The Bvlgari Hotel Shanghai opened this summer with the promise of becoming a hot spot of art and style as well as heralding a new breed of luxury hotels—those branded by fashion houses—into the Chinese luxury hospitality market.

The Shanghai outpost is the sixth of Bvlgari’s hospitality collection, and combines Italian design with Chinese style. For example, among its six food and beverage outlets on property, Il Ristorante serves contemporary Italian cooking curated by Italian chef Niko Romito and the other serves Cantonese haute cuisine at Bao Li Xuan.

The synchronicities between fashion, luxury and travel are well suited to high-end Chinese consumers, who still seek branded experiences in comparison to their Western counterparts who are increasingly choosing experience over brand.

One of the best examples of this intersection of fashion and hospitality is The Palazzo Versace in Dubai – a modern palace decorated by authentic Italian artisans, located in a dessert in the Middle East, and frequently visited by Chinese affluents.

China is one of the major source markets for the hotel.