Grand Hyatt Shanghai REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

I need to be in Shanghai this Spring and my first inclination is to stay at the Hyatt. Has anyone ever stayed at this property and can comment on service, quality, rooms, upgrades, convenience to the airport and business districts, etc.

Thanks very much!

Craigg

This is one of my favorite Hyatt properties. It is extremely new and is pretty spectacular. The hotel is situated on the upper floors of the Jin Mao Tower in Pudong and reaches up to 88 stories. The F&B is excellent, with great Chinese and Western restaurants. The attached club (part of the Hyatt) is always fairly packed as well. When I was last there (February, 2001), it was considered to be an extremely trendy spot.

The only thing I don't like about this property is the size of the rooms, which run fairly small.

It's hard to imagine that you would be disappointed at this property.

I just stayed there this fall for 5 nights on awards, was upgraded to RC rooms on the 85th floor.

It's a beautiful hotel-- a little over the top but very, very enjoyable.

The hotel's in the Pudong New area so across the river from most of the action -- it's a pretty quick cab ride or subway ride, no problems there. Depends on which airport you're using -- it's one of the most convenient hotels for PVG (but still 45 min. away), less so for the old Hongqiao airport.

The rooms are not huge but have spectacular views, be sure to ask for one facing the Bund, it's an indescribable view to see the Oriental Pearl Tower below you and the Bund across the river. Stunning!!

The Regency Club on the 87th floor is great w/free internet access, make sure you check out the gym and the pools -- again, a great view. I had dinner at the Italian restaurant one night and the main Chinese restaurant another night -- nothing special, but food and service were both good.

The only downside, I got there after staying at the GH Hong Kong for 5 days, and while the general service level is excellent for mainland China, it's not as refined as the Hong Kong hotel.

Still, I highly recommend it. One of the best Hyatts I've stayed at.

Other Shanghai recs: Make sure you have dinner at M on the Bund one night -- unforgettable --and check out the jazz band at the Peace Hotel... Shanghai's an amazing city.

the best Hyatt (overall) I have stayed.. was just there Dec. 29th - Jan. 1st

agreed with the above posts, make absolute certain that you get a deluxe room with the Bund view (we had to pay $15.00 extra per night, but worth every penny!)

and go down to B1 food court, you'll find a variety of inexpensive dishes

also went to M on the Bund, view was spectacular (similiar from our room) however food was so so, 10 of us Chinese-Americans were very disappointed
(warning: iced-tea was charged per 6 oz. glass! found that out only after we each had ordered three refills! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)

an excellent Shanghainese restaurant to recommend: Little South Country (Hsiao Nan Kwoh), make sure to go to the one at Hung Mei (Rainbow Plum) Road

for pubs and young crowd: Hsin Tien Tih (New Sky Earth = direct translation)

fun local scene/shopping: Chern Hwang Miao (old temple disrict)

have a fun stay at Shanghai, we did!

belle

Help re Grand Hyatt Shanghai
 

I'm staying there in April using 5 Faster Free Nights. I'm a Diamond and am wondering if they will upgrade me to Regency Club (I've checked and RC is very available). For those who have stayed there previously, can I assume it's like an upgrade at a non-resort; should I expect to pay extra or use extra points; or is Rengency Club access hopeless?

Any other tips or info regarding Shanghai will be very appreciated.

Thank,

Craigg

When I stayed there 2 years ago I was only platinum but I had an upgrade coupon. While they did not give a room up there (85th Floor) I did get access. One of the best RC's that I have been in -- heck, I had dinner up there one night -- a huge assortment of food! Taxis are dirt cheap -- $5.00 should get you almost anywhere you'd want to go. Take the full afternoon river trip all the way up river. The new museum is also a must.

i had two rooms there in sept. as a diamond -- one on spp and one using std. pts. and they upgraded both to rc. maybe you should call ahead to make sure.

i second the view on the rc. it's one of the best i've seen.

I love this hotel. The bathrooms alone are worth a trip. And now that the subway goes there, it's so convenient to get across the river.

I stayed there last May and liked it a lot. It is considered one of the top 3 (if not the top) hotel in Shanghai.

CeBit Asia is located on the side of the G.Hyatt in Pudong area b/c this is the new intl commercial area -- Shanghai New Int'l Expo Centre at No.2345 Longyang Road,Pudong -- see the link below
http://www.cebit-asia.com/images/map.jpg

[This message has been edited by npei (edited 09-01-2002).]

Stay there it's really a great experience. Even if you need to take a taxi -- $5 will get you almost anywhere in town you want to go. The RC is one of the best, if not the best.

We were at the Hyatt Pudong last week.

It's a stunning hotel, and I agree that the extra $15 or so for the Bund view is worth it.

The view up/down from/to the lobby is simply amazing. Cool bar upstairs, great cafe "downstairs" on the 56th floor, good cantonese restaurant there as well.

As Hyatt Gold, we were offered free continental breakfast in the room. The trip from PVG takes about 40 min or so, the trip to Hongqiao took about 20 minutes.

When you cross the river to go to the Bund, you have to try the pedestrian tunnel at least once! It's a hoot! Expensive and not obvious to find, but well worth it for the corny light show in the automated capsule!!!

Oh, and the rooms have high-speed internet access.


[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited 09-03-2002).]

Grand Hyatt Shanghai
 

About six months back, I booked a regular room for 2 on Hyatt's website for the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. The rate was confirmed for 2 people. Upon arrival at the hotel, I asked if there would be any upgrades (I am a Diamond Gold Passport), but the reply was no since the hotel was sold out. This was understandable. The check-in clerk then told me that my Diamond level accorded me the Grand Club privileges, I would have to pay an extra USD 10.00/night for my partner's use of the Grand Club. The clerk claimed that this was supposed to cover their costs! I found this ridiculous since there was no mention of this surcharge during the reservation on hyatt.com even though the system knew I was a Diamond member and would be entitled to privileges. After much heated argument, the hotel still would not waive the charge. I ended up paying because I did not want the start of a holiday to be like this. Upon return home, I wrote to the GM Mr. Edward Tai, and he had the USD 10.00/night reversed.

My question is: is this standard policy to charge extra for a partner's use of Grand Club? I am planning another visit to GH Shanghai in a few weeks, and I do not want a repeat of the problem.

In my experience as a lifetime DGP all Hyatt properties will handle this type of situation differentlly. But in this case, I think the hotel is sticking to Gold Passport rules. Your use of the club is a Diamond priveledge. Unless your guest is also Diamond, they should not receive the same priveledge. This is the case even if you pay for the other room.

$10 is pretty inexpensive for the club. By the way, quite a hotel, huh?

Sorry, should have made myself clear. I did book one room for two people. ericwinter, what you are saying is that, if I booked one room, I could use Diamond privileges, but my partner could not? Even though the room was booked for two and I had paid double occupancy rate?

In any case, it didn't matter with the hotel anyway. My partner is also Diamond, but the hotel said that only one room was reserved for the two of us, and my partner still had to pay the USD 10.00

Yes, the hotel is quite awesome, but I have heard that The Westin and Four Seasons in Shanghai are also on par.

your issue sounds like the one that I encountered last year at Grand Hyatt Beijing. I upgraded to Grand Club using a Platinum Extras certificate but the hotel wanted to charge me for the 2nd person in the same room. Luckily, Julia noticed the issue and worked with the hotel to have the problem corrected. Check out the following link -

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum60/HTML/000938.html