Similar to Dubai, China boasts an insane amount of luxury hotels at attractive cash prices. In fact, it’s one of the few times where we did zero awards booking for this trip since the RMB dollars/points heavily favors cash instead of points. Crossing over the Great (Fire)wall of China, it is eye-opening to see the wealth of infrastructure they have in the hospitality industry. For our first hotel feature in this China series, we stayed at the Shangri-La Qiantan Shanghai.
Booking
There are ways to maximize savings even if it’s booked cash. For U.S. readers, cards like the Citi Strata Elite gives a $300 annual hotel benefit when you book 2-nights or more using cititravel every calendar year.
With the $300 credit, our total comes to $265.86 which makes our out of pocket a mere $132.93/night. That rate is incredible considering most Shangri-La of this caliber (i.e. Tokyo) is close to $700-$900/night.
Executive King
Our flight landed early morning and it was appreciated that the room was already ready for us. First thing Chloe noticed was “Look mommy, there’s a playground right below us!”
The bathroom is tastefully decorated with marble and granite countertop. The highlight of the room was the entire floor features heated marble floors like the rooms in Park Hyatt New York.
Location
The location of the hotel is in the “New Shanghai” area, which is more catered to locals in the city. Personally, I found it quite pleasant to see the city without tourists and ease into the hustle and bustle of China.
The hotel is right across a high-end shopping mall. I was in the mood for a haircut and the Shangri-La concierge even recommended a fancy male salon walking distance from our room.
Breakfast
The breakfast spread was massive with an assortment of western and eastern dishes freshly made with chefs waiting for your order as you go up to the station.
Convenience
In China, everything is a Didi Premium ride away. For a price cheaper than UberX with the luxury of UberBlack, you can go virtually anywhere around the city for less than 10 bucks. The cars are fascinating since none of them are in the states and they feel like Teslas on steroids.
In 20 minutes, we’re able to stroll around the famous Yu Garden 豫园 at night in the heart of old Shanghai.
Overall, Shangri-La Qiantan Shanghai was a lovely stay. It served as a great introduction to this new area of Shanghai we haven’t visited in over two decades. Since then, the city transformed into this new era of tech and infrastructure that boasts what feels like a limitless buffet choices of luxury hotels. Get ready to see the other side of the Great Fire(wall) of China… it is out of this world
Chai Bear World 