Living it Up in Shanghai

Shanghai currently has 15 five-star hotels. With that many hotels to choose from, which should visitors go for? The following three award winning hotels are highlighted for their location and facilities.

Pudong Shangri-la

If you are looking for a hotel to meet both your business and leisure needs, Pudong Shangri-la features one of the city’s most spacious accommodation facilities with its guest rooms covering a minimum floor area of 39sq m. Guests can expect a whole line-up of basic as well as modern amenities including a full-size executive work desk, and even an iron and ironing board!

Highly recommended is a deluxe room with the Bund view. Whether you are working at the desk in your room or just sitting by the window relaxing, it is a spectacular sight looking across at the Bund with the sun setting in the background. A myriad of neon lights from the buildings along the Bund and the skyscrapers around it illuminate the riverside. The view is so intoxicating that you can spend hours watching the hustle and bustle along the HuangPu river.

For the ultimate experience, the Presidential Suite on the 28th floor provides a breathtaking view of Puxi, and comes with a jacuzzi bath, personal study, living and dining rooms, and kitchen. Among the notables who have stayed in this suite is the Sultan of Brunei, during the APEC CEO Summit in October 2001.

Guests are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining. The hotel has its signature Shang Palace restaurant which serves up Cantonese and Shanghainese cuisine. Japanese food lovers are not left out. Inagiku Japanese Restaurant, part of the worldwide group of Inagiku restaurants, offers a wide variety of authentic dishes, especially the tempura specialities which Inagiku is well known for in Japan. The Garden Café serves international cuisine on the á la carte menu and buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After all that bingeing, work those calories off at the health club. The facilities offered are comprehensive. There is an aerobic workout area which has bicycles and treadmills that come equipped with a personal television each. There is also a 20m indoor pool to cater to those who prefer a relaxing swim.

This 606-room hotel will be adding 350 guest rooms in the new wing that is under construction. New facilities include a 2,000sq m Grand Ballroom, two restaurants and one bar at the top of the new building, an exclusive spa and a health club. The total investment is US100m. So watch this space!

Jingan Hilton

Positioned midway between Nanjing and Huaihai Roads, Jingnan Hilton is currently the biggest hotel in Shanghai, with 772 rooms, all located in the heart of the commercial and entertainment district. Each room is a minimum size of 29sq m, tastefully furnished with modern amenities.

For guests in need of pampering, the newly renovated Spa at the Hilton not only features a fully equipped gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, it also offers a full range of spa treatments. In addition, the 3,000sq m Spa has ozone enriched bio-climatised air.

With 70% of its guests being foreigners, the array of dining options at the Hilton cater to most, if not all, of its guests. The Atrium Café offers international favourites on its buffet and a la carte menu, while popular local Shanghainese cuisine is featured at Shanghai Express. Chinese food lovers can choose between Sui Yuan and the Sichuan Court, while those craving Japanese teppanyaki can visit the Teppan Grill.

A must try is Leonardo’s, definitely one of the better Italian restaurants in Shanghai. Italian chef Ilario Turri who hails from Venice, serves up a range of authentic Italian dishes from various regions. An ideal place to wine and dine, the menu provides a good selection of antipasti, zuppe, pasta, risotti, pesci and carni.

We spoke to the sales manager, Josh Zhang, who informed us that in its 15-year history in Shanghai, the Hilton has seen the highest occupancy rates in 2002. In Asia where economies have slumped, this certainly bodes well for the Jingan Hilton and the Shanghai economy!

The Portman Ritz-Carlton

Managed by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC, the 564-room Portman is the first Ritz Carlton hotel to be introduced into China when it opened its doors in 1998. Located on the famous Nanjing Road, the hotel sits in the heart of the Shanghai Centre, a retail, dining and entertainment complex.

The hotel bustles with activities each day, with the high utilisation of its seven meeting rooms and 510sq m ballroom. It also boasts a 24-hour business centre which provides a comprehensive range of facilities which include translation services and video conferencing.

Guests can also entertain and dine at the Summer Pavilion (for Master Chef Ho Wing’s Cantonese cuisine), Hanagatami (for the finest sushi, kaiseki and teppanyaki), The Tea Garden (for a blend of Californian and Mediterranean cuisine), Palladio (for an Italian dining experience), The Lobby Lounge (for light snacks throughout the day) or The Ritz-Carlton Bar (which has one of Shanghai’s largest collections of cigars and liquors) for an evening of jazz.

Whether you have had a power packed business day or just a long day exploring Shanghai, your hotel room invitingly awaits you. Soak in one of the six types of butler’s drawn baths or sink your tired head onto the 100% goose-down pillows and non-allergenic foam pillows. The 564-room hotel provides 24-hour room service and a full range of amenities such as plush terry robes that make you feel right at home.

If a deluxe room is not enough, try the Ritz-Carlton Club rooms to enjoy a private, 24-hour check-in and late check-out, a one-time complimentary pressing service, personalised concierge services and a private lounge serving five complimentary food and beverage presentations daily.

The Portman scored a first among the five-star hotels in China when it introduced Pilates lessons in 2000. The Pilates classes are held twice a week. Qualified instructors also offer salsa aerobics, tennis, tai chi and swimming lessons. Occupying three storeys of the hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Health Club is probably one of Shanghai’s most extensive health and fitness centres, with its fully equipped gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis, squash and racquetball courts.

Management theories have spoken of how good employers make good employees and in turn, good service to customers. In the ‘Top 20 Best Employers in Asia’ awards jointly organised by Hewitt Associates, The Asian Wall Street Journal and Far Eastern Economic Review in September 2001, the hotel not only won the ‘Best Employers in China’ award, it was also placed first in the ‘Top 20 Best Employers in Asia’. It is therefore hardly surprising that the Portman has managed to, and continues to, deliver the distinctive personal service that the Ritz-Carlton hotels are famous for.

Karin Yong