Reviews of Starwood hotels - Mainland China

[YK@HKG]

Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences

I stayed at the Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences last weekend as part of my Platinum run. Like most of the SPG properties I stayed in the previous few weeks, this hotel is brand new, just opened sometime in Spring this year. The rate was RMB1050+15%, which came WITHOUT breakfast! It's located next to the Four Points By Sheraton, Pudong. One main concern about this property is that it has no nearby subway station You simply have to rely on taxi to go anywhere. There is a large shopping mall beside the Hotel and a McDonald just opposite of the complex. However, you do have to venture outside of the area if you really want to shop and eat till you drop.

The hotel itself was modern and sleek as I expect. Service-wise, it was also top-notch I was initially given room 3060 in the SPG floor. As soon as I entered the room and tried to use the locker, it was out of order. I immediately notified the front desk and I was transferred to another empty room in the same floor within a few minutes. The room came with a separate shower and bath-tub, the Sheraton Sleeper Bed, working chair, and the now customary flat-screen TV.

The exterior look:





The entrance:



Bed and TV:





Four Points By Sheraton, Pudong:



So far, I enjoyed my stays in the SPG properties in China, including the Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences. However, the inconvenient location of this hotel means that I will probably exclude this hotel from my list and move to the Le Royal Meridien Shanghai in my next stay.

[YK@HKG]

Four Points By Sheraton Shanghai, Daning

This 4* hotel is the second Four Points property in Shanghai and it was opened almost the same time as the Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences. Rate-wise, it's the cheapest SPG property in Shanghai and I took advantage of the competitive rate by staying 3 nights (with 2 stays) in the hotel.

Location wise, its quite a distance from the airport and the city. It will take you around an hr from the Pudong International Airport to the hotel and roughly the same time (albeit cheaper) if you use Maglev and taxi. It's located in Daning in Zhabei area, just within walking distance to the Shanghai Circus World and two subway stations (Yanchang Road and Shanghai Circus World). In fact, I would rate it as more accessible than the Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences Another plus point is the fact that the hotel is part of the new Life Hub @ DANING, which consists of retail malls, offices, pubs, restaurants and others in the huge open-air arena. You can find Haagen-Dasz, Swatch, a cineplex, a Nike factory outlet, and even a BreadTalk outlet

The rate of RMB688+15% is INCLUSIVE of breakfast at the Cafe, a welcome drink at the Lobby Lounge and a complementary 15-mins shoulder and back massage at Touch Spa on the 6th floor. There's also a Cantonese restaurant Fu Lin Xuan and Siempre Tapas Spanish Bar.

The exterior:







Life Hub @ DANING



The Lobby:



The Cafe:

[YK@HKG]

The room itself is not as modern and sleek as the other SPG hotels. However, I like the simplicity and minimalist design I was given a corner room in both stays (1121 and 1621) which came with a king-bed, huge sofa and LCD TV. The interesting thing was: the TV cabinet can be moved, so, u can watch TV while sitting in the sofa or when u are resting on the bed There was also a separate working area and only a bath-tub which has a shower-head attached.

The bed:



The sofa:



The working area:



Overall, I would rate my stay at the Four Points By Sheraton Shanghai, Daning as better than the one at the Sheraton Shanghai, despite its 4* status. Even though the Sheraton's design and interior exude class, I prefer the location and atmosphere of the Four Points at Daning.

[KeithMEL]

I do think that the 4P looks nicer than the Sheraton from your pictures. The 4P exudes minimalist chic; there's just something really industrial about its design which I find very soothing. The Sheraton seems a little 'much' with all those colours IMO.

How were the beds at each property? Up to brand standards?

[YK@HKG]

I do think that the 4P looks nicer than the Sheraton from your pictures. The 4P exudes minimalist chic; there's just something really industrial about its design which I find very soothing. The Sheraton seems a little 'much' with all those colours IMO.

How were the beds at each property? Up to brand standards?

Agree! I would say that the Westin Guangzhou is probably the best hotel among the SPG properties I have stayed in recent weeks.

I never really care about the beds though. Except for the first night in Shanghai, I had good long sleep on the other 3 nights

[9V-JKL]

Thanks YK@HKG for the Shanghai reviews. I'll be there next month and this is great info in helping to decide where to stay.

I never really care about the beds though. Except for the first night in Shanghai, I had good long sleep on the other 3 nights

what happened the 1st night?

[YK@HKG]

Thanks YK@HKG for the Shanghai reviews. I'll be there next month and this is great info in helping to decide where to stay.

You are welcome..... I would say that the Le Royal Meridien or Westin Bund Center will be the obvious choice given their strategic location (Nanjing Road shopping street and the Bund respectively) if u have the cash to splurge.

I was a bit "stingy" on this trip and that's why I choose the most economical hotel of the lot

what happened the 1st night?

Nothing special...just not used to sleeping outside the comfort of my own bedroom....

[YK@HKG]

More reports and pics of the last 2 hotels: Sheraton Dongguan and Four Points By Sheraton Shenzhen to follow by early next week. I didn't take pics on the last 2 stays at 4-Pts Shenzhen and I will remind myself to do so in the upcoming weekend trip.

[jjpb3]

Nice detailed reviews -- thanks for sharing. They will be useful when I finally get around to visiting Shanghai.

[YK@HKG]

Finally done with my PLAT run (with 24 stays posted as of today and 2 more to be posted by tomorrow). Stayed in the Sheraton Dongguan, Westin Guangzhou and Four Points By Sheraton Shenzhen during the weekend. Will post pics and reviews hopefully tonight.

[WSSS]

Great reviews of the SPG hotels, YK@HKG! It was an enjoyable read and I hope to see the rest being up. Thanks for sharing it here.

[SQFAN]

Finally done with my PLAT run .

Congrats

[YK@HKG]

More pics of Westin Guangzhou

I stayed for another night at the Westin Guangzhou on Saturday and managed to snap a few more pics, including the lobby (I was stopped the other time).

The exterior looks:









The lobby:





QBar

[YK@HKG]

Sheraton Dongguan

Unlike the other SPG properties in Southern-China, the Sheraton Dongguan is certainly not new, having been around for at least 2-3 years. It is located in the town of Houjie within the industrial city of Dongguan (which has so many towns, each having its own 4-5* hotels). Journey by those travel bus will take you around 80 mins from Shenzhen and 70 mins from Guangzhou, via the Guangshen Expressway.

The town itself is quite popular among businessmen because of the many exhibitions being held there. In fact, there is a large-scale footwear exhibition this week which was the reason why I saw many Indonesians in the hotel last weekend. There are also large furniture malls and other factories located either in the town or in neigbouring towns within Dongguan. Taiwanese ppl certainly have lots of investments in those factories and you can see many restaurants that are catered for the Taiwanese lao-ban.

The exterior looks:





The lobby is very grand, in fact, it is probaby the most spacious among the SPG properties I have stayed in recently. The presence of greeneries inside the lobby make it even more comfortable and soothing environment for travellers. Just next to the hotel is a shopping center (Ming Cheng Center) with several branded names.

The lobby:







Lobby lounge:



The hotel specially allocates a space on the second floor, called Link@Sheraton and provides 2 Sony Vaio desktop computers with internet connection. Hotel guests receive 45-mins of free connection each day Of course, you can always connect your laptop to the internet in your own room, with free high-speed internet provided.

Link@Sheraton:

[YK@HKG]

I was given a corner room on the SPG Floor (room 2318) and I was pleased with it. Certainly, you can't compare it to the new SPG properties, but, it was good enough for me. For example: there's no flat-screen TV to boast here. However, there is a separate bath-tub and shower. The Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed was comfortable to sleep in and since I arrived pretty late (around 9pm), I couldn't be bothered to watch any TV shows either. Other amenities include a sofa bed, a small desk and chair for work. The rate that I paid was RMB780 nett, with no breakfast included.

SPG Floor:



The bed:



TV and sofa:





Bath-tub and shower:




I did try the Sekisai Japanese Restaurant on the 3rd floor and ordered an Unagi fried rice. Price-wise, its hotel-standard @ RMB78 (or slightly more than US$10), however, it was quite delicious and came with free tea, fruits, and dessert(green tea ice cream). The restaurant also offers Kaiseki meals for those into Japanese food Other restaurants include Luigi Italian Restaurant, Oriental Court Chinese Restaurant, and Botanica Brasserie Restaurant. To accomodate those Taiwanese lao-bans, the hotel also has a night-club

Overall, it was a surprisingly pleasant stay at the Sheraton Dongguan. Those who are travelling to Guangzhou for the Export-Import Fairs in April and October can consider this SPG property here, as pricewise, it might be cheaper than the astronomical price you will expect to pay during those 2 months for hotels in Guangzhou (normally 3 times average rate).