A few more thoughts on the Shangri-la. I was there this morning and learned that they have a special rate of $160/night through 2-28, including breakfast (which is quite nice). I'm guessing you could get a room for about 20% less than that with good negotiating skills and/or a corporate account to reference.

The construction on the Shangri-la extension really is quite unsitely -- be sure to get a river view room.

As far as getting across the river's concerned, the boat is okay, but is a 1km walk from the hotel, you'll have to wait around 7 minutes, and once you get to Puxi, you're really not much better off with respect to traffic. The subway station is only around 300-400m away -- the main problems there are the excessive crowds and the possiblility of having to change trains at People's Square. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if you were only there for a few days, but these are the breaks I deal with on a regular basis that so often keep me on the east side of the river when I would otherwise go some place more interesting. The bottom line is that Puxi is much more interesting than Pudong so you might seriously consider staying over there. (The view of the bund is nice, but might not be worth the hassel.) As far as the Hyatt v. Shangrila debate is concerned, Christep's points are all valid. I just like the Hyatt because its uniqueness and facilities almost justify staying in Pudong.