On a purely practical level I cannot fault this place,
I have stayed here twice now and enjoyed both of my stays, my first stay I went for the Pudong view room, which had the great view that was promised, and was on a very high floor, beds are comfortable although not gigantic, and bathrooms have a nice rainfall shower - however, the toilet in our room broke, had to get it fixed 3 times, the 4th time this happened I went down to reception and delivered the complaint personally, to which the general manager on duty at the time (Frank) accompanied me to my room and offered an upgrade to a Junior Suite for the trouble, the situation was handled well, but moving all of our things is a hassle and the toilet shouldn't have broken in the first place, moreover, more care should have been taken to record how many times the same problem had occurred, this is a lack of attention to detail which in a five star hotel is a little below standard.
Second stay went for a twin room, was nice but a little rough around the edges, furniture is showing some signs of wear but on the whole a very comfortable place to stay within Shanghai, the location is fantastic, right on the Nanjing Road and People's Square, the leisure centre and facilities are well maintained and a nice place to be, and if you do get a chance, the bar at the top of the hotel boasts some incredible views across Shanghai's skyline in both directions.
Having now stayed in quite a few hotels in Shanghai, I would personally not choose this one again, I believe there are nicer hotels for the same money which offer a slightly more personalised service (take the hotel across the park for instance), but if you are looking for a good base to explore the city, you probably can't go wrong with this one (as long as your toilet works!).
- Meridien Shanghai
