Park Hyatt Shanghai : Above the clouds

Don’t be mislead by the title, my stay in the Park Hyatt is not like walking on cloud 9, in fact you can say it’s the opposite. I am just stating the fact that at being on the top floors on one of the tallest building in the world, it is literally above the clouds. I find when reviewing hotels more precise and structured when I use this particular format on Tripadvisor.

Date of Stay: November 26,2009

Room Type: Park Room
Upgrade: none
Amount Paid Per Night: 2,080RMB (300USD) plus taxes
Reservation Method: Goldpassport Website
Loyalty Card: Platinum Gold Passport

Airport/Hotel Transfer: Arranged for an Audi transfer from the hotel, I find this the best way in China because sometimes taxi lines are too long and you might be left standing in the cold for at least an hour. Unlike Park Hyatt in Beijing that met me on the Airport Gate itself and escorted us through immigration and customs the Hyatt representative (Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt and Hyatt on the Bund) was waiting for us at the arrival area outside the customs section.

Location: I never liked staying in Pudong because it’s just too far from anything…and traffic is horrendous but with the 2 new tunnels connecting Pudong with Puxi, getting from the hotel to Puxi could be as little was 10-15 minutes. Park Hyatt is on the top floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center, from the ground floor you go up to the lobby at the 87th floor and you take elevators down to rooms from the 79th to the 84th floors.

Check-in: Was very fast, we were met at the ground floor and escorted to the lobby and was in our room in less than 10 minutes.

Room: Quite large, I like the open feel without making it too open that I loose my privacy like the Park Hyatt in Beijing. The real problem is the huge diagonal pillar which is part of the building’s structure taking up almost half the window view. and it also made the room look smaller because it pushed the day bed much closer to the bed.

Bathroom: The bathroom was big, the rain shower is twice the size of the regular rain showers and is inclosed in a very roomy shower area with a big bathtub. Toiletries are from Aromatherapy (just like the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong).

Bed: Bed was very comfortable not really too soft and not hard either, I have to say it’s just right. The pillow are another thing, I wish I had enough strength to request for additional pillows because those huge square pillows were hard to manage. I literally had to fold them so I could sleep.

Breakfast: compared to other hotels in Asia, I have to say the breakfast spread is adequate albeit very limited. But the great thing is where they serve breakfast, they call it Dining Room, and when you enter the place they made a nice little kitchen with cabinetry and stovetop like ones you see at home or condo. you pass through a doorway into the actual Dining Room with a nice view of Pudong.

Check-out: Check out was fast and efficient, nothing much to write about it actually, they did apologize for the room over and over but it’s really a bit too late for that.

Overall Evaluation: Service is excellent there no doubt on that, I said the same thing when I spoke to the Director of Rooms the following morning after I sent him an email about the diagonal pillar on the room and told him that I am moving to Peninsula across the river. However I felt that as a Platinum member I’m entitled to something more, plus the fact that my membership guarantees the best available room on the category…and I do not think that was the best at that time.