YariGuy

I wish I read this thread before booking this hotel. I had a category 4 free night expiring and this was the only category 4 I can find, so I'll be staying tomorrow. Almost considering just abandoning it after reading all this. Oh well. I'll see how check-in goes and I always have the option of just leaving and going home.

YariGuy

I arrived at this hotel yesterday afternoon. After reading all the comments I decided to arrive at 4pm so the check-in line wouldn't be an issue.

Lo and behold, the lobby was inundated with people. I get in the huge line and after a while someone comes and tells me I can't even be in the line without a number. There is a line to get in line! They were holding people in a ballroom off to the side and calling them by number to get into the main line to check in.

It took about an hour to reach the front desk and I made my displeasure known. Service staff didn't care. I walked by the lobby again at 6pm and 6:30pm, and there was still a long line.

I will not be back, and I urge anybody else not to come to this awful hotel.

I'll be checking out soon, and as you know there is no express checkout in China so chances are there will be another line.

SHLTP

That's absurd. They don't have a globalist line or let Globalists check in at lounge?

I ran into a zoo at GH Guangzhou and went straight to front and they escorted my to lounge. It's too bad GH SH is a mess considering how mgt is Hyatt senior execs

lsquare

Isn't there usually a line for elites?

Pickles

Sad to hear about this hotel going to the dogs. Back in the day when China was cool and the Barbarossa in People's Park was the place, the GH Shanghai was a true destination hotel and one of the iconic city hotels of its era.

YariGuy

I didn't see one and I'm a lowly Discoverist. I'm top tier with Marriott, and keep the Hyatt credit card which gives a free category 1-4 night. Hyatts are great for redemptions (I just booked 5 nights at the Hinode Niseko Village around Christmastime for 25k points per night) but will definitely avoid this one in the future.

lsquare

Pretty much every Hyatt I've been to has a line for elites. I'm really surprised that there isn't one at the GH Shanghai.

GeneralTalker1030

The elite C/I plague is there, though I haven’t seen any property in mainland CN actually enforcing the arrangement. Globalists are often instead escorted to the club lounge, or be moved to the front of the line

lsquare

How do I get someone's attention in a crowded lobby? I definitely want to be checked in asap as a Globalist.

llb09

Not sure if it's still relevant for you and how is the occupancy those days, but back in May I arrived at noon so no line, and the Director of Rooms sent me a text message when my room was ready, and then met me directly in the Lobby with my keys when I returned. So 0 wait. They also usually have a manager roaming around to organize the lines and the banquet room used for waiting guests, so just ask to speak to the duty manager and they will ship you to the lounge for check-in.

llb09

Here again now. Booked a Grand Suite View King with a TSU and was downgraded to a Suite without a view.
The pool is closed until 22nd November, but the hotel allows Globalists to use the Park Hyatt pool instead.
The hotel has a new GM who arrived a few weeks ago.

Fly Me To The Moon

Although I said that I would unlikely stay at Grand Hyatt Shanghai again, circumstances made me book here in end-October. My comments on this hotel have not changed much:

• Arrived hotel around 2:00pm on Sunday, and the lobby was crowded with guests lining up to check in. I would assume that the hotel is still not allowing guests to early check in. I went up to one of the Associates controlling the line up, and asked if I could check in at the Grand Club Lounge. She immediately took me to the elevators, without even checking my Globalist credentials.
• Went to evening cocktails. No associates to show me to a vacant table. Was told to just walk in and choose any vacant table. Many tables were uncleaned (I do not understand why, since I went only 30 min after cocktails had started), so I was not sure which tables were vacant or not??!! I thought the evening spread during my last stay was mediocre and could do no worse. I was wrong. This time was worse. Very little variety, and the quality and taste were "garbage".
• I did not even consider going to the Grand Club for breakfast during my two-night stay. On one morning, I went to Starbucks; on the other, I visited Baker & Spice at IFC.
• On the day of checkout, I returned to the hotel after a meeting and went straight to the Grand Club. I asked to be checked out first, and then to give me an extra 30 min on the keys so that I could go to my room to make a call and then grab my luggage to go. The Associate refused to do this. I was shocked, since I had done this at this hotel (and other hotels) many times before. I asked for the Duty Manager to clarify, but before he/she could come to the Grand Club, the Associate relented and proceeded to process my payment, while keeping my keep my key active for another 30 min (he stressed, 30 min).

The only consolation was that my nightly rate was quite low, at CNY 920/night booked on Hyatt.com.

llb09

Just checked out this morning and can only agree with what was said by the previous poster (except that my rate was 1900 CNY ..).

Upon check-in, the hotel did not have any Grand View suite, so they provided a classic Grand Suite. When I pointed that it was not the room I booked, they first refused for me to change rooms, as they were "Fully booked". It took 20 minutes to finally be downgraded to a Bund View King Room. I reached out to Hyatt to return the Suite Certificate.

I was there for 4 nights and the offering for the cocktail hour at night was strictly identical on all nights. Cold cuts, salad, smoked salmon, dim sum and soup, and Hot Dogs, Cheeseburgers and fries for the Western part (very cliché, very low quality). French fries were greasy, barely unfrozen. There were at least 6 servers on duty in the Club for about 15 tables all nights, yet no drinks refills were offered, nobody greeted me or tried to engage on my stay. Service is awfully low and so is English level. Breakfast is terrible both in the Club and the main Restaurant. Of course there are wide choices, but the quality is mediocre all around.

Service is noticeable low in all departments. One night, someone entered the room at 10:30 PM to complete Turndown service, which had already been completed 3 hours earlier. And past 10 PM is not a time to complete any service. Check-in took 15 minutes with a very cold employee who only cared about the payment method. Checkout was shorter but no one inquired about my stay, the process was transactional.

This Grand Hyatt has awesome views, average product and awful service.

gbdbld

My one night stay was quite terrible as well. The agent who checked in me refused to grant the 4 pm check out stating they were busy. I pointed out it should be a guaranteed benefit and they just kept saying they were busy. The evening lounge food and the breakfast both were mediocre. My keycard stopped working when I returned to the room at 11 am, went to the lounge to have it re-keyed. Only to find it still not working. Called the front desk asked to have someone come to open the door as I just needed to grab my luggage and check out. They refused and told me to go to them to have the key re-keyed again. Luckily the cleaning lady walked by and I asked her to open the room. Would not be back.

Sydneyberlin

Oh goodness me, just read those awful reports and glad I did! Have this property booked as the first hotel on my very first ever visit to Mainland China in April as the tower looked so fabulous. Oh my!

Definitely have to change- which other Hyatt would you people in the know recommend? Tossing between the Park Hyatt and the Andaz. The latter is significantly more affordable and we generally like Andaz properties elsewhere but I’m a bit worried about the location- any advice?

For info- Hyatt Globalist and would not consider staying with a different chain. German-Australian but had weekly Mandarin lessons for three years now which still won’t get me far but I should be able to at least communicate a little in Mandarin (or so I hope!). Very excited for this trip and definitely don’t want a nasty stay at the very beginning. Don’t want to pay a fortune ideally but if everyone says the Park Hyatt is far superior to the Andaz, then at the end of the day the difference in cost is not the main consideration.