If you're landing Pudong and stay on Pudong side then I'll second the Shangri La ^ , near the Pudong side I've also stayed at Purple Mountain, St. Regis, and Sofitel. I would stay at any of them again but really Shangri La was the best in Pudong IMHO. Other ones in SH, Four Seasons, Westin, Portman Ritz, are all nice and I'd give ^
But really it depends where you will be working or want to stay, SH is a
huge city. Does no good to have a nice hotel in Pudong if your working in Puxi or vice versa. Would probably help the more knowledgeable members here if you know the area you want or have to be in. For transporation I'll just Taxi (they no longer scare the hell out of me
) Kind of like amuesment park thrill rides and if you're worried about getting to the hotel you can download or the hotel will fax you their name / address / phone and a rough map in chinese that you can just hand to the driver.
For Chiang Mai depends what you're wanting to do in Thailand, but Westin was nice IMO. I can't remember the quote I got from the Four Seasons but I recall it was well over 200 night and more outside Chiang Mai and would only do that if the wife was with me.
ADD: Westin is the older name but it's a Sheraton.