tcook052
Sep 28, 09, 9:07 am
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCID7j-5VI7RBEA7SbL_ZfO_CrHg
SHANGHAI — Charlie Chaplin traipsed through its halls, Noel Coward finished his play "Private Lives" there and owner Victor Sassoon threw lavish parties for Shanghai's high-rollers.
The Peace Hotel burned bright in the 1930s, but war, revolution and ill-conceived renovations battered the Bund institution and what was once the most luxurious hotel in the Far East faded into a shadow of its former self.
Now architects and historians are scrambling to complete a 500-million-yuan (73-million-dollar) renovation of the Shanghai landmark in time for next year's World Expo, combining ultra-modern comforts with the hotel's colourful past.
<snip>
Fairmont has said the Peace Hotel will reopen in time for the six-month World Expo, which begins on May 1.
SHANGHAI — Charlie Chaplin traipsed through its halls, Noel Coward finished his play "Private Lives" there and owner Victor Sassoon threw lavish parties for Shanghai's high-rollers.
The Peace Hotel burned bright in the 1930s, but war, revolution and ill-conceived renovations battered the Bund institution and what was once the most luxurious hotel in the Far East faded into a shadow of its former self.
Now architects and historians are scrambling to complete a 500-million-yuan (73-million-dollar) renovation of the Shanghai landmark in time for next year's World Expo, combining ultra-modern comforts with the hotel's colourful past.
<snip>
Fairmont has said the Peace Hotel will reopen in time for the six-month World Expo, which begins on May 1.