Moondog,
Thank you for being so helpful, although I am now a little confused where to stay.
I am having a reward flight to Shanghai with Virgin, and I wanted to visit for a couple of days because way back in 1967 I visited Shanghai when I worked on a ship, yes in the Chairman Mao days. If I remember correctly we were only allowed to visit a couple of places in Shanghai in those days.
I love ships and the sea and I want to stay somewhere in Shanghai which has a great view of the river and all the different types of vessels etc. For my evening activities it doesn't matter if they are a little quiet as I am also visiting, HKG, BKK and Pattaya !!!
So I'll have a quiet visit to SHA, visit a few places and sip a cocktail or two and watch the world go by from my room.
Rgds

Gus: I didn't intend to come down so hard on the Shangrli-La. I actually spend quite a bit of time there myself. If the view is your primary consideration, then the logistical inconveniences that trouble me aren't that big a deal. (My perspective is different; I've gotten used to the interesting ships, but have yet to befriend the tunnel.)

That's no problem moondog, is it safe to walk through the tunnel? if taxis transit the tunnel do they get held up in traffic jams or have you just been through there so many times you get fed up with it. I quite fancy going across on the ferry.
I'm certainly looking forward to returning to Shanghai, it was a culture shock for a 22 year old in 1969.I believe I may still have some Mao badges in the loft!
I need to book a one way flight to HKG, I don't know if you know where I can find a good deal.
Rgds

No, but there is a tourist tunnel with tram that takes you across the river and provides a light show to boot. It is pretty painless, leaves from near the Shangri-la, but is very expensive. Worth doing one round trip certainly. (You can use your return ticket whenever you want.)

Taxis are not allowed in the tunnel AT ALL during morning and evening rush hours. Going is relatively smooth after 9pm, but afternoon and evening (immediately before and after the official rush hour) are pretty slow going.

Based on your interests, I can't imagine that you wouldn't enjoy the ferry. Cost is only .5RMB. There are also site seeing tour boats that leave from the funny pyrimid thing on the bund (the ferry on right in Pudong goes right there).


You might consider going to Shenzhen (only about Y620) and taking the express bus/ferry to Kowloon. Any TA here can book this fare for you. Let me know if you want some numbers or else just check out thatsshanghai. To fly directly to HKG is around $200.

I'll revive this thread as well.

It looks like I might be shipping off to Shanghai for 4-5 weeks in March/April, and, if the proposal comes through, I'l be spending the majority of my time working AT the airport (Pudong).

Any of you have a hotel recommendation that balances airport convenience and good access to what Shanghai has to offer? It's highly likely that I'll be spending the majority of my time in a windowless office, but it would be nice to have relatively easy access to the outside world if I get a break.

Thanks.



[This message has been edited by snorkmaster (edited 02-19-2003).]

The St. Regis and the Holiday Inn are the two closest hotels to PVG, but "close" is a relative term (35 minutes v. 40 minutes). Given this and that there is nothing around either of the aforementioned properties, I suggest either the Hyatt or the Shangri-La because Lujia Zui is increasingly interesting and you'll be reasonably close to the action in Puxi.

Thanks moondog.

Are there any hotels that are truly "close" to PVG? Given the nature of the assignment, I wonder if I'll be forced to stay on/near airport property.

Also, what's the incremental difference in "commute time" between St. Regis/PVG and Hyatt/PVG?

Thanks again.

EDITED TO ADD: Looks like I'm going -- maybe even next week. I really can't find anything detailed about the maglev train service -- is this now operational? Is the Longyang Road station in an interesting area and/or near any of the aforementioned hotels?


[This message has been edited by snorkmaster (edited 02-21-2003).]

I'll be making my first trip to Shanghai March 23-29. Moondog, thanks for all of your advice! As it turns out, I'm booked at the Hua Ting - any comments on what to expect?

Any other restaurant recommendations greatly appreciated as well.

They could be lying (i.e. defining "hotel" in their own terms), but the Holiday Inn purports to be the closest hotel to PVG.

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Also, what's the incremental difference in "commute time" between St. Regis/PVG and Hyatt/PVG?

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Hyatt is aprox 5 minutes further away (35 v. 40 min).

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I really can't find anything detailed about the maglev train service -- is this now operational?

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TMK, Maglev won't be up and running until the end of this year.

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Is the Longyang Road station in an interesting area and/or near any of the aforementioned hotels?

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No. It's terribly uninteresting. Frankly, I'm perplexed as to why they chose it for the terminal of their fancy train (I guess they're planning on running it all the way to Hongqiao eventually and felt that the southern route was less congested). If interested in the Maglev and the Shanghai master plan, you might want to try to stop by the urban planning museum when you're in town. I've heard it's very interesting.

The Huating isn't fancy, but has comfortable rooms and nice ambiance. You might want to try to get a quote from the Hengshan Hotel as well -- same price range and always running specials, but in the heart of the French Concession.

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Any other restaurant recommendations greatly appreciated as well.

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Let me know what kind of food you like (best to use email since I haven't been able to check FT too often of late) and I'll get to work on it. Also, be sure to check out the following websites:

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/entertainment/shanghai
http://www.thatsshanghai.com/

Moondog, thanks for all the great Shanghai information, especially on the restaurants! I am going to print this out for my trip to Shanghai in June. I used to live in Shanghai in the early 90's and am amazed at the wide variety of food options now.

Gus, Please give us your report on your trip after you go! I would be interested in hearing your reactions to the new Shanghai after not having visited in such a long time.

Realizing that some of you are using my food recs to help guide your dining choices, I wanted to mention that I've recently switched my brunch vote over to the Westin. While I'd still probably do the Portman if I was only in town for a short stint, the Westin is nice because it offers basically the same food (and a magic show) for half the price -- the champagne is Clicquot.

OK. I'll bring this one back from the dead ("The Thread that wouldn't die" http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif).

I'm going to be staying at The St. Regis (Poor location, but an unbeatable deal on a two room suite meant I couldn't justify paying the Hyatt $60 more per night for a far worse room).

Any advice on the current vote for best Brunch? Apart from Cloud 9 and the St. Regis' own Italian (Ironically I thought the Italian Restaurent of the same name in the St. Regis Beijing was poor even by Asian Standards, and was charged at Western Prices!) are there any other Gastro highlights?

Thanks.

Regards,
Alex

see below

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

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).]