Meditation, herb-picking for kids and Johnny Depp: one Shanghai hotel’s case for slowing down

Step through the curved glass entrance and the atrium opens up overhead, washed in daylight. A sculpted white wall rises the full height of the space, rippling like the river outside, while two indoor bridges cross from one tower to the next, with room to pause, lean on the rail and take in the view. Through the glazing, the line of sight runs from the street to the river and on to the Bund on the far bank. A fountain inspired by the magnolia, Shanghai’s city flower, links the lobby to the park outside.

Every guest room has floor-to-ceiling windows—though the river view rooms, facing the Huangpu and Nanpu Bridge, are the hotel’s signature. Some also have sunken bathtubs facing the city. The Mindful Room takes that sense of calm further. Guests are led through a 20-minute bilingual guided meditation, set to music composed for the room by Australian musician Gus Till, who drew on the ocean, sun and jungle around his home in Bali. The sound comes through a 4D surround system, and a scent developed with fragrance brand Chun Shan, drawn from essential oils of flowers and trees, fills the room. Stays include butler service, Executive Lounge access and a 4pm late checkout.

For something less structured, there is the Serene Space, tucked into a quiet corner of the lobby among the plants. It asks nothing of you: bring a book, put on some music or simply take a moment to yourself. On the fifth floor, the heated indoor infinity pool sits behind full-height windows facing the Huangpu.

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Outside, the JW Garden brings the idea down to the soil. Rosemary, sage and perilla grow in raised timber beds beneath the trees, alongside tomatoes, potatoes, fig, kiwi fruit and four kinds of mint: pineapple, apple, pomelo and bergamot. What they yield goes to the hotel’s kitchens and the Parlor Bar, so the mint in an evening cocktail may well have been growing outside that morning. Every weekend, children can do the picking themselves; the hotel piloted the herb garden programme for kids. Families making a staycation of it will find an entire floor dedicated to them under the Family by JW banner, with rooms dressed in touches like play tents, toys and cartoon blankets.

The river also leads to the hotel’s latest collaboration. A short walk along the waterfront is the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, a former coal warehouse on the Pudong riverside, where Johnny Depp: A Bunch of Stuff Presents Figures of the Fringe runs until 13 December. The touring exhibition arrives from New York with decades of the actor’s visual work: portraits, symbols and handwritten text. Together with the museum and Pantheon Art, the hotel has carried that work into a themed room. Three of Depp’s pieces hang inside: Flowers, The Bunnyman Genesis (2023), a golden rabbit figure against a field of deep blue; the elephant study Loxodonta XV (2025); and Live XV (2025), which spells out “Love As Long As You Live” in hand-drawn letters. The package, at RMB2,699 a night, includes breakfast for two, two exhibition tickets, a souvenir set and the themed afternoon tea. The tea is also available on its own at RMB528, with either the tickets or a souvenir. Among its eight pieces are an Earl Grey milk pudding and paw-print cookies modelled on Mooh, Depp’s dog.

In the themed room, the Bunnyman hangs beside a window full of river. The room, the tea and the exhibition all end on 13 December. The view stays.

To book the Johnny Depp-themed room or a Mindful Room stay, visit www.marriott.com or follow @jwmarriottmarquissh on Instagram.

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