Disclaimer: In exchange for a hosted stay on the Club Lounge level of The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, I am writing this review.
In a recent hotel review, I briefly mentioned an appreciation for the late U.S. architect John Portman. Coincidentally, I can now finally say that I’ve stayed at one of his firm’s works.
Located entirely within the Shanghai Centre, one of Shanghai’s first modern skyscrapers (having opened in 1990), the 593-rooms and suites of The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai makes it one of the world’s largest Ritz-Carlton by room count. The property opened on January 1, 1998.
Access
The property is on one of Shanghai’s main thoroughfares, Nanjing Road, conveniently found in between Nanjing West Road and Jingan Temple metro stations. Metro line 2, which plies an east-west route — and stops at both of those stations — connects to Shanghai Pudong Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, and Hongqiao high-speed rail station.
From my recent experience, the metro takes a little over an hour from Pudong to either of the aforementioned stations, from where the walk is around 10-15 minutes with luggage.
The trip from the hotel to Hongqiao train station was around 40-45 minutes, although it takes quite a while to get to the passenger waiting hall.
Furthermore, the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai is exceedingly close to many dining and shopping options, as well as a number of heritage buildings converted into boutiques and cafes. It’s a bustling area, but given how quiet my room was, it was fortunately difficult to tell.
Check-in
As a Club Lounge guest, you can be taken directly to the 43rd floor without stopping at the check-in desk, just ask the staff in the elevator lobby to send you for the first time as an access card is required.
Anyway, once I made it to the Club Lounge (with the help of a hotel employee), I knew things were in much better hands.
At this point, I will give a shout-out to a number of lounge personnel who were ready to assist with nearly any of my bizarre questions about food, the hotel, and Shanghai: Erato, Lisa, Matthew, Ruby, Yoki, and Mirror.
Club Lounge
It might be reasonable to mention that my time in the Club Lounge was enjoyable in no small part due to the Ritz-Carlton stricter entry requirements. What sets the brand apart from every other Marriott company is that only Club level guests can enter. Yes, you can invite one person to join, but if you think you’re getting in based solely on your program status level, think again.
And how about those guest benefits?
Having neglected to do laundry in Hong Kong, I availed of the complimentary laundry service…I’d have to consider that to be the best guest perk.
I really wanted to try out the limousine service, too, but Hongqiao railway station was way too far for that to be practical. Then again, if you were using Shanghai Railway Station, then that would be feasible.
Now that the backgrounder is out of the way, let’s have a look at The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Club Lounge.
Overall, it was a bright and sufficiently airy milieu, with a variety of seating options available.
Save for one lunch (no, no, two lunches on the same day) outside, I took every other meal at the Club Lounge.
As you might have learned by now food is typically my favorite part of any review. That’s why I made some videos spotlight the diversity of flavors available at any given “culinary journey” (those are the hotel’s words).
Appropriately, the first video is of breakfast:
Given the growing Shanghai craft beer industry, I was surprised to not see tap beer present. On the other hand, as I rarely drink beer, having small-batch Chinese liquors such as baijiu and gin worked out just fine.
Update: I was told by my hotel colleague that a beer tap might be installed as soon as next month!
Room
Just as I had expected, my King room was spacious, polished, and had an excellent view of the Soviet-Chinese Shanghai Exhibition Centre:
With this being my first China hotel review, I can’t further delay mentioning the elephant in the room– internet access. To keep it brief, research VPNs before you make it to the country. You could always bring in a SIM card from abroad, and/or have pocket WiFi with a non-Chinese SIM; naturally, I didn’t have any of the above this time.
OK, on with the room photos (and one video):
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Fun fact: the Club Lounge is connected to most Club room floors by a spiral staircase.
Dining
In addition to an international buffet restaurant called Portman’s (open daily from 06:30 – 22:30), there’s The Ritz Bar & Lounge. The decor has an erstwhile 1920/1930s Shanghai motif, replete with chinoiserie, a small private room for events, and employees who try to suss out what exactly you mean by a “Chinese cocktail.”
Rather, what I meant by Chinese cocktail:
Using Hunan-sourced goji berry-infused Pangolin Gin, sun-dried mandarin orange peel (chenpi), and blueberry extract, this was the first of two drinks I tried. It was fun, but I (seriously) requested something spicy. Something with chili peppers. Why, I don’t know.
Since those were understandably not on the bar menu, the bartender tried something else, this time with jasmine tea, jasmine syrup, and mint:
It was fun, but again I don’t like to overdo it with sweetness.
Regardless, my time at the bar and lounge was relaxing.
More Amenities
The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai has a couple of seasonal diversions that are unavailable in the colder months.
For one, there’s a rooftop bar, Terrace 8, with seemingly fantastic night shots of the city:
But I also don’t want to neglect talking about the outdoor pool, which was under renovations during my stay.
Having been distracted by the Club Lounge, I completely forgot to visit the indoor pool, and 24-hour gym.
Tally ’em Up
The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai sold me on its Club Lounge. From the folks working there, to the food, tranquility, and strict access rules, this hotel stay was one of the best I’ve had in a while. And yes, it did come in handy it is right along Metro Line 2, connecting both Shanghai airports, and one of its major high-speed rail stations.
Give this one a go for its good-value Club level rooms.
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