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A DECADE of frenzied hotel construction has left Shanghai with an impressive portfolio of ultra modern hotels. Consequently, contemporary luxuries like in-room Broadband, Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, laptop-size safes and rainforest showerheads are pretty much standard amenities in Shanghai’s four and five-star hotels. Premium properties go to even greater extremes to distinguish themselves: Vertiginous lobbies, rooftop bars with Jacuzzis, bathtubs in living rooms, evening ‘unwind’ rituals, tai chi courtyards and decadent day spas are just a few examples.
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Along with the major chains, boutique hotels are finally catching on, offering intimate, funky alternatives often in landmark buildings. Everyone from fashion designers to movie directors seems intent upon making a mark on the Shanghai hotel scene. The budget sector is equally robust, with chains like Motel 168 proliferating throughout the city (and country), providing rooms for as little as Rmb168 without sacrificing a sense of service or style (think free Wi-Fi and flat screen TVs in some cases).
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| Back in time on the Bund/ photo: Verghese |
In the next few years, more of the world’s top hotel names – Jumeirah, Conrad, Banyan Tree, W Hotels, Waldorf Astoria, Aman, and the list goes on and on – are flexing luxury muscle, while existing five-stars like the Shangri-La and The Portman Ritz-Carlton will unveil second properties on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River.
And as for Shanghai’s most legendary property: The much-faded Peace Hotel built in 1929 by Victor Sassoon closed its doors in 2007 for a massive overhaul. It will reopen in 2010 as the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai ready to cater to a new generation of pleasured travellers whooping it up in the Paris of the East.
Pudong Airport Arrival and Departure
While a host of international carriers serve Shanghai, Dragonair, Cathay Pacific and no-frills national carrier Air China are useful choices. Dragonair’s Airbus A-330 aircraft from Hong Kong offer a bit more style and service in a 2-4-2 seat configuration. These airlines have the added benefit of using Pudong International Airport Terminal 2 (tel: [86-21] 9608-1388 or www.shanghaiairport.com).
Opened in 2008, the snazzy Terminal 2 is excellently signposted (unlike its dowdy predecessor), with an undulating wood-beam ceiling, multilevel glass facade and wide moving-footways. Immigration and taxi queues are more manageable, and there’s even a Burger King and an extremely comfortable Champions Sports Bar, which serves 48 types of cocktails. Once you pass through immigration however, you are restricted to the airport-monopoly restaurants. Three strategically placed pathways allow you to cross between the two terminals in just 15 minutes, with easy access to the Maglev high-speed train in between.
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| Park Hyatt pool/ photo: hotel |
If you end up departing from Terminal 1, the European-style Voyager espresso bar offers an island oasis of black marble and leather bar stools amidst the drab duty-free counters near Gate 16. Duty-free is anything but, and a Ferragamo tie will still set you back Rmb855 or more. Alcohol is more in line with Asian airport prices.
The high-profile Maglev (magnetic levitation) train makes an eight-minute, 430kmph dash between Pudong Airport and Longyang Road Station (out in the Pudong suburbs). Trains run daily between 6.45am and 9.40pm at 15 to 20-minute intervals. A one-way ticket costs Rmb50 or Rmb40 with a same-day airline ticket. Rmb80 roundtrip. From the station it is a 12-minute subway ride to Pudong’s exhibition centre or 25 minutes downtown. A taxi from Pudong airport to Puxi (on the other side of the Huangpu river) costs Rmb150 for a 50-minute ride along a crisp, four-lane highway. The renminbi (“people’s money”) is a little stronger than the Hong Kong dollar (US$1 = Rmb6.84).
Getting around Shanghai
Shanghai is a vast metropolis straddling both sides of the Huangpu River. Puxi, the stately and lived-in Shanghai heartland, is literally “West of the Pu (river)”. “Xi” means west. This area is home to the former French Concession, lined with imported trees and historic residential laneways. The former British Concession bordered by the Puxi riverfront includes the colonial stretch of the Bund, one of Shanghai’s most iconic sights since the early 20th century.
Facing off against the Bund on the opposite riverbank, is the soaring, brash, show-off skyline of Pudong (“dong” means east) – its sky-scraping towers filled with heady “new China” ambition. The Oriental Pearl Tower with its fat, spherical bulbs and spindly legs – like a liposuction gone wrong – was one of the first to sprout in Pudong’s Lujiazui financial zone. Just behind it, the gleaming 88-storey Jinmao Tower (which houses the Grand Hyatt) and the newer Shanghai World Financial Centre, which tops it with 101-storeys and the world’s highest hotel (Park Hyatt Shanghai), soar gracefully side-by-side. A third even taller structure, The Shanghai Tower, will stand 632 metres high when it opens in 2014.
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Marriott Chairrnan's Suite/ photo: hotel |
Taxis are plentiful in Shanghai – except when it is raining or rush hour. The Dazhong and Ba Shi companies tend to be most reliable, and three little red stars on the windshield indicate exemplary drivers (or at least those who won’t speak on their mobile phones, spit out the window or run red lights). Always have your destination (including the cross street) written in characters and ask hotel doormen to explain directions in Chinese. An average taxi ride within the city centre is Rmb12-Rmb20.
As traffic gets increasingly gridlocked, the metro and light-rail systems are often a faster option. The network is rapidly expanding from three lines a few years ago to seven in 2009 and several more in progress. Tickets cost Rmb3-Rmb5.
But on to those gleaming Shanghai business hotels and some quirky options. Puxi first.
Shanghai Business Hotels, Central Puxi
Opened in 2003, the JW Marriott Shanghai at Tomorrow Square is the chain’s China flagship. Opposite People’s Square and the Shanghai Art Museum, the award-winning hotel is set in a space-age, crystal-shaped structure on top of a tall tower. The lobby is on the 38th floor and the hotel runs to the 60th floor, home to the world’s highest library-cum-exclusive boardroom. The wraparound views take in the entire city and all rooms feature massive picture windows. In-room Broadband is available for a fee and there’s free WiFi in public spaces. Other excellent on-site facilities include a luxurious Shanghai-styled Mandara Spa, a California Grill, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a funky 24-hour fitness centre. High tea in the lobby lounge or bubbly at the 40th-floor Champagne Bar are two of the city’s finest choices to kick back in style and drink in the vertiginous views. There is an executive apartment complex too.
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| Le Royal Meridien Shanghai / photo: hotel |
On the opposite side of People’s Square, in a 66-floor tower marked by two throbbing antennae, Starwood’s Le Royal Meridien Shanghai is the brand’s Asia flagship. The glam contemporary behemoth resides right above People’s Square metro station. Its 770 rooms come with full floor-to-ceiling windows to enjoy the cityscapes, glass bathrooms, 42-inch plasma TVs that you can spin around 360 degrees and DVD/CD players. Meetings facilities cover anything from small board meetings to large conferences in two light-filled grand ballrooms, while its food and beverage options include a good French haute restaurant and popular three-storey bar 789 across the uppermost levels. In keeping with Le Royal Meridien’s new focus on the ‘creative individual’, its artist-designed room keys can also be used to ‘unlock’ a local contemporary cultural experience – in Shanghai this translates to free admission at the nearby MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Shanghai.
Nearby, the tall building that looks as if a spacecraft landed on top of it is the Radisson Hotel Shanghai New World mother ship. The interiors are exuberant and – in the spirit of the eastern end of this infamous strip – tacky and inexplicably popular. There is an enormous safe and free Broadband in the rooms and Wi-Fi in public areas. But the best thing about this hotel is its super central location.
People’s Square was also home to some of the Far East’s ritziest hotels in the roaring 1930s. While many of these historic icons are now faded ghosts of past glories (note the Park Hotel next to the Radisson New World), the 1934 Yangtze Hotel has been revived by heritage specialists Langham Hotels as a boutique residence brimming with vintage glamour. Beyond the whitewashed art deco façade, The Langham, Yangtze Boutique, Shanghai boasts 96 rooms – most with balconies – adorned in striking chocolate and crimson deco patterns and luscious textures.
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| China Mansion Hotel / photo: Verghese |
Latest mod-cons include 42-inch TVs, DVD players, iPod docks, Nespresso machines and whirlpool tubs. There are four restaurants: Italian dining room Ciao, Palm Court tearoom, Japanese gastro pub Mado Izakaya, and a branch of renowned Cantonese restaurant T’ang Court, which won two Michelin-stars in Hong Kong. There’s also a Chuan Spa and attached spa residences. (The Langham, Yangtze Boutique, Shanghai features in our exclusive by-invitation Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
The Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai maintains, as expected, a very corporate stamp. While it doesn’t quite compare with its sister properties in other parts of the world, it is still very popular with business travellers. Situated on a side street near Nanjing Lu, the property has a plush, airy lobby plastered with paintings, lampshades and something that has invaded Shanghai hotels in a big way – palm trees. If you don’t wish to go the whole hog for the luxurious Executive Club Rooms, you can simply pay an additional Rmb500 plus 15 percent on top of any room category for access to the 37th-floor Executive Club Lounge, including an hour’s free use of a meeting room. Of course, the Four Seasons is no slouch on the room rates front. There is a convenient ATM that takes Visa in the lobby. This is a well-run and convenient Shanghai business hotel.
Directly opposite the Four Seasons, the Howard Johnson Business Club Hotel Shanghai opened at the end of 2008. Its 150 suites come with handy mini kitchens, free Internet and flatscreen TVs. There’s also a floodlit tennis court, indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, a health club and swimming pool, all just steps away from Nanjing Road. But first, get your tongue around the name.
Dominating the western end of Nanjing Lu, right next to Plaza 66 shopping mall with its designer brands and opposite the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, is The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai. The hotel is tucked away in the Shanghai Centre – an expat haven incorporating a foreign supermarket, consulates, restaurants, bars and cafes – and offers a boutique feel with its hideaway nooks and sumptuous lounges. The decade-old property has recently completed a multi-year overhaul of its rooms, restaurants and public spaces, and opened the biggest Presidential Suite in town.
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| Puli living room/ photo: hotel |
The gymnasium and business centre run 24 hours, the executive lounge serves an extravagant spread of refreshments throughout the day, and slick service standards extend to an on-call “technology butler”. All in, this is among the top Shanghai business hotels. Their Palladio restaurant is one of the city’s finest Italian eateries.
Across Nanjing Road, the Singapore-run Shanghai JC Mandarin has pleasant guestrooms and a gem of a wine bar on the third floor. The Wellness Spa is one of Shanghai’s earliest day spas – try the golden body wrap and massage using gold powder.
Within steps of Nanjing Road and the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, and overlooking the greenery of Jing’an Park, The Puli Hotel & Spa raises the bar for independent hotels in Shanghai. A sleek contemporary design of dark wood, rattan and bolts of Jim Thompson silks is offset by rustic Chinese antiques, local grey brick and dramatic lighting installations. Amenities in the 209 guestrooms include multiple flat screen TVs, DVD player, MP3 docking point, free WiFi, Nespresso machine, free minibar and a GSM portable phone with dual SIM card slots and citywide coverage. Handy.
There is just one restaurant – but Dane Clouston’s Jing’An is one of the city’s best. Don’t miss a massage at Shanghai’s first Anantara Spa, which has been designed around the therapeutic benefits of Chinese tea, or a drink at the 32-metre sunken Long Bar in the lobby.
Just down the road, near Jing’an Temple, is the Swissôtel Grand Shanghai. The 467 airy rooms are enhanced by windows that open to let in the breeze (a rare treat in high-rise Shanghai) and views of the park or bustling Jing’an district, whose street map features on the enormous cut glass relief by Chinese artist Yang Jiu Sheng in the lobby. While many of the design elements are modern Asian in style (lots of gold and marble), there’s a tasty Swiss influence in The Chocolate Shop and European spa.
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| JIA exterior/ photo: hotel |
For those who like their accommodation with attitude, Shanghai boutique hotel JIA Shanghai is housed in a Twenties-era neoclassical building just one block from the Four Seasons. Behind dark glass doors, JIA sets a standard in terms of refined designer lodging in a city eagerly jumping on the boutique bandwagon. The 55 “quietly theatrical” guestrooms range from 35-160sq m and feature dark timber floors, Bisazza mosaic bathrooms and signature pieces by the likes of Knoll, Minotti and Hans Wegner. A techno kit supplies free Broadband and VGA cables so you can link your computer to the TV. There’s also 42-inch flat screen TVs, DVDs, Nintendo games, MP3 link-ups to a surround sound speaker system and if all that sounds too techno, a stash of old-fashioned board games. Kitchenettes come stocked with refrigerator, electric stove, microwave and dining ware, while a trendy Italian restaurant serves some of Shanghai’s best pizza. Guests also have access to a small business centre, gym and JIA’s trademark residential lounge, where the trendy clientele mingles over breakfast, afternoon cake and evening wines.
Shanghai boutique hotels continue to sprout and one that’s too cool for spelling is Urbn. Claiming to be China's first carbon neutral hotel or, perhaps, “crbn ntrl”, the 26-room hotel near Jing’an Temple uses eco-friendly solutions like passive solar shades and rainwater retention basins.
It tracks the energy it consumes and purchases United Nations-approved credits to neutralise its carbon footprint by investing in green energy development and emission reduction projects in China. Hotel guests can also choose to purchase carbon credits from the program to offset their flights. The contemporary Asian-styled hotel wins points for design and amenities too – free WiFi, iPod ports, inroom spa treatments and Mandarin lessons are some of the little luxuries offered.
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| Regal International Club room/ photo: hotel |
A short drive from Nanjing Road, one of the first cinemas built in Shanghai after Liberation has been transformed into yet another funky hotel, Ivy Shanghai. Vamping up the interplay of ancient and modern Chinese design, the Ivy comes with fun lipstick-red lattice screens and neon-lit room numbers alongside serious luxuries like 24-hour personal floor butlers, on-call secretaries, free Broadband, water filters attached to the bathroom taps and a teppanyaki restaurant, Kuromastsu. And that’s just the tip of the Shanghai boutique hotels iceberg.
Right on the pedestrian stretch of Nanjing Lu, the 401-room Sofitel Hyland Shanghai is less showy than the competition but location (equidistant between People’s Square and the Bund), facilities and friendly service are a huge plus.
For business travellers, it offers 180 smart chocolate-toned Sofitel Club rooms, along with a gym, sauna, health club and complimentary usage of high-speed Internet. The hotel has been through major renovations and the Club Lounge on the 30th floor with sweeping views is a welcome addition.
Shanghai hotels around the “French Concession”
For the executive elite, the boutique 88 Xintiandi offers style and technological savvy in its 53 exquisite “residences” in the popular Xintiandi precinct. The design is spare and mod, with touches of traditional Asian whimsy. All rooms feature lake or plaza views, complimentary Broadband and kitchens equipped with a microwave, fridge and dining ware. A revamp has seen the addition of a private gym, spa and indoor swimming pool. Guests have access to the private clubhouse across the street.
There are countless bars, restaurants and shopping outlets right at your doorstep in this jazzy historic quarter.
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| Comfy Four Seasons/ photo: hotel |
Not far from Xintiandi, the Taiwanese owners of Shanghai restaurant and ceramic tableware brand Lapis Lazuli have created a unique 18-room boutique residence. Though small, the rooms at Lapis Casa boast a touch of 1920’s Shanghai decadence in the club chairs, deco adornments and jade sinks. Numbers 81-84 offer views over Huaihai Park and Internet is free.
Also consider the upscale Pudi Boutique Hotel Fuxing Park Shanghai near Xintiandi offering 52 generously sized rooms adorned with original works by contemporary Chinese artists. Nice touches here include in-room check-in, a pillow menu featuring green tea and buckwheat varieties, and a rooftop bar and Jacuzzi. Pudi is also Shanghai’s only pet-friendly hotel. Mark it down for that dog day afternoon.
A Shanghai boutique hotel with strong historical overtones is the China Mansion Hotel on Xinle Road in the heart of the old French Concession. Originally built in 1932 for Shanghai mob boss Du Yue Sheng, the mansion has since hosted various, less notorious luminaries. The place will please heritage hotel buffs with its classical lines and décor. Walk in to a period fantasy filled with ancient clocks, gramophones, silken sofas and turn-of-the-century armchairs.
The 32 rooms each feature 15ft ceilings and unique layouts. Expect king-size beds, plush armchairs, ottomans and gas fireplaces, along with all the usual mod-cons associated with the frenetic 21st Century – Bose iPod docks, 42-inch flat-screen satellite TVs, printer/scanner/fax, CD/radio, free high-speed WiFi, Jacuzzis and even Japanese-style bidets that spray, squirt and blow-dry. The sprawling 150sq m China Mansion Suites come with private stone terraces overlooking the onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Church and bathtubs the size of small swimming pools. And for small corporate meetings and private events there are seven function rooms to choose from. The China Mansion Hotel is an inspired Shanghai boutique hotel where you can be utterly wired or gloriously disconnected. Just pick your century.
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| Ritz-Carlton Club Room/ photo: hotel |
The Hilton Shanghai is one of the city’s pioneering international five-star business hotels and has a loyal following and welcoming feel. The freshly revamped and expanded executive floors include a new Club Room on the 38th level and striking red and black ‘Top of the Hilton’ meetings venue across the 40th floor, which carries the international Hilton Meetings “100 percent guarantee” of a successful event. In keeping with the hotel’s healthy approach, it has eliminated trans fats from restaurant menus, offers organic breads in its excellent German bakery and pumps “ozone-enriched” air through its gym and spa. Among Shanghai conference hotels, the Hilton is perhaps one for the diary. Right next door is a large pink slab called the Hotel Equatorial, with a lobby plaque announcing, “The best hotel for exterior design”. You be the judge. Its rates are a lot more affordable than its neighbour’s.
Not too far from here, the neoclassical Okura Garden Hotel Shanghai stands in a green garden compound just off Huaihai Road. This property was a private French Club in the 1930s before becoming Chairman Mao’s revolutionary headquarters. It’s now an elegant Japanese-run hotel with spacious, renovated rooms and a popular Japanese restaurant, Yamazoto. Check out the ballroom with its original sprung wooden floor and stained glass windows. The highlight of the bathrooms is a Japanese-style potty with all the trimmings – press-button bidet, spray, and all manner of devices to keep your bottom shipshape. This is very much a classical Shanghai business hotel.
The neighbouring Jin Jiang Hotel (not the nearby ‘New Jin Jiang’ tower) is a beauty with its historic dark-brick structure and white-frame bay windows. The hotel is spread across five classical buildings in manicured grounds. Unfortunately, past room renovations have been less than sympathetic and only some of the original detailing has been preserved in the lobby of the main Cathay Building. A better option is the art deco Cathay Garden across the courtyard, which was rebuilt in 2005 and has 208 slick executive rooms with spacious bathrooms for only a fraction more than those in the original block. Ask for a garden view.
Singapore-based travel agency CTC Tourism Holdings has acquired a 1930s art deco gem on Hengshan Road and created a cosy, 39-room Shanghai guesthouse, @Gallery Suites. The boutique hotel features stylish period décor, free-standing bathtubs and high-tech amenities. We love the flamboyant art deco suites, Wii-enabled gym and next-door Annexe building with an art gallery and teahouse.
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| The spacious Okura/ photo: hotel |
For Disneyland-meets-Gothic-horror-gabled-mansion, look no further than the Hengshan Moller Villa. The story has it that an expatriate businessman built it exactly as his daughter saw it in a dream. The ensuing construction is alternatively pleasing, astonishing and spooky. A major makeover in 2008 moved the 28 guestrooms into Building 2 at the back of the property, adding flat screen TVs and other updated amenities while retaining its fairytale aura. The original castle-like building now contains pricy restaurants and overblown function rooms leading out to a pretty garden. The hotel is popular with government officials who often book it out for months at a time.
Across the road, the high-rise City Hotel is a convenient four-star option. The 20-year-old hotel is basic but well maintained and offers great views over the historic lanes from the south-facing rooms. There’s a spa and indoor pool and the lobby bar has tall windows looking out to Shaanxi shopping street and Moller Villa.
The Regal International East Asia Hotel is an athlete’s dream. It features eight outdoor tennis courts and two indoor courts. There’s also billiards, a gym, vast fitness facilities, a 12-lane bowling centre, simulated golf driving range and squash. If you’d rather work on your beer belly than your six-pack, there’s the infamous Hengshan Lu bar strip not far from here. And in case you have any time left for business, there’s the Regal Club Lounge and Business Centre on its fourth and fifth floors. A handful of Regal Club Rooms have been styled just for ladies. These feature a "feminine touch" in the decor and special amenities including satin hangers, humidifier, hair-curler and manicure set.
The Radisson Plaza Xing Guo is set in 15 acres of garden in the former French Concession. It’s a smart choice, with ample business facilities, a pool, squash court and bowling alley.
Shanghai business hotels Near the Bund
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| The Westin's China Suite/ photo: hotel |
On to some Shanghai business hotels near the Bund and not far from People’s Square. An excellent choice close to the Bund is the tiara-topped Westin Bund Centre Shanghai. The twin-towered hotel is futuristic, fun and functional; with the newer 269-room Grand Tower providing crisp executive comforts including concealed fax, DVD player, window-side bathtubs and evening “unwind rituals”. There is an iron and ironing board. The atrium lobby is crammed with Hirsch Bedner designer palm trees surrounding a red blown-glass centrepiece. Underlit glass staircases climb up a few floors to large, versatile function areas. There’s a 24-hour business centre, two-storey WestinWORKOUT gym and a sumptuous Banyan Tree Spa for after-hours de-stressing. Prego Italian restaurant does great pizzas and convivial evening Aperitvo hours, and The Stage restaurant hosts one of the most popular Sunday brunch buffets in town.
Making a triumphant return to the city where it all began, The Peninsula Shanghai opened in October, 2009 in the first new mansion to be built along Shanghai’s historic Bund in 63 years. The luxury, art deco-inspired interiors, river views and winning service make this a first-rate Shanghai accommodation choice. Dining highlights include Cantonese restaurant Yi Long Court headed by Michelin-starred Chef Tang Chi Keung, and rooftop Sir Elly’s bar and restaurant with French Chef Arnaud Berthelier at the helm. Classic Peninsula high teas accompanied by a string quartet are available in the two-floor lobby lounge. Savvy services for business travellers staying in the 235 rooms (starting from 56sq m) include a Nespresso machine, iPod dock, 1,000-channel Internet radio, card readers enabling digital photos and presentations to be viewed on the large TV screen, and a six-hour guaranteed laundry service. Among the 25 luxury brands featured in the downstairs shopping arcade, is Chanel’s China flagship.
The Renaissance Yuyuan Shanghai is located beside the city’s famed Yu Gardens and Disney-style tourist bazaar, with spellbinding views over the winged rooftops. The four-star brand’s trendy flagship is specifically designed to appeal to 25 to 40-year-old travellers. The 341-room hotel designed by Czech glass artist Borek Sipek is decked out in bold carpets and quirky blown glass, and rooms feature glass bathrooms and tubs in the living area in some cases. Its two-storey Quan Spa is shaded in vibrant hues of aqua, mauve and lime, with petrified palm trees, Vichy showers and spectacular views through large picture windows. There’s also a rooftop indoor pool with a terrifying glass infinity wall.
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| Hyatt on the Bund/ photo: hotel |
Also in the Bund area is the 23-storey Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel. The comfortably appointed hotel is close to shopping and the metro and offers high-speed Internet access in its rooms, along with standard amenities. The 353-room Grand Central Hotel is another option overlooking the Bund with plenty of MICE facilities and palatial gold fittings.
Hyatt on the Bund is not quite – it’s actually around the bend of the Huangpu River in the upcoming and heavily-constructing North Bund development incorporating the new cruise ship terminal. Opened in 2007, the hotel smacks of contemporary design flair and latest mod-cons. The 631 rooms across two towers (the entire east wing is an Executive Tower) have each been angled to take full advantage of the stunning views straight down the Huangpu River, taking in both the east and west banks. Rooms feature iPod docks, open bathrooms and safes that allow you to store and charge a laptop. A Yuan Spa occupies 3,000sq m across the entire lower level. Dining options are typically strong, especially the part-alfresco Chinese restaurant specialising in Peking duck from its own custom-built clay oven, while a signature two-storey bar designed by SuperPotato comes with a rooftop Jacuzzi, daybeds and more knockout views.
Other hotel choices in the Puxi area
Opened late September 2009 in the emerging Zhabei District is the InterContinental Shanghai Puxi, a modern business-traveller-dream construct featuring soaring ceilings, darkly elegant interiors with pools of light, whimsical bronze statues and a funky bar. An elaborate “ribbon” of light swirls airily through the lobby area greeting visitors. This is a modern steel-and-glass high-rise in a hitherto neglected area of the city now slated for major development. The hotel has 533 rooms with a mix of executive suites and a Club InterContinental Lounge.
Expect rooms starting at a spacious 45sq m (among the biggest in Shanghai), with 47-inch flat screen TV, DVD player, iPod port, espresso machine, and a small flat laptop-size safe. The room is in light beige tones matched with grey floors and an attractive white-plaster floral wall behind the headrest. The brown wallpaper is made from reprocessed grass.
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| InterContinental Puxi/ photo:Verghese |
Broad louvred wooden slats conceal or open up views through a glass wall into the bathroom featuring L’Occitane toiletries, a weighing scale, and a separate shower and bathtub. There’s a 15-inch LCD TV in the basin mirror too. A sensible Roman-numeral clock sits by the bed and Broadband is available at roughly Rmb100 per day. There are several full-length mirrors for a pre-conference preen as well as an iron and ironing board. The Club InterContinental Tower is in an adjoining building with separate check-in and almost 3,000sq m of meeting space. A bit removed from the action, but for Shanghai conference hotels, this is an address worth noting.
Just outside the city centre, Club Rooms at the Crowne Plaza Shanghai are bold and spacious with a flatscreen TV and a solid safe that, alas, is not laptop size. The club lounge is split-level with meeting rooms along with a business centre. Club Room guests are entitled to complimentary garment pressing and free beer and soft drinks from the mini-bar. Drink up.
The Longemont – formerly known as the Regent – occupies a rather lacklustre location, squeezed up against the Yan’an elevated highway. Although hardly tourist central, it’s right next door to the growing business district of Zhongshan Park and just a short drive to both Nanjing Lu or Hongqiao. The 53-storey building boasts a cutting-edge design with an easily recognisable electric blue stripe running down the outside, an airy lobby, funky white pod chairs and sleek cherry woods. All rooms feature 42-inch plasma TVs and many of the bathrooms have retractable glass walls or floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the city lights. There is free WiFi in public spaces (except the business lounge) and complimentary Broadband in all rooms. There’s also a spa and 30-metre infinity pool.
Further west of the city, the Shanghai Marriott Hotel Hongqiao is part of a large business centre block and close to the Shanghai Mart. This is an exhibitions area. While the international role of the nearby Hongqiao Airport has diminished, most domestic flights still land here and a ring road (and upcoming rail link) provides reasonably quick access to Pudong. Executive rooms offer a steam iron and a notebook-size safe. Being a long-time expat enclave, the area is also well serviced with global restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.
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| Le Meridien She Shan guestroom |
The newer Millennium Hotel Hongqiao Shanghai opened in 2007. Its 369 exuberantly styled rooms are comfortably spacious and feature floor-to-ceiling windows, flat screen TVs and peek-a-boo bathrooms. There is a selection of Chinese and Western restaurants on site and free shuttle buses into town.
Moving back towards downtown you’ll find the semi-circular Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel. The interior is extravagantly old world. Grand marble pillars, burgundy carpets, chandeliers and Chinese artefacts adorn the lobby, while the 587 guestrooms continue the classical look with lush woven carpets and period furniture, but rather compact bathrooms. Right around the corner is the Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel. Club Rooms decked out in pinewood and burgundy are bright but a tad small.
Nearby, in the satellite business district of Zhongshan Park, the Renaissance Shanghai Zhongshan Park opened in 2008 and is the world’s tallest Renaissance. It stretches up from the 25th to 60th floors of the Cloud Nine Shopping Centre with a subway hub in the basement that allows easy connectivity to Pudong, the new expo site and downtown. Targeting the upwardly mobile “pleasurable business” traveller, the 684 rooms are decorated in striking crimson tones with fun lounge and dining concepts offering healthy lunches, casual meeting spaces and chill-out after-work drinks. The building also contains a shopping centre, cinema, spas, office tower and both subway and light-rail stations.
The Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning is in the city’s northern Zhabei district, near the main railway station and around 20 minutes by cab from the CBD. The hotel makes up part of a young integrated complex called the Daning Life Hub and boasts plentiful business facilities. Among these are vast swathes of meeting space, seven function rooms, a business centre and a Grand Ballroom. The 326 contemporary guestrooms come with flat-screen TVs and jet showers. The hotel is close to the university district and Circus World, home to the excellent Era acrobatic show. This is a useful Shanghai conference hotels choice.
The four-star Regal Shanghai East Asia Hotel is actually “within” the Shanghai Stadium. No kidding. This may be too much for some but the Sports Bar does in fact overlook the stadium, which is a novel way to end the day.
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| Park Hyatt room/ photo: hotel |
Shanghai business hotels, Pudong
Crossing over to Pudong, on the eastern side of the river in the general vicinity of the Lujiazi Finance and Trade Zone and Shanghai New International Expo Centre are a clutch of excellent business addresses. The newest kid on the block is the stately 285-room Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong (open May 2010), a modern construct atop the IFC tower housing a pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, a spacious spa, and over 1,700sq m of conference and meetings space. Rooms (several with views of The Bund) serve up iPod docking stations, 42-inch flatscreen TVs, Blu-ray DVD players and spoiling toiletries.
Towering over everything almost right above The Bund is the world’s highest hotel, the Park Hyatt Shanghai. The hotel soars from the 79th to 93rd floors of the vertiginous Shanghai World Financial Centre, nicknamed the "bottle opener” on account of its sleek design and signature hole at the top, spanned by a glass-bottomed observation bridge on the 100th floor.
Crisp, friendly and minimalist, the understated Park Hyatt is designed as a “contemporary Chinese residence” and features soaring ceilings, expansive views, Asian modern artworks and natural textures of bare blonde wood and cool granite at every turn. These natural elements continue in the 174 guestrooms, where you can also enjoy the latest luxury mod cons like espresso machines, CD/DVD players, complimentary wireless Internet, flat-screen TVs, iPod connectivity and hi-tech Japanese toilets. The large walk-in Oriental bathing areas are a highlight, with heated granite floors, an “overflowing” soaking tub and the biggest rain showerheads we’ve ever seen. Female floor butlers service all rooms.
The property also boasts an aerial tai chi courtyard, stunning sky-top swimming pool and Waters Edge Spa (you can also choose to have spa treatments in most rooms). The top three floors are capped by the world’s highest restaurant, bars and event space, called 100 Century Avenue. On the 91st floor is a very cool and convivial tavern with Western, Chinese and Japanese show kitchens and a 750-label cellar. Move on to the 92nd floor jazz bar or Oriental lounge with a small dance floor and ballroom dancing four nights a week.
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| Grand Hyatt, Jin Mao/ photo: Verghese |
The uppermost floor is a private dining space for 100 people adorned in modern Nordic style with mischievously random fixtures, like the ceramic moose heads in the meeting room. Wraparound views throughout the hotel are dominated by the jagged crown of the 88-storey Jinmao Tower right next door. All in all, this is a truly iconic statement among the new crop of Shanghai business hotels.
The Jin Mao Tower is home to the Park Hyatt’s sister property, and formerly the world’s highest hotel, the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, which is located on the 53rd to 87th floors. The Grand Club rooms here are spacious and light-filled with sweeping views of the river and the Bund on a clear day. A nice feature is the hand-engraved Tang Dynasty poem in the cherrywood headboard and nifty double-side wardrobes that can be accessed from both the bedroom and bath. Tubs have great views and the shower cubicles sport side massage jets. The bathroom also offers dimmers for its lights in case you’re feeling romantic, in which case dump the Broadband and grab a blonde (not provided). Just north of here is the new 686-room Gran Meliá Hotel Shanghai with several restaurants, an inviting light-filled pool deck, rooms with flat-screen TVs, marble bathrooms with separate tubs and showers, and WiFi. The hotel aims for conferences and the ballroom can host up to 800 persons.
The riverfront Pudong Shangri-La is Shanghai’s biggest five-star, with 950 rooms across two towers. The original tower is styled with classical European opulence while the newer Grand Tower is more sleek and contemporary. There is free WiFi throughout the hotel. The 375 spacious Grand Tower rooms and suites offer LCD flat screen TVs, DVDs, complimentary Internet and great views of the Puxi skyline. The Grand Tower also has a second ballroom and health club, an 800sq m CHI spa with over 35 specialist treatments, and 12 drinking and dining venues, including the classy Japanese Nadaman and Yi Café, a lively all-day restaurant evoking a gourmet marketplace with 10 open kitchens presenting cuisines from China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Situated by the Pudong riverfront and next door to the mega shopping complex Super Brand Mall, the Shangri-La is one of the front-runners in our Shanghai business hotels review and a popular conference and meetings venue. It is commonly found on MICE diaries.
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| Pudong Shangri-La/ photo: hotel |
If you’re heading into the Pudong heartlands, the first hotel to roll by will be the InterContinental Pudong Shanghai. The Club Floor rooms feature crisp white beds with China-red silk bed runners, along with traditional Chinese paintings and black wood cabinets. Some bedrooms and bathrooms (with Aigner toiletries) are separated by just a glass partition.
Five minutes from here, The St Regis Shanghai is located in a cigar-coloured building owned by a cigarette company. Its lackluster locale aside, this is a custom-built dream for top-end business travellers. Rooms are chic with funky opera-inspired touches, right down to velvet covers and satin drapes, and come with the St Regis signature 24-hour butler service for every guest. Executive touches extend to the Herman Miller mesh “Aeron Chair”, complimentary Broadband and unlimited coffee and tea freshly brewed by the butler – nothing quite so mundane as making it yourself here. Two floors are reserved exclusively for female travellers, complete with perfumed rooms, unpronounceable Bvlgari body products, fashion magazines and lady butlers. So there it is. A women’s floor.
For Accor aficionados there is the far-flung 446-room Sofitel Jin Jiang Oriental Pudong Shanghai with good facilities and smart rooms. As well as smart contemporary furnishings and high-speed Broadband, there are also good conference facilities (for up to 450 people), a health club and spa.
The Radisson Hotel Pudong Century Park is quite a surprise. The 362-room hotel was actually conceived as an “art” hotel complementing the neighbouring Zendai Museum of Modern Art by the same owners. The trendy white-on-white design by Australian firm Hassel provides a fantastic canvas for specially commissioned artworks and sculptures by high-profile Chinese artists. There are creative solutions for the business traveller too: some of the guestrooms adjoin private meeting rooms and there is free Broadband and WiFi in public spaces. Recreational options extend to an outdoor pool and tennis court. Radisson Hotel Pudong Century Park is miles from downtown but is part of the hip lifestyle and dining enclave of Thumb Plaza and the closest hotel to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.
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| Smart St Regis room/ photo: hotel |
Another surprisingly good choice in Pudong is the Courtyard Shanghai Pudong by Marriott, offering slick service and amenities that reach far beyond its US counterparts. This is an affordable trimmed-down-service hotel still with everything you need for a successful trip. The Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel is close to the New International Expo Centre and the Oriental Arts Centre, as is Sheraton’s addition to the neighbourhood, the Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences, Pudong. This longstay Shanghai hotel has joined the funky Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Pudong on the same multi-purpose site (the You You International Plaza Complex) and offers 141 serviced one to three-bedroom long stay apartments as well as regular rooms and suites.
Another Shanghai long-stay hotel alternative is The Ascott Pudong, which also offers short or long-term serviced residences for business travellers. Local calls are free and there’s a 10 percent discount on laundry, dry-cleaning and meetings facilities.
And that’s our Shanghai business hotels wrap.
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