Originally Posted by
moondog
As an avid swimmer who has visited over 50 5-star hotel pools in China, I can assure you that very few require bathing caps. That rule is most common at public pools and lower end hotels.
The Ritz Carlton Portman required a bathing cap when I was there this weekend.
Overall, I enjoyed the Ritz. The club lounge (Chase certificate) was really nice and kept me well fed. They did give me a running map to the Bund which wasn't accurate, unless I was supposed to run more than 8 miles round-trip and go through a part of town I didn't want to. I stopped at 3.5 miles out and ran back for a total of 7 and didn't seem to be anywhere near the Bund via the route on their map. But that was the only flaw with the lounge.
The room was comfortable but the HVAC did not cool at all. I had it set at 18 C and it was at least 22 C in there. Good water temperature and pressure plus very comfortable bed. The readily granted me 16:00 check-out. Housekeeping came by at 12 to see if I wanted garment press service but didn't understand my question when I asked if it would be done by 16:00 so I didn't get it.
The fitness area was great, some novel equipment that I really liked for my core work after my run ("Power Plate"). They had personal training session options as well. Couldn't ask for more, it was a private club for some.
I did splurge on some spa services and got the jet lag treatment. Be forewarned, the therapist was clearly fishing around at the end to see if I wanted a happy ending (saying "you like" while rubbing X's around my inner thighs) but I politely declined. I know this is not against the norms in China so I take it with a grain of salt as much as I can, but just prepare yourself. Otherwise the treatment was great and really did improve my jet lag.
Big thumbs up for Ritz Portman. I walked to the West Nanjing Road station (maybe 10 minutes) and took the 2 line to Longyang for like 7 RMB and then bought a Maglev "VIP" ticket (because I had extra RMB) for 80 and got back to PVG within an hour. That's like less than $14 USD I spent on it too.