Shanghai home to one of world's 'icons of modern hotel design'

Via Gridskipper, we learn that The Observer has singled out some of the world's top hotels, calling them the "Magnificent seven: icons of modern hotel design." A Shanghai property, of course, makes the list:

• Hotel Unique, Sao Paulo, Brazil
• The Kandalama, Sri Lanka
• Hotel Marques De Riscal, Rioja, Spain
• The Vigilius Mountain Resort, south Tyrol, Italy
• The Grand Hyatt, Shanghai, China
• Burj Al Arab, Dubai
• The Four Seasons, New York

Here's what they said about The Grand Hyatt:

Against a skyline that looks like it's been designed by a hyperactive toddler, the Grand Hyatt stands out as a monument to good taste. Its sleek elegant Art Deco lines are in stark contrast to the gaudy skyscrapers, topped with rockets, spires and flashing baubles, that have sprung up in the business district of Pudong.

At 1,380ft, it features in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest hotel, and is truly a mega-proportioned superstructure. The hotel takes up floors 53 to 87 of the 88-storey Jin Mao Tower. (The number of floors is no accident: eight is a lucky number for the Chinese, symbolising wealth.) A cocktail in the Cloud 9 bar, the highest in the world, has become an essential tick on the tourist checklist. The view down into the dizzying 33-storey atrium is not for those with vertigo.

Wow! No Blade Runner references. Some kind of award is in order, we think. Seriously, though, we urge you to click on some of the links above. Some of these building are truly amazing. Hotel Unique is pictured -- locals call it "slice of watermelon."