Upon checking out of the Park Hyatt Shanghai, I walked over to the Grand Hyatt Shanghai located across the street. Just like the Park
Hyatt, the Grand Hyatt is located within the upper floors of a tall skyscraper,
and is coincidentally the world’s third highest hotel.
Rates at the Grand Hyatt starts at a around $240 a night
after taxes. Instead, I decided to use Hyatt Points + Cash, which allowed me to
book a standard room for 7,500 points + $100.
I then used a Diamond Suite Upgrade to upgrade to the Grand
Suite, which typically retails at over $500+ a night.
Since the Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt are located right next
to each other, the Park Hyatt concierge grabbed my luggage without hesitation
and escorted me like a VIP all the way to the Grand Hyatt lounge, which was
quite unexpected but greatly appreciated due to the scorching weather.
The main lobby, located on the 57th floor, was
quite crowded with guests waiting to check in, so I highly recommend going up
to the lounge to check in if you’re a Hyatt diamond member.
Upon checking in at the lounge, I was led to my Grand Suite
King, located on the 87th floor. Outside my suite below was the quite unique hotel atrium composed of numerous spirals and circles.
Whereas my previous suite at the Park Hyatt was simple and
modern, the Grand Hyatt fully embraces its Chinese heritage.
The living area is well designed, with a huge Chinese traditional
brush painting as the backdrop, with a red sofa and small coffee table
underneath.
You’ll notice quite a bit of red furnishings in the room,
which is done by design as red has traditionally been regarded as a symbol of
happiness and good luck.
To get to the bedroom, you open a sliding door, typical to
what the ancient Chinese did in their homes thousands of years ago.
The bedroom features a standard king sized bed underneath a
poem written in Chinese calligraphy.
The bathroom is covered with marbled tiling, multiple
mirrors, and has even a traditional Chinese vase.
The sink area is completely covered in mirrors and comes
with a transparent sink. The comfort room has a Toto toilet, which features a sensor
that detects movement and automatically opens whenever you enter the room.
As the diamond welcome amenity was just a bottle of
water and some cookies, I opted for 1000 bonus points instead. However, the
customary plate of fruit was present.
While the suite was located on the 87th floor,
unfortunately the building’s design meant much of the window was blocked out by
iron cross bars. The end result is a much less immersive viewing experience
then the Park Hyatt and really does take away some of the wow factor.
Nevertheless, the views are still quite from the 87th
floor overlooking Shanghai.
Another drawback was the presence of a really peculiar
strong musky smell that was present throughout the hotel and extremely
noticeable in my room. It’s hard to describe, but if you’re sensitive to strong
odors, this may be a problem as at times it was overbearing. The housekeeping
lady that came by remarked that she couldn’t smell anything at all, but doused
the room with febreeze nonetheless.
I found the service to be attentive, but like the Park Hyatt
conversational fluency in English is quite limited.
Grand Club
The Hyatt Grand lounge is located on the 83rd
floor and can be accessed by Hyatt diamond members and club room guests. The
lounge is divided into two main seating areas with the buffet area in the
middle.
The views from the
window seats are quite spectacular as you can see the Bund and the Pearl Tower
in the distance.
As expected, the window seats are taken quite quickly, so I
suggest arriving a bit early.
The grand club has evening cocktails, which serves
complimentary alcohol & food from 5:00-8:00 PM. I found the quality of the
food spread to be superb and the service was amazing.
The alcohol selection is quite standard, and surprisingly
the sparkling wine was quite tolerable, especially for a hotel lounge in China.
Breakfast is served until 10 AM on the weekdays and 11:00 AM
on the weekends with vast spread of cold cuts and pastries.
There’s also a dedicated chef that cooks you various egg
dishes and freshly made wonton soup, which was quite savory!
Overall, I really enjoyed visiting the Grand Club Shanghai.
The food is of high quality, service is phenomenal, and of course you’re spoiled
with stunning views of the Shanghai skyline.
Up Next: Hyatt on The Bund – Postcard Views of Shanghai
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