I have had the fortunate occasion of staying here several times in the past and it just keeps getting better and better.
From your initial approach, there are the helpful and so-friendly bell men.
The front desk staff is incredible with language issues, local questions and money exchange.
Loved our amazing butlers - fast and totally broke any language and custom barriers.
We were there right before the Lunar New Year and the lobby was decorated accordingly.
There was a beautiful wedding when we were there and they used tea lights and floral bouquets on each and every stair all the way up the winding staircase - it was stunning!!!
Loved our stay and our time spent in Shanghai!!

Having stayed many times in St regis Singapore, one of its newest properties, we expected St Regis Shanghai to be of similar standard. It was not to be.
We booked a total of 5 rooms for 4 nights, thinking that we would be able to enjoy the luxury of St Regis hotels.
The hotel was old, i was told later that it was 10 years old. Check in was slow and although I need not queue for our check in, there was another hotel guest behind me waited for more than 10 minutes before she was attended to. She requested for another counter to be opened but was rejected by the 2 staff that were serving me.
The interior was kind of gloomy and much smaller than Singapore St regis.
We had access to the executive club lounge for breakfast, tea and evening canapés. However the selection for breakfast was very limited. When we decided to go to the main lobby for breakfast, we were told that additional charge would apply. I thought that having our breakfast in the executive club was an exclusivity, being told that I would be charged for having my meal at the main cafe made me feel that the executive club breakfast was inferior to the main breakfast cafe.
We booked a triple room but we were given only 2 sets of amenities such as towels and toiletries. Upon telling the housekeeping lady that we needed an extra set, she was unimpressed and top up for us with reluctance.

The lobby was unimpressive and looked like a medium size hotel. As a whole , this hotel should be rated as a 4 star hotel and not a 5 star hotel. It definitely fall short of the standard that St Regis was trying to upkeep at the rest of the world. One lesson for me: Do not think that all St Regis hotels have the same standard of service, luxury and class.

I arrived here in the middle of March 2011 for a two-night stay, when it was still under the St Regis brand. I reserved the Deluxe King room directly on the hotel website. After taking the Maglev from Shanghai’s Pudong airport, I took a taxi from the Longyang Road station, which was the terminus station for the Maglev. The taxi driver didn’t appear too pleased with such a short ride and a low relative fare so it wasn’t a pleasant way to arrive from that point of view but thankfully, the welcome at the hotel was warmer with a good welcome from the front-door porter.


Arrival Experience

The reception attendant was also quite friendly but I found her English a little difficult to understand and she also tried to sell a package for the spa I think but unfortunately, I couldn’t really understand everything she was saying regarding the details of the package so it was a little annoying that she spent some time on trying to sell this package.

After getting to the room, it was disappointing that the butler service wasn’t automatically available, as in the equivalent St Regis in Singapore, where the butler was soon available to explain the room functions and to offer any refreshments. Perhaps it just isn’t the mainland Chinese style to have the butler welcome immediately available. Here, I had to ask for the butler to come with the complimentary tea, which was nevertheless quite nice.

The butler and porter service were both very good and they were always warm whenever I came into contact with either of them, which was quite often because I asked for tea a few times.


The Room

The room was warm and since it was winter in Shanghai, it seemed as if there was no option to cool down the room and that although the heating looked like it could be adjusted, there was no actual cooling option.

I note that the hotel had undergone a total room refurbishment, which was to have been completed by the end of 2010 so I most likely stayed in a refurbished room. The room itself was quite nice and comfortable but not at the same standard as the St Regis in Singapore, as it still seemed a little old and there was still wear and tear evident. Also, the general quality, design and technological level of the room couldn’t be compared with that of the St Regis in Singapore. The bathroom doors were noticeably worn and also some of the switches had seen better days. The speaker in the bathroom also did not appear to be functioning.

The bed was reasonably comfortable but quite hard compared to most hotel beds and many of the better hotels in China would now be looking to introduce beds which are softer and fit in more with international norms. The bedroom area had no night-light available which should have been included in a hotel of this class. The TV was quite nice but wasn’t of a brilliant quality with no surround sound available, unlike at the St Regis in Singapore and even at the W Hotel in Hong Kong, which I had just recently stayed in at that point. The desk provided was just ok but the ergonomic chair was quite pleasing and comfortable. It was nice to note that the curtains provided in the room were of the total blackout variety and also that despite being located on the busy Dongfang Road, the hotel room was quite well noise-insulated and appeared quiet.

The carpet nevertheless was plush and clean, it was probably new because earlier reviews of this property had mentioned dirty and worn carpeting.

Unfortunately, the room did not include complimentary internet access but the rates charged were ok, not expensive compared to most other hotels. The fruit provided in the room also had a few problems, as the banana was rotten by the time I got to it at night.

It was good to note that there was plenty of complimentary bottled water of a good quality in the room, as tap water in Shanghai is not potable, the bottles in the bathroom were decently sized and there were four of them.

The bathroom was quite large and nicely appointed with a nice rainshower of a pretty good quality. Strong water pressure was available. The bathrobes were also nice and comfortable and were of the thin variety, which was appropriate considering the temperature in the room.

I have videos of the room in the link within my profile section.


Service

There was a good turndown service provided in the evening with good-quality and clear ice left in the room.

I tried the room service once and the meal was alright but not really outstanding. I thought it was a good idea not to order either tea or coffee from the menu to go with the meal but to ask for the complimentary tea or coffee from the butler because after all, the quality was the same and it was complimentary.

The concierge desk was quite helpful and helped with many issues, firstly with directions and then helping to get a SIM card for my mobile phone, which a young member of their team did by going out to buy the SIM card and he did not accept any tips for the service.

I had a slight cold while staying here and I’m not sure which department was responsible for getting the cold-relief tablets but they were helpful because they had to get a taxi to buy the tablets and returned with the receipts for the tablets and taxi and it was the same member of staff who had helped to get my mobile phone SIM card. I tried to offer a tip but he refused so he was just interested in helping out, which was good to see.


Hotel Facilities/Location

I was able to experience the indoor pool and hot pool area within the hotel and the hot whirlpool was quite good with a very large indoor pool next to it. The staff service and friendliness in this area was also quite good, as they walked me through to the facilities and explained their functions.

The lobby looked grand and quite impressive but unfortunately, there were touts directly outside the lobby selling their various services.

The hotel is located on the main Dongfang Road, which appeared to be quite busy throughout the day and night, being an eight-lane road. There were quite a few eateries and provisions for shopping along this main road. However, for exploring other parts of the city, the hotel is located quite far from the nearest subway station and I found it a bit of a walk in the Shanghai winter but taxis in Shanghai are reliable and also inexpensive.


Conclusion

The hotel hardware was not outstanding, as it was beginning to show its age but still, the service levels were quite high. The location was not outstanding for exploring many other tourist areas of Shanghai but still reasonably convenient for the Pudong area. There are probably better options in the Pudong area in terms of luxury levels and location but I would expect the rates would also be higher so the St Regis provided a good combination of value and comfort at the time.

NOTE: I have videos of the hotel room on my hotels page, the link is within my profile section.

This is a really nice hotel with a lot of extras. The rooms and bathrooms are spacious, well appointed. Lots of amenities - lots of free bottle water, coffee, tea, fresh fruit, internet, in room safe, newspapers.

The breakfast is nice, lots of variety and food is good. The dining room is nice, quiet and not crowded. The Italian restaurant is good but very expensive.

Service is generally good - quick check in/out and the concierge is very knowledgeable about the location of places.

Location is okay, walking distance to the subway. It is far from the airports though ~45 minutes. And there do not seem to be many restaurants nearby, there are a few.

No real complaints about this hotel. They do seem to come to check on your room too often - maid, minibar, maid supervisor - distracting if you are trying to work.

Overall, this is a great hotel.