire in Shanghai in the early 20th century. He was a British Sephardic Jew of Iraqi origin, educated at Harrow School and Cambridge University. His family owned the trading company "E.D. Sassoon and Co.," which managed extensive business interests in Bombay, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Sassoon House was the first high-rise building built by Victor Sassoon and one of the first skyscrapers in the Eastern Hemisphere. Sassoon purchased an entire city block in a prominent location on the waterfront before construction began. At the time of construction, Sassoon House was fifty feet taller than the next tallest building on the waterfront. It was designed by architects Palmer and Turner with a reinforced concrete structure.

Construction began in 1926 and was completed in 1929. The 12-story Peace Hotel was built in the Gothic style of the Chicago School.

The Cathay Hotel combined high standards of luxury and modern amenities such as indoor plumbing, making it a more prestigious establishment than other nearby hotels like the Kadouri family-owned Majestic and Astor House hotels. The Cathay Hotel had an entire floor of rooms called “national suites,” each decorated in its own foreign style. According to author Jonathan Kaufman, the Japanese suite featured tatami mats, the Indian suite had Indian carpets and cushions, and the Chinese suite contained Chinese furniture and ceramics.

The building occupies 4,617 square meters and offers 36,317 square meters of living space. The building is ten stories tall, with the tenth floor serving as a penthouse where Victor Sassoon once lived. The northern building is 77 meters (253 feet) tall to the roofline and 83 meters (272 feet) to the spire.

The builders adhered to a consistent Art Deco scheme, from the exterior design to the interior decoration. Most of the building is clad in granite, while the ninth floor and roof are covered with terracotta. The eastern facade (facing the Huangpu River and the Bund waterfront) features a pyramidal roof with steep sides about 10 meters high. The pyramid is clad in copper, which has turned light green due to corrosion.

Banks and shops rented space on the first floor until 1949. In 2002, this space became the Shanghai branch of Citibank. Floors four through nine once housed the Cathay Hotel.

After the communists came to power in 1949, some offices were used by the municipal finance committee. In 1952, the building came under municipal government ownership. In 1956, it became a hotel again under the name "Peace Hotel." During the Cultural Revolution, the hotel was used by the "Gang of Four," the most famous of whom was Zhang Chunqiao, who led the Shanghai Commune from headquarters in the "Peace" Hotel.

In 2007, the hotel closed for a three-year renovation of both exterior and interior, including guest rooms, the lobby, restaurants, and entertainment venues. The northern building reopened in 2010 as the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai. The hotel currently offers 270 rooms and 39 suites, including Victor's Café, named after Sir Victor Sassoon. The eighth floor houses the Peace Hall, several conference rooms, and an open terrace.

A low-rise annex was added to the back of the hotel, housing rooms, a swimming pool, and a spa.

The southern building, separated from the northern building by Nanjing Road, was built in the 1850s when it was known as the Central Hotel. In 1903, the hotel was rebuilt and renamed the Palace Hotel. The building standing today was constructed in 1908 and had two elevators, making it the first building in Shanghai to have them. It once also housed the Kuhn and Komor store.

The hotel occupies 2,125 square meters, with a total area of 11,607 square meters. The building is brick-clad, its six floors reaching 30 meters in height. The exterior is designed in the Renaissance style. The hotel has eighteen artist residences and seven guest rooms.

In 1911, after the success of the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen stayed at the hotel and promoted commitment to the revolutionary cause. During World War II, the building was occupied by the Japanese army. In 1947, it was acquired by a Chinese company. After the 1949 revolution, it continued to operate until 1952, when it was confiscated and used by the municipal construction department. In 1965, it resumed operation as a hotel, as a wing of the "Peace" Hotel.

Like its northern counterpart, the southern building was renovated in preparation for the 2010 World Expo. It became known as the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. Artists from around the world stay here, living and working for limited periods in apartments/studios. The historic facade and public areas of the building were restored.

The hotel's Old Jazz Band inspired Uli Golke's film "Time Goes By."

It was also featured in Empire of the Sun (1987), The Last Aristocrats (1989), Center Stage (1992), Shanghai Triad (1994), Music Box (2002), Leaving Me, Loving You (2004), The White Countess (2005), Silent War (2012), Tiny Times 3 (2013),

The hotel also served as inspiration for Vicki Baum's 1937 novel "Shanghai '37," also known as "Hotel Shanghai" and "Nanjing Road."

Notable guests include British playwright Lord Noël Coward, who completed his play "Private Lives" in room 314. In March 1936, Charlie Chaplin and his wife Paulette Goddard, who starred in "Modern Times," stayed in room 51 (now room 568). British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery visited China in 1960. While in Shanghai, he visited the Peace Hotel and stayed in room 72 (now room 778). During his visit to China, he was received by Chairman Mao Zedong. In May 1994, Muhammad Ali stayed in room 643 with his wife Lonnie during a visit to Shanghai.

Sources:

https://famoushotels.org/hotels/peace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Hotel

https://www.historichotels.org/hotels-resorts/fairmont-peace-hotel/history.php