IncyWincy

Many thanks for a great review, FlyMeToTheMoon.

Would you mind telling us how you compare the GH and HR Shanghai in terms of the hardware, discounting locations. Which has better interiors (presumably the GH as it is GH), which has larger rooms generally and what about a Club Lounge for the HR? Thanks in advance.

Fly Me To The Moon

I'm actually in the Grand Hyatt Grand Club Lounge typing this, and I can see the Hyatt on the Bund on the other side of the river. Looking at the distance from the hotel to the Bund area, I'd say it is certainly walkable, although I've never done it. Nanjing Road is probably about a 10 minute taxi ride away.

I had to go from the hotel to Westgate Mall this morning during rush hour, and it took me 20 minutes.

Fly Me To The Moon

Interestingly enough, if you do some rate searches on hyatt's website for the Hyatt on the Bund, you will see that there is a short description which says "Part of the Grand Hyatt Portfolio". So, I'm not sure whether you want to call HOTB a "Hyatt Regency" property.

The Grand Hyatt in Shanghai can no longer be considered a new hotel, and I think some of the furnishings are getting a bit dated, but not exactly worn out. I notice in my room at the GH tonight that they have indeed done some minor touch ups, although I don't know when this exactly occurred. For example, the bed now has a headboard (a tan-colored fabric), whereas perviously, I did seem to remember that the "headboard" was just wood, with some Chinese script on it. The desk, which used to be a glass top with a single polished stainless steel leg is now replaced by one with a dark-wood frame (although still glass top). Other furnishings seem the same.

The HOTB is definitely the more modern of the two properties, and I'd say the furnishings appealing more to my taste. HOTB actually makes quite good use of the space, and you will find cupboards, cabinets, and drawers everywhere!

Room size...hard to say, as some of the rooms in the Grand Hyatt can be very wierd. HOTB has the traditional rectangular hotel room layout. Not factoring in location, I would prefer HOTB over the Grand Hyatt.

Can't compare the lounges yet, since as I said, the Club Lounge at HOTB is slated to open only in early October.

By the way, HOTB has an iPod dock, for those of you who like to listen to your own music while travelling.

bchl

I just returned from the H on the Bund and I was totally impressed by this hotel. Usually the staff of the new opnened hotels are never ready for the guests and you will encounter poorly trained staff and facility with some minor mistakes (as like Westin Financial Street in Beijing/Royal Meridian in Shanghai last year).

But what I have seen in this hotel what the total opposit: the hotel has a very friendly and attentive staff which is unusual in China.

Since I had totally 3 stays at the hotel, I would like to add some more information to Fly me to the Moon's already excellent review:

The hotel is still in a stage of soft opening, therefore only the West tower maintain rooms opened to the public. Rooms in this tower will only have the riverview (if you get one) to the Pudong area and only the East tower, which is going to be in function by end of October, following by the grand opening in beginning of November, will have a beautiful view to the bund, especially in the night!

The East tower will have the Executive lounge as well the club rooms as Fly me to the Moon already have mentioned. They will also have a French restaurant at the third toppest level as well an entire level of private dining rooms with separate kitchen. The very top level will have few bars with different thems.

Regarding the existing restaurants: The "Xindalu" restaurant gives you a very wide selection of Chinese food and last Saturday I was there together with my clients and the food was above excellent! You can hardly have a such a great taste of Chinese food in any of those 5 star hotels in Shanghai. The manager even told me that they have hired the best chef for Peking Duck in town. So give it a try!

"Aroma" is a buffet restaurant (of course you can also go for a la card). Just make sure you go around the entire floor to find all the specialities they are offering. The food was excellent and is highly recommended.

"Tea Room" is basically only a cafe serving sweets and small breakfast. As diamond member you will be directed to this restaurant having your breakfast and evening cocktail until the proper lounge is going to open in October this year. Yesterday evening the manager of Aroma have invited me to join the band singing in the Tea Room and offered my some complimentary coffee and some sweets. I must say: great coffee and excellent sweets!

The gym and the swimming pool is located in the basement beside the Spa. The length of 25m is rather unusual long comparing to other Shanghainese hotels and the most unusual part is that the gym (not the swimming pool) is opened 24h!!! What a great option if you can't sleep in the night having a jet-lag but want to shape up a bit your body

The only downside I could find is the location. Even being in a historical area (ex British zone). there is really not a lot of attraction near the hotel. You can reach the bund by crossing the river only in 5 minutes by foot, but if you really want to go to Pudong during the day, it takes you at least 20-25min to move over there... My suggestion: as a hotel for tourists its okay, but certainly not for business people having a lot of meetings in the Pudong area.

Overall, this is a great hotel and is showing a great start! In the next few years a lot of changes will happen in the Hongkou district and you might face a rising district after all

moondog

Try out the Bund Tourist Tunnel next time. Once you get across the river, you're only 2 minutes from the Shangri-La, 3 minutes from BOC, and 5 minutes from the GH, and 10 from HSBC.

Fly Me To The Moon

I just checked out from my second stay at this hotel. Nothing much to add now, except that I should correct my post above: the hotel is actually 32 floors high.

I found the same overly attentive staff in all areas of the hotel. They seem genuinely willing and happy to please.

During checkout, I bumped into the Director of Rooms again, and she knew that I would be back tomorrow for one more stay. She mentioned that she has already arranged that I get a Bund View room tomorrow, but that the room layout and design would be completely different than what I given the first two stays. She said that she would then ask my opinion as to what my preferred room layout would be. Well, I hope to have another interesting addition to this thread soon!

From what I've experienced on my two stays so far at the West Tower, it seems that the rooms XX07-XX14 are the "regular" rooms. XX06 is the suite. XX01-XX05 are the Bund View rooms.

thezipper

FMTTM... I'll be looking for your pics... With the addition of H on the Bund and the new Park Hyatt next year, Shanghai sounds like it's gonna be a great place to use FFN's

Thanks for the overview... One question... is there any subway access close to the hotel?

moondog

No. It's a solid 15-20 minute walk to the NJ E. Rd (formerly Henan M. Rd) subway stop.

Fly Me To The Moon

Per my previous post, the hotel did give me a Bund View room this time, on my third stay. It was 2:30pm when I checked in, and I got some very good daytime views of the Bund. I'm in room XX03, and the view is a sideview of the Bund. I wil have to wait for a few hours before it gets dark to see what the night view is like.

Indeed the Bund View rooms are a completely different layout than the "regular" rooms. To sum it up, if you want a large bedroom and a smaller bathroom, go for the regular rooms. If you want a larger bathroom and a smaller bedroom, then go for the Bund View. I would say that the entrance foyer plus the bathroom area takes up at least 50% of the area of the entire Bund view room. So, the bedroom seems quite small in comparison.

OK, a detailed description: walking into the room, the minibar is in a wood and mirrored cabinet to the right. Next to the minibar is the entrance to the bathroom (with a sliding frosted glass door). Skipping by the bathroom, a short hallway then leads into the square-shaped bedroom. Floor-to-ceiling glass window is in the far wall. The bed faces the window, so lying on the bed, you can get the great view of the Bund. A wood desk is to the left of the window; a reclining sofa is to the right. A flat-screen tv is hung in the corner above the desk. As I said, the bathroom is huge. Unlike the "regular rooms", the bathrooms of the Bund View rooms are truly separated, but there is a sliding partition on one wall (at waist height) which slides open and you can see into the bedroom. The partition opens up right above the headboard of the bed. The semi-walkin closet is located in the bathroom, as is a vanity. There is a bathtub, and a huge glass-enclosed shower. Then, at the end of a long hallway is the toilet. I'm sorry...I really can't adequately describe the shape and layout of the bathroom. Everything seems to have funny angles. I guess I will have to post my pictures later, so everyone can get the idea.

Which room would I prefer? Well, I've been to Shanghai countless times, so the Bund View is no longer anything special for me. I would definitely prefer the regular rooms over the Bund View rooms. The bedroom of the regular rooms are much more open and I get a more comfortable feeling of space. Here in the Bund View room, it's like being squashed in a small bedroom. I think that the Bund View rooms are RMB 200/night more expensive, but regardless, from now on, I would go only for the regular rooms.

Pictures will be posted as soon as I return home, by next week.

Fly Me To The Moon

OK, here are the pictures. I've uploaded them onto flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9312877...7601933330187/

gregorygrady

Great pics. Thanks for posting!!! ^^^^^ The room/hotel looks really nice!!

Aircoco

Modern hotel, but not as luxurious as the GH Shanghai, though the latter is older.

MrAOK

I'm in Shanghai now and am slated to stay at the hotel this weekend if i go through with it.

I'm having second thoughts because of the location, which while on the Bund as mentioned above is a bit of a hike from the main area. there are lots of far better located hotels.

P.S. To follow up. I did stay at the Hyatt on the Bund and have a gorgeous view of the Bund from my 16th floor room.

Note that there are two signs in front of the hotel that block the view of the bund so i'm not sure if you'd have much of a view if you stay on a significantly lower floor.

The hotel, while not as centrally located as the J.W. Marriott (which i stayed at the night before), is also not THAT out of the way. (It's close to the old Jewish area). The hotel itself is still fairly empty and the biggest problem so far is trying to find cab drivers who dont seem to have the hotel on their regular path yet.

Fly Me To The Moon

I stayed at Hyatt on the Bund again this week, this time in the East Tower, which was opened (not all floors open yet) on 09.Oct. The Club Lounge is also in this tower, on the 3rd floor.

I was assigned a room facing the Cruise Ship Terminal, which is a non-Bund-view room. The layout was the open bathroom concept again, but I would say that the placement of the toilet, bathtub, shower, etc. are much better than in the West Tower. My only negative about this room was the the main door, when opened, allowed a view directly of the bed. I did not see the Bund View rooms in this East Tower, so can't comment on them.

The Club Lounge is quite big and is designed similar to the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou...dark woods, comfortable lounge chairs and sofas, a cooking station, coffee station, etc. Evening cocktails were served from 5-8pm, and during the night I was there, this included hot items of quiche lorraine, chicken skewers, steamed prawn dumplings, and some pastry items.

Breakfast was quite spartan and included precut fruit, cereals, pastries, and a hot kitchen serving bacon, sauteed mushrooms, and made-to-order eggs.

Once again, the staff at the hotel continue to be very friendly and service-minded, and is one of the best hotels service-wise I have ever stayed at.

RichardInSF

From page 3 (that's near the front, so you know it's important) of today's "Shanghai Daily:"

"Paris shuns Hilton hotel

"Paris Hilton, the millionaire heiress to the Hilton hotel chain who has turned her heavy-partying ways and scintilla of talent into countless tabloid headlines, is in town for the first time to attend Friday's 2007 MTV Awards and Style Gala at the Shanghai Grand Stage.

"The heiress skipped the hotel chain named after her family, opting instead to check into the newly opened Hyatt on the Bund for her first trip to the city.

"'The panoramic Bund view from the hotel room seemed the major reason to attract her there,' said an employee of MTV China, who asked not to be named...."

If that isn't a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is!