IHG’s Vignette Collection Grows Across Greater China

Vignette Collection, IHG Hotels & Resorts’ first luxury collection brand, is growing across Greater China. This year it adds new hotels in Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beidaihe, Qiandao Lake and Sanya. They follow the recent arrival of The Hari Hong Kong, Vignette Collection, in Wan Chai, so the brand now reaches from the Sichuan Basin and the Yangtze to the Bohai coast and the island of Hainan.

The collection is built on independent hotels that keep their own names and personalities while joining IHG’s system. Three hallmarks are meant to tie them together: One-of-a-Kind Stays, Memorable Rituals and A Means for Good. In practice, each hotel takes its character from its city, gives guests a small ceremony to remember it by, and runs a project of its own for its community or environment. The new Chinese openings show how flexible that brief is.

In Chongqing, TFT Chongqing takes its cue from the city’s ‘Bridge City’ identity and its setting above the confluence of two rivers. The theme runs through the hotel, from bridge-inspired interiors and room keys to a themed afternoon tea and story cards that introduce guests to the city. Chongqing’s topography is famously vertical, its neighbourhoods stitched together by spans across the water, so the motif suits the place.

Shanghai gains two very different properties. THE ONE Shanghai Downtown draws on the city’s Art Deco heritage, the architectural language that still defines much of its historic core. It also works with a local art centre to introduce guests to Shanghai’s creative scene, which gives a short stay a useful starting point beyond the usual landmarks. Shanghai Snow World Hotel is the more unexpected addition. It sits within the Shanghai L+SNOW Indoor Skiing Theme Resort, and its ritual is the most theatrical of the group: a bell marks the start of an après-ski gathering, with specially crafted drinks served by an electric fireplace. First-time skiers can book introductory sessions, which makes the hotel an easy proposition for families or anyone curious to try the slopes without travelling to the mountains.

On the coast of Hebei, Resea Hotel Beidaihe has built its ritual around the light itself. Guests are invited to a signature sunrise ceremony that greets the first light over the sea. Beidaihe has long been a seaside retreat, and an early morning by the water is the natural way to experience it.

In Chengdu, Palm Springs Hotel Chengdu turns to Sichuan craft, offering hands-on activities inspired by Shu embroidery and fragrance-making. Shu embroidery is one of China’s celebrated regional needlework traditions, and a session in the hotel gives guests a tactile way into the culture of the city alongside its tea houses and kitchens. The openings at Qiandao Lake and Sanya complete this year’s list, adding a freshwater lake landscape in Zhejiang and a tropical beach destination in Hainan to the collection’s map.

The third hallmark, A Means for Good, already shows across the region. In Hong Kong, The Hari runs The Hari Art Prize for emerging Hong Kong-based artists, which fits a hotel already known for its focus on art. WM Hotel Hong Kong in Sai Kung organised a beach clean-up at Sha Ha Beach, and The Azure Ningbo composts coffee grounds and food waste for its gardens. These are modest, local projects, and their scale suits a brand that wants each hotel to belong to its neighbourhood.

The Greater China expansion also shows how quickly the brand has grown. Vignette Collection launched in 2021 with an initial aim of 100 hotels in its first 10 years. It now has 27 hotels in 17 countries, with a further 41 in the pipeline. China is now one of the places where that growth is most visible, and the new openings cover city, coast, lake and resort settings.

For the traveller, the appeal is a choice of characterful, locally rooted hotels in a country where international luxury has often meant large, uniform towers. Because the collection sits within IHG, stays can be booked through IHG One Rewards, so members can earn and redeem points at hotels that each have a distinct sense of place. A trip combining Shanghai’s Art Deco streets, Chongqing’s bridges and the craft traditions of Chengdu can now be planned within one loyalty programme, with a ritual to mark each stop.

The Hari Hong Kong’s move into the brand was announced earlier this year; we covered it in The Hari joins IHG’s Vignette Collection.

Source: IHG