Review: Park Hyatt Shanghai

First of all, I’ve made no secret of my love for Park Hyatt properties. I feel that they are some of the nicest and well-done properties in the world, and are certainly amongst the best hotels in which I’ve stayed. Before my trip to Shanghai, I’d previously stayed at Park Hyatts in Tokyo, Dubai, Melbourne and Zurich, and all four of them ranked at or near the top of my list of favorite hotels.

The Park Hyatt Shanghai easily joined the very top of that list.

An Around the World Trip — Oktoberfest and Asia

Located in the top 14 floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center (the “Bottle Opener Building”), the Park Hyatt boasts an unforgettable view, and is just an amazing property in general. We arrived very early – at 8am from Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport after an overnight flight from Bangkok, so we were pretty exhausted when we showed up for check-in in the beautiful 87^th floor lobby that features floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking The Bund and Shanghai’s sprawling cityscape.

I cashed in Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrade for our two-night stay at this property, and the check-in agent happily informed us that he had our suite ready on the 83^rd floor, room 8325. I knew we were showing up ultra-early, but I really didn’t expect them to have a room ready for us. Nevertheless, they did. Awesome.

And oh, what a room it was.

The Park Suite

We were upgrade to a Park Suite – a very good-sized, 130 square-meter suite that features a separate living room space and bedroom. The pictures really speak for themselves, but the room was fantastic. The room has a wet bar and a half bathroom in the entryway, and a massive living room with a huge dining room table and desk, a day chair, a full sofa, coffee table, and chairs. The bedroom is separate from the living room and features a king sized bed. The closet space was more than ample, and the bathroom – oh, the bathroom! Twin sinks with a walk-in, waterfall shower, AND a full bath inside the shower. It was a set-up that I haven’t seen before in a hotel room, and it worked so well. In short, our bathroom felt like spa retreat.

Living Room of Park Suite at PH Shanghai

Unreal bathroom in Park Suite at PH Shanghai

The views from our 83^rd floor spot were simply stunning. We looked down at the Bund, and were eye-level with the very top of the Jin Mao Tower – home of the neighboring Grand Hyatt.

View from room 8325 at the Park Hyatt Shanghai

We really couldn’t have asked for more from the room – it’s certainly a property where you should burn a Suite Upgrade if you have one!

Hyatt Diamond Breakfast

Simply put – this was the most complete breakfast buffet selection I’ve ever seen at a hotel. It had everything. Seriously – everything. In addition to that, we were entitled to an egg entrée (I ordered the Eggs Benedict). The bread selection was out-of-this world. As was the fresh fruit selection. Pretty much every breakfast item imaginable was available – both Western and Chinese options. Additionally, there was dim sum. There were noodles. There was sushi… and congee. Really, everything you could ask for. If you aren’t entitled to the Hyatt Diamond Breakfast, this ran about 299RMB. Now, I’ll never be okay with dropping about $50USD on a breakfast, but if there ever was a breakfast to do so – this would be the one.

Eggs Benedict

Huge Breakfast

Bread Selection

Dim sum

Spring rolls, etc

More options

PH Hyatt Buffet options

More Buffet

Meats and Cheeses!

Bottom line: highly impressed.

Park Hyatt Facilities

The property overall is just beautiful. I don’t usually get excited about hotels, but this one had me. The spa and disappearing edge pool were beautiful. The lobby bars were as well. The bar and lounge on the 92^nd floor was a blast – it featured wonderful views of the skyline, and served fantastic drinks. The service overall was just phenomenal.

The Verdict…

I’m not sure I could give this hotel much higher marks. From the physical facilities to the room to the service to the food – everything was top notch. The Park Hyatt Shanghai goes right up on the top of my list of “favorite hotels” – right ahead of the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

How I Booked it…

I booked a somewhat reasonable Hyatt Elite Rate for this stay. Since there were three of us in the room, we were able to split it three ways. The addition of the Diamond Suite Upgrade gave us a great deal of extra space.