Although there are quite a number of Hilton properties in the Shanghai region, most of them does not seem very appealing.  I've actually been to the DT Shanghai Pudong before, but that was > 5 years ago which I remembered was just average.

I selected this hotel since this time I needed a room for 3 adults and what really hit the point was the proximity to the metro Zhongxing on Line 8.  Added point was that it had a lounge.

Location

This property on googlemaps is still listed by it's old name, Mingde Grand Hotel, although googlemaps also does list a Doubletree Jing'an but the location is totally wrong (which sadly I found out too late).  For those taking the metro (ok if you don't have too bulky luggage) is to use exit 1 or 3 and it's just a 5-10 mins walk to the hotel (the main entrance is to the back of the main facade of the building).

Other than that, according to googlemaps, it is about a 40 min walk to People's square.  

For me, the location of this property was the main advantage as all other Hilton properties does require some walking distance to the metro station.  [I am not a fan of taking taxis in China due to previous experience]

Check In

I arrived late afternoon to the hotel, and although there were only 2 guests being helped before me, it still took about 5 mins before I was helped.  You do have the option to do online check-in and use the digital key (which does work).

The whole check-in process took close to 15-20 mins due to all the lengthy procedure needed to register not only into the hotel, but the government database.  (which I suspect even if you do a online check-in, you will have to pass through the front desk).   For local chinese, it seems that the procedure is slightly shorter as they just need to take a photo and not doing manual entry into the system.

I was checked-in by what I believe is the Front Desk manager or team leader who seemed friendly.  I did enquire about upgrades but I was told that one could not be provided as the hotel receives "100's of Diamond members, and they don't have that many suites to give out" - I am fine with this, but later checking online, I saw that there were lots of premium room and suites still available for the duration of my stay.  Furthermore, was not very impressed that even though I booked the room for 3 guests, he was trying to tell me that all 3 guests can sleep in one king bed or a twin room.  I am not sure if it was because of miscommunication or ...he informed me that I would have to pay for a rollaway bed - which I found ridiculous since pricing the room for 2 guests and 3 guests were different and that's why I expected with the price different a bed to accommodate the 3rd person should be provided complimentary.   I brought up again the subject of upgrade to a bigger room or he provide me with a rollaway bed since I had (and the system) let me book it I expected a solution.  I had initially booked a King deluxe room (hoping for an upgrade), but after this whole discussion got a Twin deluxe room and even downgraded to a lower floor.  At this point I was quite tired of the discussion said I will check the room out and if needed will inform him if i will need the rollaway bed.  

After spending close to half hour since arriving, I finally got my keys.  The first room given after arriving into the room was a joke - it was still not serviced and I had to go back down again to report this.  The same manager/team lead was not there (he was called off just I was done by a guest because of some housekeeping issue), and was handled by another associate.  I had wanted to use this to again try and get an upgrade, but this associate was hearing nothing of it and basically just lied to me and said he will give me a better room (one floor higher) but in reality it was a worst room compared to the first room since the first room had a view towards the Bund (where you can see the skyscrapers across to the Bund).  I was just so tired at this point and just left it as is when I entered my 2nd room.

Condition of the first room (not serviced)

Room

The room size was ok.  I did in the end ended up requesting for the rollaway bed (which had me going down again to get this done, after requesting it via the Careline, and waiting 30 mins with no results).  For 3 person in the room, it was just sufficient with come rearranging of furnitures and luggage.

I felt that the room especially the carpeting to be need a deep cleaning as it looked rather unfresh (not sure if it is the colour of it or...) They did have tea/coffee making facilities in the room (but I avoided using any of the utensils after reading stories about housekeeping standards in China).  There was a fridge provided, and in the fridge I did see some leftover stain from the wine not cleaned (which does confirm the lack of housekeeping eye for detail).

Other than that, the room was well equipped with and quality of the bed was good for sleep.  Noise isolation was not too bad - although you could still hear traffic when horns were used (luckily mainly in the morning).  

The TV was large - but seems like everything was only in Chinese with no option to switch to English - there was limited English channels (a couple of news channel and 1 movie channel), the rest were mainly Chinese channels.  Climate control in the room was a bit funky - it did not really represent the true temperature, setting it to 12 degs C and the room felt like it was still around 22 degs C - which was OK for me (only at times at night it did feel too warm under the sheets).  The fan noise was on the higher side.

Other than that, it seems that they do have a plate of fruits provided in every room (not refreshed).

Bathroom size was ok, with a separate bath tub and shower area.  Both water and temperature control was ok.  Amenities were the usual Crabtree and Evelyn.  

Breakfast

Breakfast was served at the main restaurant (on the 2nd floor).  Selection was quite ok - with the usual Western and Asian/Chinese selections.  Quality was ok - alhough some of the dishes which were supposed to be hot was cold - for example they had a big pot of tea and it was cold (although the next days, it was kept warm with a disposable heat source), they had some dim sum dishes, but strangely they were cold (I did not take it anymore in the coming days).

The location of the breakfast was actually quite strange, it was a very large area, but it felt very cold and not really inviting.  This did not help too with what seemed like a low number of guests.  Also take care that (due to culture?) every time you leave the table to get some food, they will just clear up every thing and setting it up again (like expecting a new guest to arrive).  They were very efficient in this sense.  

All in all, the breakfast experience was ok with some minor points.

Executive Lounge

The executive lounge was located on the 27th floor.  It was only open from late morning to about 10pm (breakfast is only served in the main restaurant and the rest of the day, just for coffee/tea and softdrink).  Evening drinks and food was served from 6-8 pm.  

The food selection was ok - with 3 hot dishes (a rice, meat, vegetable).  They did have 2 different appetizer/starter and 2 different dessert/sweets.  There was a salad with different dressings.  

From beverage selection, they did have a couple of spirits and 2 different wines (1 red and 1 white) and local Tsingtao beer.  

The service in the lounge was much better with friendly associate.  It was never really crowded and basically during my 3 night stays, it was more or less the same guests.  

Service

In general, service was ok.  However in my view, much improvement is needed for the housekeeping service - noticed a couple of small but significant items that can be improved - mainly forgetting items and improving cleaning standards.

I found that the best associates were the one working in the lounge, they were friendly and helpful.

Overall

Since I am not able to select a "maybe" option to recommend this property, my overall feeling is that I do not really recommend this property especially as a Elite member and based on the general stay.  I did appreciate that I was given extended lounge and breakfast benefit for the 3rd guest, however this was most probably due to the discussion during the check-in and room situation for 3 guests.

On my the day of my check-out, since I had a very late flight, I did enquire about the possiiblity to rest and use the lounge before heading to the airport.  Asking this during check-out this request was denied, which I later checked with the same team leader/manager (during my check-in) and even though not denied, I could feel from the discussion that they did not want to offer that.  I do understand this is something beyond the expected, but still looking at the lounge usage/capacity during the whole stay, this is not going to be much of any extra cost to them.  My experience for such requests at a lot of other hotels were also met with a positive response especially since I am not requesting for a very late check-out which occupies the room.  

To me this property is a mix bag, but sadly I felt that I left with a more of a negative image/feelings rather than positive ones.