I checked myself into the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, and then checked my assistant into the Four Points Shanghai (reservation under my name, of course, so I can get the points and status
). No, I'm not being mean to him; we just need to scout out a few hotels in the Pudong area in preparation for a delegation we are bringing over in a few months.
The hotel's is the renovated You You Hotel (in fact, the Chinese name of the hotel is Shanghai Pudong Four Points by Sheraton You You Hotel). Nothing much done to the exterior, but the interior is all new. Entering the main entrance, there is a Lobby Lounge to the left (totally deserted at 1:00pm today, when we checked in). The elevators face centre, and slightly off to the side is a travel agency. The Reception and Concierge are off to the right-hand side of the lobby. The counters were serviced by ONE person, but since no one else was checking in, we didn't have to wait in line at all.
Location of the hotel is right at the on ramp to the Nanpu Bridge. Quite a lot of traffic during the day time, and a bit "hectic". There is a McDonald's across the street. The hotel is 29 floors high. The shape of the hotel is in a triangle, with the elevators in the centre, and the rooms sorrounding the three walls. The hotel uses a lot of dark wood panelling, and recessed lighting. The lobby was quite bright because of the floor to ceiling windows facing the street. The hallways, etc. in the upper floors are typical of any hotel.
Booked a rate of RMB 750/night (includes 1 buffet breakfast, which will be taken by my assistant tomorrow). Because of my SPG Platinum status, got upgraded to a suite, room XX06. The decor is actually quite comfortable, VERY similar to the Four Points Shenzhen.
Entering the room, a small closet is on the left-hand side. The right-hand side is taken by a guest washroom. This hallway then opens up into a large living area, with a glass 4-seater dining table, a sofa/coffee table unit, and a cabinet on which was sitting an LCD tv. A door opens into the bedroom. Bedroom quite comfy, with a larger closet (not walk-in), it's own LCD tv, and a desk (free broadband access). At the far corner of the bedroom is the bathroom, also quite a good size. A full range of amenities is provided. Only a bathtub, but no shower. What I didn't like about the suite was the lack of windows...only one small window (maybe 2 feet wide) in the living room, and another one of identical size in the bedroom. I would say the suite isn't outstanding, but better than I expected.
Got a letter in our room which say the Fitness Centre was under construction again, and would not open until early-August. In fact, the hotel renovations are still not finished yet, and they have several floors to do. We did here construction noise going on, and around the back of the hotel, there was a lot of construction materials and bricks strewn all over.
We did ask the Duty Manager to show us a regular twin room. Suffice to say that the picture on the Four Points Shanghai website are representative of the actual room.
Had lunch down at Riverside Cafe on the 2nd floor. Except for our table, there were only two other guests sitting at a table by the window. This was at approx. 2pm. The buffet was ending, so we elected to eat a-la-carte. (By the way, the weekend buffet is two-for-one). The menu options were OK (similar to any hotel coffee shop), and the prices were reasonable: e.g. RMB 35-40 for a soup; RMB 55-70 for pasta; RMB 120-150 for steak, veal, chicken; RMB 40-60 for some asian dishes; and RMB 30-35 for desserts. The portions were quite small, though. Worse yet, the food was DISGUSTING to eat. We didn't like any of the dishes we ordered. Couldn't see much of what was offered for the buffet, but from the few dishes left on the counters, things didn't look too fresh. I suspect that the restaurant really doesn't have much business at all. Opposite the Riverside Cafe is a Chinese restaurant. We peeked in, and no guests were there either. Not sure what my assistant is going to have for breakfast buffet tomorrow, but if anything exciting, will post back here again.
In short, I would recommend this hotel if your expectations are not high...but, it is a Four Points, so don't expect five-star comfort and service. The rate is good most of the time, but I didn't like the location too much. We're going to try out the brand-new Radission Pudong Century Park in a few days...I would suspect that it will be better than the Four Points. Look for a review in the appropriate forum soon.
By the way, I did take a lot of photos of the suite, but I don't have anywhere to post them publicly. If someone would like me to email the photos, please PM me.