The original Shanghai Club was a three-storey red-brick building constructed by the British in 1861. The original Club was torn down and rebuilt in 1910 with reinforced concrete in a neo-classical design. The large first floor dining room had black and white marble flooring; while the entrance staircase used imported white Sicilian marble.

The club was a British men's club and was the most exclusive club in Shanghai during the heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. The membership fee was $125 and monthly dues were $9. The second-floor was famous for the 'Long Bar.' This was an unpolished mahogany; L-shaped bar that measured 110.7 feet by 39 feet. On one side of the bar was a smoking room and library; while on the other side was a billiards room. It was famous for being the world's longest bar at one time. Noel Coward said; laying his cheek on it; that he could see the curvature of the earth.

There were also forty guest rooms on the second and third floors. It later became the Dongfeng Hotel; and even housed a KFC restaurant from 1990 to 1996. The restored building as of October 2010 is the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai; a luxury hotel.