Stayed at this hotel during my first visit to Shanghai. Points of Note are very centrally located in Pudong, extremely efficient staff, eager to help all the time.

The hotel is an architectural wonder and you are amazed with the views both inside and outside. The rooms themselves are a bit constrained, overall OK. They probably need to upgrade their rooms in a couple of years as everything is starting to show its age furniture/fixtures, tv, etc.

The restaurants were excellent for breakfast. However, dinner at the Italian restaurant, if not for the amazing views would be a pass.

One thing of note, i forgot a couple of things in the hotel. Had given up, but was pleasantly surprised to see an email after a couple of days offering to ship it to my preferred address. Sure enough, it arrived a few days later. They won me over with that one. Will definitely stay there if I can on my next trip. You should too...

Just stayed at the Grand Hyatt Beijing and moved to Grand Hyatt Shanghai, service was pretty good at both places, but Shanghai definitely has the better hotel. Of course everyone raves about the view which is indeed spectacular, it was the room itself with its much more generous size, more modern design and better maintenance that distinguished the property. Breakfast was pretty good too, and I particularly applaud the inclusion of local delicacies such as the fried dough wrapped in crepe with egg.

My one complaint would be the gym though, which was way too small for a hotel this size, and the pool which required a rather long walk through a seemingly never-ending corridor from the changing room.

It's certainly true that there are hotels (and wonderful little boutique hotels) springing up all the time in Shanghai, but I still find myself returning to the Grand Hyatt Shanghai every time I visit Shanghai (which now is twice/year but I've been staying at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt since 2000 on various visits, and I also lived in Shanghai 2004-2007 and used the restaurants and Club Jin Mao and Cloud 9 whenever going over to the Pudao side of Shanghai). Quite often if I have meetings on the Puxi side of Shanghai (which is where most of the night life is, as well as tourist attractions and majority of well known restaurants and also fabulous restaurants Xindalu (amazing Peking duck) and Vue (excellent European cuisine and great Bund view) at Hyatt on the Bund...), I don't spend a lot of time in the hotel, but I will always try to give myself a day or two at the end just to curl up and sink away in the thick duvet/pillows of my room with it's always stunning Bund view. I'm a Platinum Gold Passport holder (which is not that hard to achieve: five stays or 15 room nights/year in any Hyatt worldwide and then there are all kinds of perks, including free internet use) and find it quite easy to build up points for free room nights/upgrades/Regency Club access, etc. Thus, I tend to stay in a Club room when at the Grand Hyatt and thoroughly enjoy the fantastic breakfast buffet spread (which I find to be quite ample, diverse and filling...they don't make eggs to order, but they offer two warm dish offerings and so many other buffet choices that one doesn't need to eat lunch...fresh fruit yogurts, fruit, so many types of bread/croissant, juices, Asian choices, etc. etc. etc.). Later in the day, it's so relaxing to come down for cocktails and once again, so many canape choices that it's actually enough for a full meal (but I always find that I need to have Peking Duck while at the hotel and quite often I indulge in room service which guarantees a perfect view...there are dvd offerings if you want to watch a movie and stay in, etc. etc.). The gym is fantastic as is the jacuzzi (hot and cold)/steam room in the changing rooms, so between emails (you can use wireless in the Club as well as your room), I just enjoy staying in the hotel for an extra day or two of pampering myself. The front office and Club staff are always smiling, professional and courteous (in all the years I've stayed at the GHS, I've never encountered problems checking in/out, even when it's busy...). I've never found the rooms "tired" and never much cared about how modern the television sets are (as long as they get the stations I want...), as I'm much more interested in the view/food/gym/service/internet/sleep quality all of which the Grand Hyatt Shanghai remain five star to me.

Everyone talks about the amazing views but they've changed a lot since the Hyatt was opened! It used to overlook the Bund and JinMao Tower but is now overlooked by other higher towers. The Patio lounge is a perfect place to have high tea. Amazing photo's looking down into the 33 floor atrium or looking up at the seashell like ceiling and whizzing glass elevators. Afternoon tea is wonderful - try the special 40 yr old pao to compliment the cucumber sandwiches and petit fours. You can just chill and savor the ambiance.

Easy access for the Bund, World Financial Centre and the convention centre. Underground/metro is close, easy, clean and very affordable way to get around everywhere.

The rooms are a good Western size with all the amenities you expect without being over the top. Some of the other 5* hotels seem to add a lot to the price by including many things you'll never use but they'll charge you anyway. Hyatt doesn't do this so you can get a good rate even for business.