The Grand Hyatt Shanghai is located in one of the 3 iconic skyscrapers in Pudong, Shanghai. The Shanghai Tower is the tallest with 632 meters. The Shanghai World Financial Center building – with the ‘bottle opener’ opening at the top – is 492 meters and houses the Park Hyatt at the top floors. The 3rd skyscraper is the Jin Mao Tower (420 meters) and houses the Grand Hyatt Shanghai at the top floors. Ten years ago I stayed at the Park Hyatt next door. That was an amazing experience, especially the swimming pool at the 85th floor.
But this time I’m staying at the Grand Hyatt. Please read my review below to find out if it’s worth staying at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai.
Views and Booking Strategy
Views from the Grand Hyatt Shanghai are amazing. We had a room at the 75th floor and views during the day and especially during the night, were amazing. Definitely one of the main reasons to stay at this hotel.
Another good reason to stay here is the attractive Hyatt Category; the Grand Hyatt Shanghai is a category 3 hotel. That means that you could use a category 1-4 voucher for a stay, or you could consider using points for your stay. Since I needed to book 2 rooms, I used both; for one room I used a category 1-4 voucher and for the other room, I paid 12,000 points. I believe this was worth it considering the cash rate for that evening. If you want to find out yourself whether it’s worth it paying for points instead of cash, have a look at the blog I wrote about this topic.
The Park Hyatt next door is a category 5 hotel. This means you wouldn’t be able to use a category 1-4 voucher and paying for a room with points would be a lot more expensive; 20,000 points to be precise.
I also applied a ‘guest of honor’ award to one room, to make sure all four of us – in both rooms – could use my Globalist Status benefits. In this case, free breakfast and use of the lounge. What I always appreciate is if a hotel lets you choose which breakfast you want to opt for; the breakfast in the lounge or the general breakfast. Very often, the latter is a lot better and more extensive. Luckily the Grand Hyatt Shanghai lets you choose!
Rooms
As stated earlier, both of our rooms were on the 75th floor. Check-in is on the 54th floor and only when you exit the elevator at the level where the rooms are located, can you see the amazing height of the building. The inside of the building is opened up and if you’re afraid of heights, you probably don’t want to look downstairs.
My son mentioned that the structure reminded him of a futuristic prison. Well, a very luxurious prison that is, but I could see the parallel! The first thing you want to do when you enter the room is to go to the windows and take in the amazing view. Surely the big attraction of the hotel. Rooms themselves are spacious and have everything you need. Rooms do look a bit outdated though and certainly don’t have the understated, modern luxury feel of the Park Hyatt next door. But again, you’re getting the same views and it’s certainly not a bad place to be in.
Bathroom is OK with a separate bath and shower. In the shower there isn’t a hand-shower though and the single bathroom sink area is a bit small.
Breakfast & Other notable mentions
The Breakfast Area is massive. It loops all around the 54th floor and there is a lot of choice. The time we were there it was also very busy so you really get a feeling of how big this hotel is; 548 guest rooms! The outside of the hotel is also a very popular location to take pictures at night and during the day. In fact, when we arrived we were wondering if there was some sort of event happening outside of the hotel. It was that busy with people taking pictures and standing in line. There wasn’t any event, just a lot of people taking pictures…
The hotel has several restaurants but you might want to double check the opening hours. When we wanted to visit some of the restaurants at 9PM most of them were already closed which seemed very early. Only the ‘Cloud 9’ restaurant was still open – and we had just a few minutes to order our food. Not something I expected from a big hotel in a city like Shanghai. Cloud 9 sits at the 87th floor so views are even more spectacular. Food was OK but nothing exceptional.
Conclusion
We didn’t expect to visit Shanghai on our Asia trip but because of some flight changes and typhoon warnings, we had to make a last minute booking in Shanghai. I initially looked at the Park Hyatt but cash rates were pretty high. The Grand Hyatt Shanghai seemed a very good alternative especially since it allowed me to pay for 2 rooms with points as well as a voucher. The central location in Pudong, combined with the amazing views and comfortable rooms made this a perfect, last minute stay in Shanghai. The rooms do look a bit outdated and the hotel can feel a bit crowded and massive especially during breakfast peak hours, but that shouldn’t stop you from considering this hotel for your next stay in Shanghai!
Also have a look at my Youtube channel, where I posted a review of my flight with Lufthansa in their new Allegris Premium Economy cabin. from Shanghai to Frankfurt.
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