Review: American Airlines Business Class LAX - PVG 
Review: PVG Cathay Pacific Lounge 
Review: Dragonair Business Class PVG - HKG 
Review: Andaz Xintiandi Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Review: Hyatt Regency Suzhou

The third of four Hyatt properties in Shanghai that I've stayed at is the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. It's located in Pudong, just across the street from the Park Hyatt Shanghai in the third tallest building in Shanghai, the Jin Mao Tower. Pudong is Shanghai's business district, so it's bustling during the day, but at night, the area is dead. If you venture across the river to other parts of Shanghai for dinner or drinks at night, be prepared for the fact that taxis won't want to take you back across the river because they likely won't be able to get a fare back. This is easily remedied by ordering an Uber, but is something to consider location-wise with this hotel.

Upon arriving at the Grand Hyatt, you'll enter a lobby area and head straight for the elevators. The lobby is found on the 54th floor and just like the Park Hyatt, has an amazing view of the surrounding area. The Grand Hyatt is tastefully decorated with many traditional Chinese elements, but unlike the Park Hyatt, it's a bit less subtle and not so modern. I prefer the decor at the Park Hyatt, but it's certainly a personal preference. 

Review: Park Hyatt Shanghai
City Guide: 5 Things to Do in Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shenzhen
Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Bridge” Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class HKG - SFO


Last November, I spent several nights at the Grand Hyatt Shenzhen and I returned to spend two more nights there in March of this year. Shenzhen is a surprisingly beautiful city and it's full of high-end shops, beautiful manicured plant-lined streets, and fun architecture that becomes a neon lover's dream each night. The Grand Hyatt Shenzhen is located about 5-10 minutes by taxi from the border with Hong Kong, so it's pretty conveniently located if arriving from the Hong Kong (HKG) airport. The Shenzhen airport (SZX) is about 45 minutes away with no traffic. 

As with many hotels in China, the Grand Hyatt is attached to a mall (in this case, the MixC Shopping Center), which features all the luxury shopping you could ever want. The hotel is housed in a 38 story building and has 471 rooms and 8 restaurants, which offer a pretty good variety of foods. 

Somewhat oddly, the lobby is located on the 33rd floor of the hotel, which is above all of the guest rooms. So upon arrival, you will get into an elevator to the 33rd floor and then will need to transfer to another elevator once in the lobby that will take you down to your room. The lobby itself is quite dramatic, with extremely high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. Each time I arrived, my check in was processed quickly and my Diamond status was recognized. I always opt for the points rather than the amenity when traveling by myself as I spend most of the time in my room working or sleeping.

During my first stay last November, I had leftover suite upgrades that would go unused, so for fun, I applied one to that stay and was upgraded to a Grand Suite King. For my second stay in March, I had a Standard King room and I actually preferred it to the suite. More on that later. 

The halls in the Grand Hyatt are extremely dark, which is something I honestly don't love when traveling alone, although the room numbers and doors are somewhat lit up. You will notice upon arrival that the entire hotel is accented with a reddish wood throughout, including the guest room doors, but the wood somehow lends an odd smell to the hotel hallways and rooms. It's nothing terrible,  but it's noticeable and since the hotel is several years old now, it doesn't seem like it will be going away anytime soon. 

Standard King

As I mentioned, I preferred the Standard King room over the suite that I had on my first stay, although the layout of the Standard rooms is extremely odd, to say the least. I have never encountered this before, but upon walking into the room, you'll find yourself in the bathroom. No kidding. Immediately, you will see the shower right in front of you, which is centered in the bathroom and surrounded by glass (imagine if you forgot to lock the door and a housekeeper walked in while you were in the shower! omg, the horror!), then the toilet has a separate compartment on the left, and on the right is a closet area and the sink and minibar.  The entire bathroom is covered in what I consider to be a hideous sort of green material (marble?), but it's still quite nice regardless. Amenities are June Jacobs, which actually smell really nice.

You'll proceed through the bathroom into the bedroom which is nicely appointed and looks like your standard hotel room (albeit a luxurious and modern one). There's a bed, a desk, and a chair with floor to ceiling windows and the room is nicely accented with wood and glass doors which can be closed all the way to separate the bathroom from the bedroom. As with many of the Hyatts in China, the window coverings are controlled by a switch next to the bed, which is always a nice touch.