IC Shanghai Puxi (Master Thread)
 

As been annouced in April 2008, the new IC Shanghai Puxi will start business in 2009. This is a most needed addition to the current IC Pudong, because of the location.

The new hotel will located close to the main railway station, and not too far from Hongqiao Airport. It's part of the BM Plaza. Not as previously reported on the north of the Bund. It will include service apartments as well, but not sure whether its part of IC.

Here is some pictures of the new hotel, it looks making good progress.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=668792

Brand new hotel
 

I just completed a 3 night stay at the Intercontinental Puxi, and once they get out all the kinks that are associated with the opening of a new hotel, it should be very nice.

The hotel is located near the main Shanghai railway station (it is across the street on the other side of Hengfeng Rd). If you take a taxi from the south, once you cross the bridge, it will be a few lights ahead on your left.

There is still a lot of work being done in the hotel...while we were there, they were fixing the marble flooring (it looks like whoever did it the first time didn't do a good job, and they were tearing out the tiles and replacing them). Also the pool was not completely finished (n.b. the pool was very deep; the shallowest point was about 6 ft...perhaps the other pool wasn't opened yet), and the steakhouse restaurant isn't opened yet. The staff was in general very friendly and accommodating, but it did seem that they had the first day on the job type of jitters.

We were given a twin bed room on the 29th floor. Room is very modern with extensive use of marble (I thought it was a very good looking room...hopefully I can figure out how to put up some pics here). There is a separate room for the toilet/bidet. Bathroom has a separate area with rain shower/tub separated by a glass door (so the person using the sink will have full view). Typical IC amenities, except they use a different shampoo, conditioner, and bath/shower gel brand (guessing it is a Chinese brand as it was a ginseng blend). Also, bathroom has a window with a view of the bedroom, but they have blinds if you prefer to be discreet. There was a nice flat panel TV with about 15 English speaking channels (almost forgot, but there is also a TV built into the mirror of the bathroom...very cool), and an ipod dock that can be used to play music (however, it was not able to charge my iPhone). There was a small desk (they need to supply you with an extension cord as there are not enough outlets), and a very long couch that could easily be used as another bed (in fact we used it as another bed).

My friends and I did like the hotel room very much compared to others such as the Hilton, Swissotel, and the Le Royal Meridien. The location around the hotel isn't that great, but taxis are pretty cheap and relatively abundant (although if you are the lazy type, you'll have to wait for the bellhop to run to the main street to get you a cab). It's about a 15 RMB cab ride to Nanjing Rd.

I'd definitely recommend this hotel if you want to be in a nice upscale hotel away from the maddening touristy crowds. I thought for the rate we paid (about 900 RMB/night) the hotel was well worth it (especially once the hotel gets its opening kinks straightened out). Plus if you go now, it's not that crowded, and you can have a rather large bar/lounge with full wait staff all to yourself :)

I'm thinking about staying at this place.. did you ever figure out how to upload pictures? I think you can use sites like Flickr. Does anyone else have any experiences with this hotel? Ambassador upgrades?

Friend of mine stayed there this past week. Liked it though had major issues with the A/C system. He is an RA but did not get a suite upgrade, just Club. As he's a FTer, I am sure he'll post something after he gets over his frustration over tech problems on FT.

As a regular to Shanghai, I stayed in this new IC last week. I've been waiting for the Club building finished before I pay a stay. In fact, it was the official opening ceremony when I was there.

As RA, you get a room (not a suite in my case) in the new Club building which only have 8-10 rooms per floor. The deco is very good, and no problem with the air con.

Only a few small issues, the surrounding area looks horrible from your window - a lot of half destroied houses, it may get better in years after they re-build this area. The mini bar is also disappointing - only beers and wines, nothing stronger than that. The club lounge is a bit boring, and not much choices for breakfast.

I think give it few months, it has the potential to be a fantastic hotel.

PS. someone is building a 20-storey building next to the IC Pudong, and will block the view from the Club Lounge.

Well I was also there for the grand opening, and also stayed the week before.
The first stay my AC didnt work and I could not get the room below 23c. They told me it would not happen again so after my train trip I decided to try again for a 2 days stay. The first day everyone in the hotel made sure i was aware the AC was now working.. YIPEE... however the second night CRAPS out AGAIN... the room could not go below 23c:mad:
Anyhow I was there for the "grand opening" I was also in Dubai for its Grand Opening, and Dubai did a much better job;)
Anyhow as an RA we were moved to the CLUB tower, its a completly seperate tower for ONLY club rooms. The lobby in the main hotel is Amazing, and the place is HUGE.
We do not get suites but the rooms are huge. The Club lounge has nice food, good not great, but there were only 7 rooms occupied the second night so it might be early to say. The STAFF is amazing so nice, so helpful and so proud of the new hotel. All of them really go the extra mile. The staff pleaded with me to come to breakfast at the ECCO because they just want some guests :)
Even the guy who gets you taxi is above and beyond what you get in most hotels for being helpful... all of them so friendly and fun!

Anyhow I would be "warry" till they get the bugs worked out of the heating system, give it a month.
PS the location for me was AMAZING because the train station is accross the street. Puts the staff and Rooms to shame at Pudong... so give it a try. However now the PUXI is open and the new IC EXPO coming soon I expect the Pudong to shape up soon. They really have fallen on horrid service from what they were.

Totally agree, IC Pudong is no longer on my preference list. Speaking to managers in IC Puxi, they seem all believe the IC Expo will be their main competitor, not IC Pudong, which is very interesting.

I guess IC Expo will be quite nice, I told them that as long as IHG still using the 2K per stay policy for IC, people like me will change hotel every night between IC Puxi and IC Expo. I don't have problem with that!

Had a friend over at IC Puxi this past week (Dec.9-12) for business and some small events, the suite was too hot throughout the night. Lots of good gagets in the room, electronic control curtains, great stereo, loved putting my iPhone in and play tunes, large TV, plus the TV behind the mirror in the bathroom, and the toilet gizmos that are straight from Tokyo.

Concierge seemed competent, managed to get info on different performances at venues, and they did a decent job sorting out train tickets. Had them book tickets within hours of the train, while me and my friend that I met at the hotel went to eat, got a call on my mobile while eating to confirm the train tickets were secured, with time, etc... and were ready for pickup when we went back for my friend's luggage.

Checkout was a bit of a language issue, but that will come with time. Also, met a great room service guy, kept bringing ice and free fruit bowls all night while we had mini social event. Even hooked us up with some free wine.

Decent hotel, once they get a few things worked out should be great. If only the location was a bit more central and further away from the train station.

This hotel is probably one of the best hotels I've stayed at. We were upgraded to the Club tower and the room was amazing. The service is kind of hit or miss. To expand on that, if you order something, they'll do everything they can to get it to you. For example, I got sick during my stay in Shanghai and they ran out to a pharmacy and picked me up some medicine. However, there are other times where the service is kind of a miss. I went out of the main gate and was waiting for a taxi. It took the attendant about a minute before he realized I was waiting for a taxi. Although once he realized it he ran out to the middle of the street to grab a taxi.

One thing about the air conditioning. I think in China they turn off the air conditioner during certain months, so you can only get heat. Our room was a constant 23-24c and sometimes at night it was a little uncomfortable (especially after a really hot shower).

The location is not the greatest, you're overlooking some old chinese housing and it's kind of far from downtown (nanjing road, yu yuan gardens, etc).

So overall, if I come back to shanghai before they finish the IC Expo, I think I would definitely stay at IC Puxi because the rooms are truly gorgeous.

I've stayed in this hotel now for three seperate occasions. Each time I was given a club room in that club tower. Rooms are among the best I've experienced anywhere. Includes nice deco, huge TV, audio system, working area, sofa, big round bath tube, separate toilet(with electric control system) and shower. There is also tv on the bathroom mirror which I didn't even realize on my first two stays. I was only wandering why they have second tv remote in the bathroom. I believe the roomsize is around 60sqm.

The service I've experienced has been ok. Some minor things include they forgot to run my credit card for the deposit and then called me back to do so. In the business center I wanted to print one sheet in BW. Somehow the lady assisting me printed it in colours and told me "oh it's in colours. Sorry, the cost is 20rmb instead of 10rmb". Small things they probably get rid of after few months go by. Generally speaking the staff is friendly and helpful.

Breakfast in the mainbuilding was less impressive than breakfast in IC Pudong. In the club tower selection is even less, but the place is obviously less crowded (not that it is full in the main building either)

I will certainly stay in this hotel again. For me the locations suits perfectly, although the surroundings are what they are. On the other hand 2 subway lines and train station on your doorstep ensures you can easily get anywhere you want.

I booked 3 nights at this hotel bec I want a location near the train station. I was going thru some TA reviews about this hotel and a repeating comments from the reviewers are how "empty" this hotel is. Is it really that empty?

If they are suffering from low occupancy, probably that will lead to cost cutting and falling standards.

Laowai

had a 9 night stay in November as Plat and was upgraded from king bed club (60 sqm) in tower B to club executive suite (85 sqm), now Royal, and staying in March, was wondering what room you booked to get the club room, i was considering booking the king bed premier (52 sqm) one category down from king bed club in hope of getting a two category upgrade to the club executive suite (85 sqm).

do you have any idea on their upgrade policy for RA's? did you get all the other RA benefits?

IC Shanghai Puxi
 

Going there in mid April. Has anyone stay there and can give some feedback?

TIA

I'm just back from a five day stay at the IC Puxi, and had also stayed here in December. I am Ambassador Platinum, and on my last visit had booked a club room. Previously I had a non club room booking.

Building
The hotel is a new build, and there was no expense spared in the fit-out, with marble everywhere. The common areas are very well appointed, really elegant and luxurious. One excellent thing is that the hotel fittings have a real Chinese feel – you know you are in China. Many five star hotels miss this completely, going for a global feel, rather than a local feel.

Rooms
The rooms are very comfortable. On both stays I was upgraded, once into a corner deluxe room, and once into a suite. The decor is modern, stylishly comfortable and practical. In particular, the suite was well designed and I used all parts of the room. One could live there for a month except for the tiny wardrobe and general lack of storage.

The bathroom was impressive, circular bath, separate wet-room shower, and separate electronic toilet. Bizarrely the tiny wardrobe is in the bathroom. Two design oversights - There are no hooks or rails to hang things up in the bathroom, and the toilet roll holder is too small to hold toilet rolls!

In the suite, there are two massive plasma TV’s that turn on when you come into the rooms, (incorporating a DVD and ipod dock), a full size desk, great for working at, with a comfortable office chair. High speed(ish) internet is wired, with no wireless in the rooms (something that seems the norm in Chinese hotels). There are no hooks to hang your coat or bag in the room.

In the non suite room, there is one plasma TV, same large desk and chair. Unfortunately the DVD players in the rooms don't play European DVD’s - probably only Chinese region play, so useless for foreign guests.

Dining
Dining options are varied, but extremely expensive. The quality of the food doesn’t match the price (up to 1,000 Yuan for 2 including beers) and the restaurants are very quiet, resulting in no atmosphere. I have eaten in the Chinese and Japanese restaurants, where the food is good, but you are almost the only guest. The main restaurant’s food isn’t good enough for a five star hotel. Breakfast in the main hotel is the usual bland flavours- nothing memorable.

Room service is slow, but of good standard – the club sandwich particularly good.

In one of my business meetings outside of the hotel, when I was asked where I was staying – the response from my client was – “great hotel and we recommend that guests stay there, but the food is really expensive, and not very good”. Perhaps the hotel has to get its dining act together or be tainted with this mantra forever.

Club Lounge
Not only does the hotel have a club lounge, but a club building – a mini hotel in its own regard, which is well worth the additional price. Staff here are excellent, remember your name and your requirements. The food and drinks in the two floor lounge are of good quality and are well presented. Evening drinks are free flow, with a good range of snacks. There is a small meeting room which can be hired, but there are plenty of quiet areas for meetings.

Concierge
Very poor. The concierge only seems to be interested in selling you overpriced tours, and not answering the questions you ask – a request for a train ticket results in a 10 minute ‘too late to book train – how about a tour?... out come the brochures, followed by ‘how about taking a car and driver for the day?’ and finally when pressed admitting that the very train ticket that was too late to be booked is available after all.

This type of thing happened twice on a five day stay. So much for the Intercontinental ‘this is my city’ insight they promote so much. This pushy unpleasant approach is what I would expect from a three star hotel, not five star. By contrast, the advice from the staff in the club area was unbiased, helpful and not self-serving.

Location
The immediate surroundings of the hotel leave a lot to be desired. Right behind the hotel (Club rooms) is a block of housing that can be best described as approaching slum conditions. This will probably be knocked in about three months for another round of building, as most other blocks immediately around the hotel are already knocked. The area around the station isn’t the most upmarket in the city, but is safe to walk around, as long as street hawkers don’t annoy you too much.

The hotel is well located however, with Shanghai central train station a 5 minute walk from the hotel, and central Shanghai is a 5 minute taxi drive away. Wherever you stay in Shanghai you have to take a taxi to your destination anyway, so this hotel is no less badly positioned than any other supposedly ‘central’ hotel. Just don’t stay here if all your business is in Pudong, or if it’s just a PVG airport overnighter. However it could be handy-ish for SHA airport.

Summary
Perfectly appointed, well located hotel with world-class Club facilities. Let down by expensive, soul-less dining and a concierge more interested in commission than providing you with insight into the city. I will probably stay here again, but eat out, and ignore the concierge.

Rating 4/5.

also closed metro, 5 mins walking distance