An unexpected arrival

An evening view of the hotel, located on Shanghai's bustling East Nanjing Road. Photos provided to China Daily

Shanghai's Paris-born Le Royal Meridien Hotel enlivens the experience of guests with music, art and enticing aromas on arrival. Matthew Fulco reports in Shanghai.

Elevator music has never sounded this good - steady drumming and sonorous melodic chants that suggest the sunny tropics. Listen for a while and dreary Shanghai seems an ocean away.

Le Royal Meridien calls that "Don't Stop the Music," a continuous medley of sounds that provides guests riding hotel elevators with an "elevating experience". The not-so-subtle play on words aside, having listenable music - or anything engaging to the ears - in a hotel elevator shows a heightened attention to detail and changes the guest experience. You want to tune in rather than out.

Smarter elevators comprise just one part of the 761-room Le Royal Meridien Shanghai's reinterpretation of high-end hospitality, which Daniel Aylmer, Starwood area managing director in East China and the hotel general manager, says has "a French flair."

"The hotel is stylish and filled with creative artworkit exudes that French joie de vivre (love of life) " he says.

Art connoisseurs will rejoice when presented with key cards that feature original works of art and provide free access to the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art and other cultural affiliates of the hotel. As part of Le Royal Meridien's Unlock Art program, the key cards are intended for guests to keep as mementos of their stay.

Currently, the work of Chinese contemporary artist Yan Lei decorates a series of the hotel's key cards and a collection of this year's mooncake - a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival - boxes. Yan, a graduate of the Zhejiang Fine Arts Academy, is known for his distinct renderings of blurry or confused scenes. The wheel depicted on the "Color Wheel" mooncake box, "with no beginning or end, represents perfection," he says.

Yan adds: "It also came from a desire to have fun with color."

Le Meridien Group's cultural curator Jerome Sans created music and art programs for its hotels as part of a strategy to make a more lasting first impression on guests. The first 10 minutes a guest spends in a hotel, he says, largely determine the guest's overall impression of the experience.

Greater interactivity makes a difference, Sans believes, whether visual, auditory or olfactory. When it comes to fragrances, Le Royal Meridien's signature scent co-developed with the New York-based perfume house Le Labo indeed smells welcoming, even if most guests lack the olfactory talents to distinguish what the hotel describes as "different fragrance notes of frankincense, musk and iris" which "vibrate from the central theme of cedar wood".

Meanwhile, the hotel's eye for detail is bearing fruit, Aylmer says. Despite the jittery global economy, Le Royal Meridien's Shanghai business remains robust.

"We have gained market share since 2011 and overall 2012 has been a better year for us," he says.

Like many seasoned hoteliers in China, Aylmer believes the world's second-largest economy will eventually become his hotel's most important market. Le Meridien has approximately 120 properties in 52 countries, with 70 percent located in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Le Meridien's portfolio complements the primarily North American holdings of its parent company Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Aylmer says.

Starwood has increased its China properties from 12 to 108 in the past decade, he adds.

While Le Royal Meridien Shanghai enjoys strong brand recognition with foreign guests, "we are here for the Chinese traveler," Aylmer says.

He adds: "My vision is to make Le Royal Meridien the preeminent hotel in downtown Shanghai."

With that in mind, Aylmer recommends trying Le Royal Meridien Shanghai's new alcoholic popsicles - the first such dessert in Shanghai - which come in mojito, pina colada and strawberry daiquiri flavors. Developed by Le Royal Meridien with the assistance of a local chemist, the popsicles will be available at the hotel's Le Bistrot restaurant from Monday, July 23 until late September.

"They're a grown-up take on a childhood treat," Aylmer says.

In early September, Le Royal Meridien will serve as the official hotel for the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair for the second year in a row. The hotel will host a number of events during the three-day fair, including an exclusive dinner for art collectors.