Just completed a stay at the Shanghai JW. It was awesome, but I may try the Ren or FS next time because of the price difference.

I was UG to a two room suite on the 42nd floor. Yes, it had dated green carpet, but the carpet was not worn, nor was anything else in the room. Perhaps what we think of as dated isn't considered dated in China. The view was unobstructed and spectacular. The room had one full and one half bath. The full bath had a large soaking/Jacuzzi tub. Everything in the room worked and was comfortable. There were adequate, easy to use electrical outlets on either side of the bed and throughout the room.

The CL was quite nice. I did need to use the computer at one point to access something from my email. The staff was more than helpful in guiding me on how to do this, as there were problems accessing my email.

The Concierge located on the first floor was excellent. My China trip was last minute. When I checked in at seven, he was able to find me a tour for the next day at a very reasonable. price. I was also looking for a cooking class on Sun afternoon. He was able to find me one, but it was quite expensive. ($236!) I wound up finding a class for about $25, but he did quite a bit of work to find me one on short notice. (Yes, I tipped him.)

On Sunday, I walked around People's Park on a self-guided tour on my phone. If you are there on a Sunday, do not miss the Marriage Market. It's unique to Shanghai. Parents go and put their children's resumes on umbrellas. Half the parents sit behind the umbrellas while the other half walk around. They arrange blind dates for their children. Usually the children are 27+, which the older generation thinks of as "old maid" or "permanent bachelor" age. There are THOUSANDS of people there. The thing is, both the tour guide from the day before and the Concierge told me, the kids don't know the parents are there! Our tour guide said she realized when her parents set her up on the fifth or sixth blind date that they were doing this and she was MORTIFIED. It was a sight, and there really weren't many tourists there watching this. This happens within two blocks of the hotel.

One last issue.... The hotel lost my luggage. When I got to the hotel, a bellman on the first floor took my bag. The front desk clerk called him to let him know to deliver the suitcase to my room. Somehow, it got delivered to the wrong room. After 45 minutes, I called the front desk, but they could not understand me, so I went back to the 38th floor. Although the bellman knew he delivered it to the wrong room, he could not recall what room he put it in. It took about another thirty minutes to locate the bag. While everyone was very nice about this, my advice is unless you have heavy or multiple bags, don't let them take your luggage on the first floor. Bringing it to the lobby on the 38th floor and onto your room is easy enough.

Thank you CJKatl for your review if the JW. We are still thinking of staying there next May. You got the upgrade, but are you platinum or gold? Terrible that they delivered your bags to the wrong room!

CJK's profile under his handle mentions Lifetime Platinum. Enjoy your stay next year.

Cheers.

Thanks, SkiAdcock. I did not see CJK's Lifetime Platinum with Marriott. Well, we will never get there - don't do enough hotel stays.

Hi everyone,

I became MR gold recently, so I'm not experienced in gold status rules and would like to ask for your advice.

I'll be in Shanghai in October/November, travelling with friend of mine who is not MR gold. I'd like to stay at Renaissance Yu Garden, Marriott City Centre or JW Tomorrow Square. I plan to book a room without breakfast and to take advantage of MR gold benefits, particularly free breakfast and lounge access. My concern is, what about the second guest from my room? Will he also get free breakfast and lounge access, if we go there together at the same time? In 2013 there was discussion in this thread about lounge access for non-gold guest and as far as I understand, its conclusion was that such guest must pay. How is it now? Do all three hotels mentioned above have the same policy regarding this matter?

Lounge access and/or brekkie if there is no lounge or the lounge is closed for Golds/Plats is for elite+1 so you should be fine. The policy changed a couple of years ago.

If you're both staying in the same room, both room keys should be coded for lounge access.

Cheers.

Thank you very much :-)

Also, you should have the option to take the free breakfast in the buffet restaurant - it's more or less standard in China.

I asked at the JW and was told the restaurant buffet was not an option. The CL breakfast was okay, but not of the same standard of most other Asian properties where I've stayed. I am Plat.

Interesting. JW Changfeng park had the full buffet breakfast last month.

It's property dependent. Some give the option; some don't. Some give the option only to Plats.

Cheers.

And How does It look like in case of Renaissance Yu Garden? It's the cheapest of three, which I have mentioned before but has good reviews so would have nothing against staying there, if their policy is flexible.

If it's less expensive, gets good reviews & the exec lounge is open I'm not sure why you wouldn't stay there, or why having brekkie in the restaurant would be a deal breaker, but that's just me.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-weekends.html

Says the lounge is open, but doesn't mention whether restaurant option is available, which means FTers haven't mentioned it as the list is often updated w/ input from FTers.

Cheers.

I probably mentioned this upthread somewhere but we have found the Renaissance Zhongshan Park to be an incredible value. We stayed there because it is near the ECNU campus where my wife has friends who still work there but it is right above the metro station for 2 lines and part of the Cloud 9 mall with extensive shopping and dining.

They have a nice lounge with great view and a great spread at breakfast and dinner. Rooms are decent and we tend to get an upgrade to a good view or corner room.

Its a longer metro ride from the airport or center of town but worth the savings. Also closer to Hongqiao airport for domestic flights.

Thanks! What are the alcohol options at happy hour? Shanghai is an expensive place for drinks