Just as an FYI to those who don't know Shanghai well, RC Puxi = Portman. If I'm not mistaken, Shanghai Centre was John Portman's first project in Asia. The hotel (in the middle) launched as the Portman Shangri-La, and then switched over to the RC flag in 1997. People (most importantly, taxi drivers) have referred to the entire complex as the "Portman" throughout. During the Shangri-La era, it was the best hotel in Shanghai, hands down. IMO, RC/Marriott messed things up by making the property more family oriented (which was never its purpose), but at least they didn't relocate it. As both myself and mnredfox have stated, the location is hard to beat; Jing'an is far better than People's Square or the Bund because modern Shanghai was built around it.