The Apartment Lounge, Shanghai
The Apartment is one my favorite lounges in Shanghai. Always a challenge for someone new to any city, is finding a decent place to hangout for drinks and chillaxin’.
Located in the off the new swanky, yet hidden, area on Yongfu and Fuxing road, in the Xuhui district, The Apartment is a cool lounge, that also serves food. But, I haven’t tried the food, though pundits on foursquare don’t recommend the pizza. Their outdoor rooftop lounge area is where their large pizza oven is located. Maybe one of these days, I will try the food.
After hiking up three elevator-less floors, you finally reach the great door. Once inside, you notice a few sitting areas with eclectic sofas and chairs. Toward the rear of the room, you see the an oversized lounge bed, made popular from the clubs in Vegas and New York. I only wish there were a few more of these beds. In the back, there’s an ignored area of regular tables for dining, which seems a bit out of place. I’d just make that area into a private party room, than pretend that people come for the food. As I mentioned earlier, there’s an outdoor lounge area, which probably has optimal use about 3, maybe 4 months out of the year. With the crazy Shanghai heat and bitter winters, The Apartment probably will only have high demand there in the short spring and autumn months.
Almost every night I’ve been there, there’s been a small band playing or a DJ. I like the DJ, but the band, which varies, is a hit or miss. One night, they were playing cover songs in a melancholy way, that it was almost hurting our group’s mood.
They offer bottle service and reservations for tables areas. They only have a couple of beers on tap and a bit more bottled. They have bottles of vodka, whiskey, and others. Personally, I’m a beer guy and almost anything else, except champagne.
Weekends get crowded fast, too. One thing is. . .this place is not place to pick up chicks, since most everyone that comes, has a table or comes with people. There isn’t a dance floor so, mingling might be a challenge. But if you have game, which I don’t, you might be able to score.
Though it seems I’ve complained a lot, I actually really like The Apartment. I know I’ll be back a lot. Other places I like in Shanghai are the Monkey Bar and El Coctel. If you have suggestions on other similar places, please let me know.