The St. Regis isn't that strong IMO because they use a set meal format and try to inject too much Chinese flavor into their "Italian" dishes. My advice is to eat dessert there at night with a nice bottle of wine -- the atmosphere is hard to beat.

As for my votes, my opinion hasn't changed since my 2-28 post: Portman for quality, Westin for value. The 4 Seasons is a happy medium.

If you don't drink champagne, then the Hyatt and Shangri-la are okay, but not quite worthy of being ranked in tier 1 IMO. Speaking of champagne, Moet is still the brand of choice at most of the top establishments; the Westin, Radisson, and a few others serve Cliquot, while the St. Regis offers a pretty nice Pol Roger. BTW, I read somewhere that when the Portman and Swiss first initiated their free flowing champagne policies several years ago, they accounted for over 60% of the Moet consumption in China. I'd be curious to see how much they're paying per bottle.

WARNING: The Westin is located about 3 blocks from the Bund, but many taxi drivers will take you to the Sheraton Honqqiao if you say "Westin" because that hotel used to be a Westin. The brunch at the latter is not worthy of commentary.



[This message has been edited by moondog (edited 07-15-2003).]