Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund — Hotel in Shanghai

This Indigo could easily be the most interesting, impeccable, ingenious, and interactive hotel I have ever stayed in China. The estate stands alone on the east side of the bank street, making the view from your hotel room unparalleled in Shanghai. Upon my arrival, the front desk staff greeted me like an old friend and upgraded me for being a Platinum Elite (now Spire Elite). The minute I started to walk to the elevator, I couldn't help but notice all the neat decors alongside the walkway: a collection of old Shanghai, the Paris de l'Orient. It was as if I had been taken back in time...Smelling the aromas reminiscent of the white tea shampoo I always used, I was in front of my room door, thanks to the ultra-fast elevator. Entering the room and keeping discovering new surprises was another highlight of my stay: the design again integrated myriads of elements from old Shanghai and every single piece of decoration in the room must have been the effort of the designer. The hotel staff placed a plate full of fresh fruits on which a hand-written card with my name on it said how they had the pleasure to welcome me to visit. The touch had instantly made me feel like coming back again when I visit Shanghai next time, which is for sure! The room was giant with a panorama view of the Huangpu river and Pudong high rises. The bathroom design was also sophisticated which I would not even elaborate. I also received a few drink coupons which we used later to talk about business with a few friends on the 30th floor. Needless to say, the view over there was probably the best I have ever seen in Shanghai. Unfortunately, we decided to go out to dine and never got a chance to use their dining room. However, breakfast was extraordinary, not because of the many choices of food. On the contrary, it was the high-quality that really made it worthwhile. The labelled jars of jams had this old British touch that made me feel like I was eating breakfast with a British Lord :) Yet, you wouldn't feel like a complete useless lord since you had to squeeze the juice yourself, which made the experience very interactive. The worst part of stay? I had to leave :( Of course the front desk had repeatedly asked me what they could have done better. My answer to them: keep up. In general, I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay experience in this Hotel Indigo and I cannot wait to come back for...

It would be a fantastic experience staying Hotel Indigo Shanghai On The Bund if we didn't visit Char Bar in the night!

The following is what happened:

Upon arrival, we were interrogated whether we were hotel guest or not. (Understandable, for controlling the people, but the interrogator may be not in a good mood that night.)

After entering Char Bar, the waiter was not so willing to arrange us seats, kept telling us there is 1000 RMB minimal expenditure requirement (actually he was not so sure about that, he asked his colleague to confirm the minimal amount expenditure requirement). I had to respond that is FINE with me, several times!

After being seated, there was no complimentary water or snack served. We then ordered some food and beverage in the menu.

After all above, the most impressive part arose: I asked the waiter to bring the bill and showed him my IHG Spire Electronic Card, then asked for 15% discount based on IHG “Delight your palate with members’ exclusive offers”. The waiter appeared ignorant about this F&B offer. And he asked his supervisor for help. 15 minutes later, a lady came and claimed in a fully confident way: “our Bar is not participating this program!” I replied “Ok, I didn’t know that. But please record this dining expense under my room folio, because we are staying at this hotel so I can earn some points.” The lady replied: “No that is not possible, you can’t earn points.” I said: “Are you sure?” “Yes, you may go downstairs to front desk to recheck.”

This is the whole story happened that night which cause us a very bad experience. For part 1-3, which are somehow tolerable. For part 4, after checking “Delight your palate with members’ exclusive offers” participating hotel lists and Full Terms and Conditions.

I found us been cheated:

Hotel Indigo Shanghai On The Bund is in the participating list, and sub-category Bar is checked. Not like what the lady claimed. (https://www.ihg.com/content/dam/etc/media_library/branded/6c/en/gb/pdf/fnb-hotel-list.pdf)

Guest can earn points for the dining expense if they are staying in the accordingly hotel. Not like what the lady claimed. (https://m.ihg.com/hotels/ihg/us/en/global/offers/member/gcfnb17/tc)

Managing team of Char Bar must revisit how well their first line employee understand the ABC knowledge and compensate for this case at least...

I like the shower, it has three modes, rain forest downpour, spray and the standard handheld shower head. Shower room has a windows, you can enjoy the river view during a bath or shower, otherwise for a city view room, you may want to close the bind just in case opposite building can see you having a shower. I love the rain forest downpour as I find it so relaxing after a day of work at the office.

Full gadget toilet, from seat warmer, odour removal and after business cleansing, very advance, cannot ask for more.

If you want the best Bund view, room XX09 is a corner room, otherwise XX07 or XX08 can see the Bund clearly. There are some city view tiny rooms, try to avoid these one XX02, XX04 and XX06, of which I don't think they are worth for the price with the size of the room and view.

Wide variety of TV channels, but video quality can be quite bad, some channels flicker, not in high definition, stretched 4:3 format fit to a 16:9 TV. Sound quality is ok over all, except CCTV2 get distorted badly.

Very comfortable bed, with a green and orange lantern hanging on both side of the bed, very old Shanghai style special interiors.

Quay's staff can be super friendly, but at times staffs just concentrate and spend too much time cleaning and tidy up the table, then disappear nowhere when you needed their attention. Food chooses are limited, just one page and menu has not updated for a while. It is ashamed and could bring a lot of customers at lunch and dinner with this fantastic river view.

Char dining is located at the 29th floor, starter comes with complementary warm bread, I ordered the sweetcorn soup, black cod with lime syrup (very good combination), on the side mash potatoes and caesar salad. All very nicely cooked and well present. Must visit with your love ones and best make a reservation as it could get very busy.

Hotel is far from any Metro station, taxi will be one of the methods unless you know the bus route well. Recommend hotel provide directions how to get around the city, like ferry services and local bus route maps for travelling to popular tourist attraction during check-in.

Hotel does not provide complementary laundry even if you are the platinum elite member, unlike Crown Plaza hotel have 2 pieces a day. Also there is no option for reserving the same room every time you...