Anyone stayed here recently ?

I stayed at the Westin in recent weeks and had a great stay - similar experiences to what everyone else has mentioned.

I used SNAs on my stay, and they cleared into the highest SNA category. The category's name -- Crown/Bund/SHA/ChinaSuite -- was confusing before the trip, but made sense after I arrived. The person who checked me in said, the hotel has four "presidential suites". I believe their names are the Crown Suite, the Bund Suite, the Shanghai suite, and the China Suite - my room was one of those four. The Marriott website has three photos for this room category. Those photos fairly represent the floorplan of the three rooms that they show (the furniture was a bit different), but my room also had a dining room, with a separate entrance and a small kitchen (which would presumably be used by people catering a hospitality event in the room). There were some drinks in the fringe, unclear if they were complimentary.

I arrived on a red eye, and my room was ready. That alone might be a reason to use a SNA at this hotel. I got to have breakfast in the lounge on the day of arrival, and dinner in the lounge on the evening of my departure.

I doubt I will be back in Shanghai, but the Westin would be my go-to hotel. I also stayed in the St. Regis, which objectively is a slightly nicer hotel, but between the lounge, being closer to the Bund, and a bit cheaper, the Westin would be my go-to hotel for Shanghai.

I quite liked the Westin - a nice, bustling hotel with a lot of heart - here are my impressions:

Pros:

• Hotel was fully sold out online, but I was upgraded to a Crown Studio, which had full separation between the bedroom and living room
• While I think the bed covers should have been thicker (no fluffy duvet), the bed was very comfortable with plush pillows, warm linens, and a plush mattress - slept well
• Shower pressure was decent (though took a bit of time to warm up)
• Nice comfy couch and large desk
• Delivered some chocolates and local treats as a welcome gift
• Delicious ginger tea in the lobby that they served me as I walked in
• One of the associates who checked me in and out was so friendly - she came up as I was looking at the Christmas decorations to see how I liked them and expressly processed my check-out as I was standing in line behind a �complicated checkout� that they didn�t want me to wait - we even got to laugh about the Christmas traditions I�m escaping by being here in China
• Evening service in the lounge (accessible directly from either Crown or Grand Tower on the 5th floor) was quite good with tasty dessert and Bailey�s
• Offered breakfast in the restaurant or lounge without a welcome gift choice - restaurant breakfast was pretty good - liked the omelet and chocolate waffles as well as that iced croissant
• No issue with the 3 PM late checkout I requested

Cons:

• Bed covers should be thicker
• No real afternoon tea service in the lounge

I would return.

Photos:

Westin Bund Centre has been my favourite Shanghai hotel for about the past 20 years.
Unfortunately it seems you were in the wrong tower.
Your experience would have been twice as enjoyable if you had a Grand Tower room ( which are all suites).

I'll have to go back - I had seen a Grand Tower Junior Suite upgrade in the app but was given a Crown Studio upon arrival. As the property was fully sold out online, I was happy with the studio.

As someone who lives in Shanghai for almost 15 years now, I'm liking seeing these reviews you're doing! I guess you're not hitting the fitness centers as the pics of these aren't posted in your reviews, but both of the hotels you've reviewed so far have decent, but not spectacular workout facilities. The best Bonvoy hotel in that category is the Ritz Portman.

Your reviews for both the hotels so far are similar to my feelings about them. They're both ok, nice enough to return to and have good, try hard, service. Both aren't in the greatest locations IMHO but that's subjective.

One thing I'd add to the Westin is that it is known amongst local connoisseurs as having the best Sunday champagne brunch in town. I've spent many a Sunday afternoon downing bottles of Veuve and eating their caviar and crab whilst watching Chinese acrobats. Definitely worth checking out.

The Westin brunch was really nice when the price was 200 with buy 2-get-1 free. Now that it costs 4x that, I stick with the Portman.

No fitness for me - I'll just walk along the Bund - lots of hotels for me to try the next time I visit the city (after hopefully getting a real visa)! Fingers crossed for more China reviews in 2024!

I returned to this hotel this week, it has been a few years since it was my regular base in Shanghai.
And I must say, it has held up well.
Upgraded to a suite in the grand tower as usual, hardware is great, software ( service) was great,
lounge was great.
I don't know why I stopped staying here, but is is far better than some of the others I have been in recently
( Ren Yu Garden, Ren Zhongshan Park,...)

I last stayed here in 2014 and felt the rooms look old. Waiting for a full renovation to the new Westin look before I come back.