Some of the best parts of this hotel: the fitness center and spa is well-kept, there are individual televisions for the elliptical machines, and even yoga and judo classes offered. The pool, according to one of my colleagues, was very clean but over-chlorinated.
The breakfast buffet is wonderful: you can go Asian, go American, go British, go Japanese... there's everything. Dim sum, omlettes, pancakes, French toast, melon, mangoes, corned beef hash, smoked salmon, salad, banana bread, croissants, cereals, juices.... the list goes on. One warning - there is a smoking section, as there are still plenty of smokers in the world that need to be catered to. The smoke DOES waft over occassionally to the non-smoking section, but hey, nothing's perfect.
The rooms are very clean, luxurious bedding (I wanted to take home the pillows!), nice decor, flat screen TVs, transitional/modern fixtures, free wifi... I only gave four stars for the room because one time, I came back to my room, and the gentleman cleaning the room was obviously sick - sniffling and coughing all over the place. Not wanting to get sick during my stay, I was understandably dismayed by the germs he was spreading while cleaning the faucets, counters, etc. I wanted someone to reclean the room after he left!
Since cabs are so inexpensive (literally, $3-5 to most places!), the location is fine. Be careful of where your room is, though; since the hotel is at a well-travelled fork of sorts, the traffic horns in the morning can wake you up (if you want to sleep in.)
The hotel has a park, along with a convention hall/center and several villas. I went for a jog throughout, and though it was short, it was wonderful to have so much greenery on hand in the middle of a such an industrial and bustling city.
I suggest that anyone travelling to this hotel, and to Shanghai in general, take a little pocket Engligh-Chinese dictionary, and maybe even take some Chinese CDs from the library before travelling. English is not spoken widely, so past "hello!" and "thank you!", a lot of the staff, like approximately 75%, didn't know what I meant when I asked for a pharmacy, a drug store, or place to buy medicine. But charades goes a long way!
The concierge desk was come and go; the head concierge is extremely knowledgeable, but the others are iffy. Make sure you have them write down on a card where you intend to go in Chinese, so you can show this card to the taxi driver.
Bon voyage!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
