Hyatt On The Bund, Shanghai

I have stayed many, many times at the Hyatt on the Bund Shanghai. For this trip, I stayed with my two sons for more than two weeks. This was my first stay at the Hyatt on the Bund since the pandemic and of course many things have changed since 2019. Other travelers who remember the old pre-2020 Hyatt on the Bund experience may be especially interested in this review. I will discuss what has changed. Pre-2020, I considered the Hyatt on the Bund my favorite hotel in the world. I liked it more than the Park Hyatt Shanghai, more than the Park Hyatt New York, and more than any other hotel anywhere for its combination of style, location, friendliness, and service. I believe that the Hyatt on the Bund is still an excellent hotel and I will definitely stay there in the future. Its location is outstanding. If you are a walker or runner, you can enjoy the 13 kilometer pedestrian Bund nearby that will take you past Shanghai's beautiful colonial buildings, past the famous Nanpu and Lupu bridges, and all the way to the great art museums of the West Bund. That said, there are post-pandemic changes that I hope can be addressed. I consider the Hyatt on the Bund best marketed as a high-end, premium hotel experience, and its service and amenities should reflect that: 1) Check in. It took me at least 20 minutes standing in line to check in. It was very slow. I didn't mind that too much, but I sure noticed it. In all of my previous visits to the Hyatt on the Bund, check-in was lightning-fast and there were abundant staff around to greet me. There was none of that staffing or personalized service this time. 2) Uniforms. The previous staff uniforms were all-black in a subtle Hanfu or Tangfu "Chinese" style. The new staff uniforms are gray office couture, the sort of clothes that you would wear if you worked for an attorney or a bank. The old all-black uniforms made it visually unmistakable who the hotel staff were. The new uniforms are easily confused with the clothing that conference-goers and other hotel guests are wearing. The old uniforms had a mystery, an elegance, and evoked old 1930s Shanghai. The new uniforms have none of that appeal. 3) The club. The most obvious change to the club since 2019 is that jaw-dropping view of Shanghai's Lujiazui skyline is now entirely blocked by a new conference center that was built across the street. Ideally the Hyatt on the Bund could relocate the club to a higher floor to recapture that stunning view. But there are other changes to the club that I noticed at least as much as the loss of the view. The number of service staff have been dramatically reduced in the club. This affects the experience in many ways. In the old HOTB club, there were enough staff on hand that the staff could be proactively friendly and chatty. They would get you drinks, and refill those drinks. I got to know the staff over the course of many visits and was quite happy to see the same people again and again. The new club lacks this warmth, in part because the staff are very busy. There aren't enough staff. Pre-2020, the Hyatt on the Bund club staff was staffed in large part by students from a hotel management college. They were proactively friendly as many young people are, and took time to know you if you were interested in talking. The new smaller staff are less proactively outgoing. I miss that aspect of the Hyatt on the Bund. The old HOTB really felt like a "home" that I was returning to again and again, and the friendly club staff were a big part of that. 4) Maintenance. There are small but very noticeable maintenance problems that affect the guest experience. These include: * The key reader on at least one of the elevators is broken on one side of the elevator. You have to learn through hard experience that only one of the key scanners work. Guests will notice this with frustration as they ride the elevator up and down, unable to choose their floor. * The drain on my room would not open. Each day I left the tub filled with water and the excellent housekeeping had to drain the tub for me. I would have preferred to do it myself. 5) Globalist amenities. The old pre-2020 HOTB refreshed a fruit plate in my room every day, as well as presenting a small sweet amenity in my room when we checked in. There was nothing like that on this trip. I did notice that some fruit appeared in my room on the final of my three reservations, but the chance for a first impression was missed. The fruit plate is a very small point, but it made the old Hyatt on the Bund seem like an "expensive" high-end hotel and a special experience worth paying extra for. I miss it. 6) Lobby and seating. The HOTB lobby is a huge space. There is nothing much there now. The decor is fairly uninteresting given the grandeur of this wide-open space. Worse, there is not sufficient seating for the many people in the lobby calling DiDi rideshares and the like. I had a good stay in my two weeks at the Hyatt on the Bund, and I still like this hotel a lot. I will stay again in the future. I just hope that in time HOTB management can bring back some of the features that made the pre-2020 Hyatt on the Bund a truly special experience. With its awesome waterfront location on the Puxi side of Shanghai, the Hyatt on the Bund has unlimited potential.

I booked a Pearl Tower River View Twin room but was instead given a Bund View room. When I questioned reception, I was told the hotel was fully booked and was later offered another room when one became available. Unfortunately, the view was hardly an improvement—yes, I could see the tower, but only if I pressed my face against the window. When a guest books a room with a specific view, it should at least resemble the images and description on your website. Anything less feels misleading. Not the experience I was expecting with my family...

This is a beautiful hotel. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. The view wqs incredible. The bathroom was enormous. There was huge variety at breakfast. A brilliant hotel with friendly staff.

I generally stay at the Grand Hyatt in Pudong where the views and the location are just as nice, but I have been told that the Hyatt on the Bund had renovated rooms and a nice bar. After a 3 day stay at the hotel, I'm prone to say this had been one of worse Hyatt properties (Regency and above) in terms of services I have stayed at. The staff were not very helpful, so if you are just looking for a clean bed to stay in the city at a decent location this might be the place. The internet is terrible, I understand that it is China but I have stayed at other properties in the city (FS, Ritz, Waldorf, etc.,) that have not had this issue; nevertheless the renovated rooms are comfortable. Oh....the bar, plenty of other bars in the city with the same nice view...really not worth the hype as the service is extremely poor; comparable or worst than a local bar off the street.

Receptionist Vicky Zuo is a total disaster. If you speak to her, she will respond after 3 sec with despise and only help like 60% of your request. Usual room rate is typically $200+ per night but this person make you feel you are living in a $2 barn.