This was our first night stay in Shanghai in the summer of 2018.  When I booked the hotel, I wanted a more central location that is within walking distance of Shanghai center.  Also close to most of the shops and restaurants.  This hotel serviced all the purposes.

The most important is that I wanted a very high rise hotel.  So we can see the skyline from within the hotel.  This hotel has 66 floors and 726 guest rooms.

Check In

Taxi took us to the hotel.  The hotel was undertaking a renovation.  So some of the entrance was blocked.  The check-in fromt desk was probably relocated to second level too.  

The front staff was in generally young.  They spoke both Chinese and English.  At check-in, I requested room upgrade as the old SPG Gold member new Marriott Platium member.  The staff checked my SPG/Marriott elite status and granted us the room upgrade.

Due to the 8/18/2018 SPG/Marriott merge, it took the staff some time to check both SPG and Marriott systems.

Room

Our guest room was on a high level floor with lounge access.  It has excellent view of Shanghai skyline.

In general, the room was comfortable.  

Service

We did not request much service.  It was a little slow at check-in since front desk staff had to check both SPG and Marriot Elite status.  

The staff at lounge was attentative.  The snack/food was adequate.  

Dining

As SPG/Marriott elite member, we received full breakfast.  There were plenty choices and food quality was good.

You can choose either Chinese or Western food at breakfast.  We enjoyed both.

Location

This hotel is located in Shanghai Central.  It is close to Nanjing walking street and the HuangPu river.

It was really convenient to be within walking distance to most of the major attractions.  We did not even take taxi during our first night.

Overall

At the time of booking, Le Meridien Shanghai was still a SPG property.  The cash price we paid was 1,015 Chinese Yuan total.  So it was about $150 all included.  This was a much better cash value than redeeming SPG points.  I believe at that time, it was much better to pay cash price instead of point redemption at most places in China.

We really felt to be in the center of the action right away.  At night, it felt about the same way we walking in Manhattan in New York City.  Shanghai skyline was beautiful.  It was a pleasant summer stroll from the hotel.  

Right now, this hotel is Marriott category 4, which commands 20,000 Marriott points.  The cash price is about 1,200 Chinese Yuan.  The summer rate is 25,000 or 1,700 Chinese Yuan.  At $200 or 25,000 Marriott points, it is a premium rate in Shanghai.  With the way how Marriott peak/off-peak works, this may be a good value to redeem the Marriott 35,000 free night award.  It is not clear if Marriott is going to change the peak rate to off-peak rate next summer.