After my verbal altercation with the taxi driver, the
concierge helped me with my bags and we headed up to the lobby of the Park
Hyatt Shanghai.
The Park Hyatt Shanghai is the world’s second highest hotel
in the world, occupying the 79th to 93rd floors of the
Shanghai World Financial Center, which looks like a bottle opener from a
distance.
Base rates at this hotel aren’t cheap, with rates typically
going for around $350 a night before taxes and fees.
Instead, I decided to use Hyatt Points + Cash, which allowed
me to book a standard room for 10,000 points + $123.
I then used a Diamond Suite Upgrade to upgrade to the Bund View Suite, which typically retails at over $1200+ a night, making this reward
redemption an incredible value. Alternatively, you can book this suite at
32,000 a night with a minimum of 3 nights.
The Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies a small portion of the
upper floors in the Shanghai Financial center, with its own separate small
driveway and lifts. The entrance itself is a bit of a maze, as you need to walk
through multiple doors before arriving at the lifts that take you to the lobby,
located on the 87th floor.
Upon arrival, I was warmly greeted by the reception desk.
The diamond benefits at this property are by the book: the usual complimentary
breakfast and a late 4 PM checkout.
I was then lead to my Bund View suite. At 1300 square foot,
the base suite at the Park Hyatt Shanghai is one of the largest base suites in
the Hyatt network. To say its huge is an understatement, as this suite is probably
larger than most downtown apartments.
As you enter you’re instantly greeted by an expansive dining
and living room area. Instead of your standard work desk, the Park Hyatt has a
long mahogany table that runs parallel across the entire wall of the room.
Next to the work table is a lounging chair, with a basket of
fruit that was replenished daily. The views were spectacular and I spent many
hours lounging on the chair and staring at the city down below.
The living room area consists of a standard sized sofa along
with two swivel chairs. Personally I found the sofa to be a bit stiff, but the
seats were quite comfortable.
There is also a small coffee table, with a diamond welcome
amenity of strawberry shortcake and a bottle of wine, which I later found to be
quite delicious.
What impressed me the most about the living room was the
excellent entertainment system, flanked by a set of B&O speakers, a rarity
even among luxury hotels.
Adjacent to the dining room is the bedroom flanked by a king
sized bed with a stunning view of Shanghai in the background. On a clear day,
you can see the Shanghai skyline stretch endlessly into the horizon.
At night the room is lit aglow by the thousands of lights
shining through the window
The bath area consists of a stone lined floor, sunken, tub
and a rain shower.
Now this wasn’t your run of the mill light rain shower,
instead it shoots out jets of water like you’re directly under drenching
thunderstorm.
Adjacent is the vanity area with two sinks and interestingly
enough a small TV hidden within a mirror.
Hidden TV Turned On.
Tony Montana would approve.
The bathroom is even wired to the living area sound system,
so you can listen to your favorite tunes while basking in the rain.
There are not one, but two comfort rooms in the suite, both
equipped with high tech TOTO bidet toilets, which open up automatically when
you enter the room; because touching the toilet would spoil your
delicate one percenter hands.
I found the housekeeping service to be respectful, polite,
and quite warm. I did notice that while the staff could utter a few basic
English phrases, they were clearly more comfortable speaking in Mandarin.
Overall, I loved the clean and simple design, as the focus
of the room is the stunning views of the city. Since the hotel is located so
high up in the air, low level clouds frequently pass underneath your room, giving
you the illusion that you’re flying above the clouds.
At night, the city lights up like a million stars, and the Bund
View Suite offering a unique high level back end view of the Pudong skyline.
As the hotel is so high up, buildings look more like
miniature figures and the relatively tall Pearl tower looks more like a blip in
the skyline.
If you’re lucky and the weather gods co-operate, you’ll see
a mix of cloud and the lit up skyline as the low level clouds rise upwards due
to the wind tunnel created by the hotel.
The suite is huge and an incredible use of a Diamond Suite
Upgrade, with the suite giving me more of a Lost
In Translation feeling then the actual Park Hyatt Tokyo.
This is one of the best uses of a DSU in the entire Hyatt
chain, and I would even consider flying to Shanghai just to stay at this
hotel.
Tip: Typically a DSU upgrades only to Park View Suite, but
it doesn’t hurt to email the hotel the day before to see if they’ll let you
switch to the Bund View suite. While the room layouts are identical, the view
from the Bund View suite is significantly better as you see the Pudong
skyscrapers and the Bund, while with the standard suite you’re looking at
endless mid-rise apartments.
Up Next: Breakfast on the 91st Floor & Shanghai’s Most Amazing Swimming Pool
