A 3-month stay in Shanghai, where to stay? I hate to use the term "money is not the..." in China, but really.

Suggestions and recommendations are truly appreciated.

Shanghai is a big city. If you are working, it would be helpful to know the area. Do you want to be near the subway? (Not so important if you also have a car and driver.)

My thoughts are the same. In addition to the location question, budget, and style of accommodation would be useful inputs.

Sorry not being clear...

Office is in Hongqiao area close to the Zoo. But commuting to my office is not a killing fact as I have car and driver...

3 months in a hotel room felt a bit cramped, I'm thinking getting a Serviced Appartment or something like that...as for budget for rent, is 40k RMB /m

Shanghai is considered expensive, but 1300 RMB per night can get you a pretty decent hotel most nights without even any long term discount. Could you negotiate a hotel suite with guaranteed lounge access, for example as a HH Diamond?

Is there a visa threshold at 90 days or three months for you (you don't state your citizenship or visa status/type) that could make it a lot easier to stay only 89 days?

I'm currently in the middle of a similar stay (a bit longer). For the budget, I dare to say all upper upscale hotels will make you an offer for a large room/ suite with breakfast and club, many luxury hotels, too.
There's the Ascott which caters to long-stay with its facilities in a location that many Westerners like. In Lujiazui, the IFC residences are very nice.

I also have a diver, but could not imagine spending hours in a car every day (office is in Lujiazui) and I've chosen my accommodation accordingly (15 mins by car; I did not want to live in a hotel next to the office either ). For me, a long commute would be a killing fact for a hotel.

I recommend to short-list some hotels and approach them for an offer according to your requirements. It wasn't very difficult to negotiate and I could settle everything before I arrived and didn't even need the assistance of my Shanghai PA.

I have stayed, and had a few friends stay long-term at the Ladoll Serviced Apartments in Jing'An.

They have studios and one bedroom suites. They are fairly compact, but clean, staff generally friendly and helpful, and the location is pretty good (but you will need to bear in mind traffic getting to and from work).

You can get deals (USD100 a night for a one bedroom) through OTAs such as booking.com

A couple of recent reviews on tripadvisor have complained about poor wi-fi, and there seems to have been some problem with water (lack of), but I haven't experienced those problems.

It might be a good place to start out for a week or two while you look around for something once you get there.

Website and trip advisor:

http://ladoll-service-apartment.sunr....net/rooms/#hn
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel...-Shanghai.html

Mandarin City is my suggestion, in this case.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/Shanghai--China

Good enough for Mariah Carey and Beyonce.
They probably get the 10k a night places for free
by posting to twitter that reaches combined 30 million

How is the nature of your work during that period? Office/desk based or more visiting clients/partners out of office? Are you required to visit the office daily?