InterContinental Chongqing Raffles City Opens
IHG's new Chongqing flagship fills floors 44 to 65 of Moshe Safdie's Raffles City towers above the meeting of the Yangtze and Jialing.
InterContinental Chongqing Raffles City welcomed its first guests, IHG announced on 30 July 2020. The 380-room hotel sits at Chaotianmen, at the tip of the Yuzhong peninsula where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet, in the Raffles City complex designed by Moshe Safdie.
Rooms and suites occupy floors 44 to 65 of one of the complex’s towers, and their design takes cues from yacht staterooms. IHG described Safdie’s eight towers as evoking powerful sails, inspired by the region’s terrain and culture.
Safdie Architects marked the start of the complex’s phased opening in November 2019, after eight years of design, development and construction. The 22.7-acre scheme mixes offices, homes, a hotel and retail. Its signature element is The Crystal, a 300-metre “horizontal skyscraper” that, according to IHG, connects the towers at the 42nd floor, some 250 metres above ground.
The practice presented the development as a response to Chongqing’s character, its mountainous landscape and extreme climate, and to questions of population density, connectivity and urban renewal in a crowded city centre. The hotel’s position at the top of the towers places it directly above the river confluence.
The hotel uses that elevation. Its lobby lounge, Horizon, sits at 250 metres, and the fitness centre is on the 43rd floor alongside a 25-metre infinity pool. Jing Dining Room & Bar is the signature restaurant, serving Cantonese cooking together with Chongqing specialities, while The Maven is the hotel bar.
More on the city is in our Chongqing guide, and IHG’s release is on the IHG website.