Shanghai Bund Shangri-La Hotel - Deluxe King Room
||I didn't expect the supporting hotel for the Bund Taikoo Li to be Shangri-La, but compared to many Shangri-La hotels from the last century, the decor of this one is indeed eye-catching, with a modern retro vibe.
However, choosing a room here is indeed a bit of a headache. Their suites are too small, and the river view rooms, well, just like the Xi'an Darcy, only offer a 'line' of river view, which means a slightly more open view, but even the executive river view rooms are only 35 square meters. The other option is the 45 square meter ultra-luxury room, which is 10 square meters larger, but you could say it has no view at all, opening the curtains to face an office building directly. So after some deliberation, I still went for the 45 square meter ultra-luxury room, since there wasn't much of a view to speak of anyway.
Walking into the room gives me a feeling of the Nanjing Zhongshan Suning Golf, dignified and elegant, but the overall color tone is not so dark, with some bright colors as embellishments, such as the partition between the bathroom and the bedroom using colored frosted glass with old Shanghai charm, creating a hazy light atmosphere.
I really like the style, but the amenities don't live up to a hotel newly opened in this location in 2023, giving the impression of 'already renovated for many years'. For example, they still use a semi-automatic toilet, Toto's basic bathtub, a non-Dyson hair dryer, no capsule coffee machine, reduced bottled water and installed a water purifier, and even sell tea leaves in the room. So, this Shangri-La still can't shake off that old-fashioned feel.
To the left of the entrance is the wardrobe and luggage rack, to the right is the bathroom, and the 10 square meters more than the river view room is used for an office and leisure space by the window, which can be completely separated from the bed with sliding doors, giving a feeling of making a dojo inside a snail shell, which actually doesn't seem very spacious. However, if one person needs to sleep while another needs to work, it's still somewhat useful.
The most speechless part is the design of the power outlets, there are no visible plugs next to the bed and sofa, instead, you have to pull out the drawer below to reveal the outlets, not to mention the cumbersome use, space occupation, safety hazards, etc. What's the use of having wireless charging next to these outlets? The location of the bedside control panel is quite creative.
It's rare to have a bench at the end of the bed in such a narrow space, the TV is quite large but cannot cast screen, nor does it have built-in movies, the mini-fridge is chargeable, the tea bags are Shangri-La's own and not bad, the turndown service is meticulous, and used items are replenished. Room service is also quite responsive.
Overall, the decor is nice, the space is small but appears refined, but in terms of practicality, there are some shortcomings, and the amenities are a bit low for the price, a basic room around 900 would be more appropriate.