InterContinental Shanghai Ruijin — Hotel in Shanghai

If you travel in China, you know that service is something not generally understood by the masses. Since these masses make up the working populous, you are left with wait staff and attendants who aren't really interested in waiting or attending. Topped with a no-tipping culture, there is little to motivate entry-level help to want to excel, other than their own pride in their job.

That said, one has to temper their expectations in Chinese hotels and hope for the best, but expect the worst. When anything less than the worst happens, you are on your way to having a nice time!

So I could say that my weekend spent with my wife for her birthday at the Ruijin Hotel was great. The property was exceptional, probably the nicest hotel grounds in the entire city. Centrally located, so we parked our car (for free# and walked around the city for the duration of our stay. The layout of the hotel was such that you checked in at one building, and stayed in another. When we arrived at 8:00 pm, there were no signs to direct us to which building to check-in. We did see a sign that in English read "reception building" and in Chinese read "great hall" but that gave us doubt it may be a place for weddings, not the check-in desk. So we drove around the twisty roads a little, until we found the correct building. It may also have been easier to find if there were bellman out front, but alas there were not.

Check-in was relatively smooth, and they had upgraded us to the executive building which basically was an entire elite hotel on its own. The building was very nice, and the lounge breakfasts were good, with a menu of eggs #including eggs benedict# and other things to accompany the small buffet. The cappuccino was perfectly made at the classy bar by a young Spanish gentleman who was in charge of the lounge, making sure everything was just so. He even directed us to which bakery nearby made the pastries for the hotel, so that I could go out and buy some to take home. If the weather was better, we would have taken breakfast on the patio, overlooking the waterfall, but it was December.

Breakfast in the "Great Hall" was excellent, but the service was not as good, but the cooks themselves surprised me by all speaking English, and also made an even better eggs benedict than the lounge upon request. The coffee in this restaurant were not exceptional, to the point of undrinkable.

The rooms were nicely appointed, not a good as the hotel that directly competes with it in town, but better than most. The windows opened fully to look out over the park, which was very nice. The television had HBO, but very poor sound, so you could hardly hear it on max volume. The heating controls #as in many Chinese hotels# did not have the capacity to offer both hot and cold selections, even though the buttons were there. So the room was generally a pretty toasty 24.5 degrees, even with the windows open. In December. We just turned it off when we were in there, but the housekeeper came back a few times a day to turn it on again, and get the temperature back up for our "comfort".

The spa and pool are very nice, but the Jacuzzis are in the change rooms, so you can't join your spouse, and you have to ready for the unexpected naked dude jumping in next to you!

The pool was large and the deepest I have seen in a Chinese hotel #2m#, with a lifeguard who unfortunately had been given rules that everyone has to wear a swimming cap. Now this is one of my beefs with this pace: My wife is Chinese and I am Canadian, she was accosted at the door of the pool and told she could not swim without a cap, but she could buy one at the desk. They turned her out flat. I arrived five minutes later, and the guy tried the same thing on me. I just dove in, and 30 seconds later, he showed up with a "loaner" cap. No mention of buying for me. I waited 40 minutes for my wife to appear, and even asked the attended who had kicked her out if he had seen her #I speak adequate Chinese#, but he had nothing to say. Afterwards we finally met up, and I learned why she was not at the pool. This was the one true lowlight of my stay; staff following orders without offering the same options to local or foreign guests, even when they are paying the same money. This needs to be addressed.

Upon our departure, the check-out was faster and simpler than other Chinese hotels, but this is one area of service that is getting better in China overall. People don't want to wait 30 minutes to check-out while housekeeping searches the room for things you might have stolen. A bellman did help us to our car and saw us out.

Overall a great experience and coupled with a surprise birthday dinner with 14 friends that I had planned, it was a perfect 30th birthday for my wife, one that will be truly memorable for her. I recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a romantic time in Shanghai, reminiscent of the past golden era of the 1920's. You will not be disappointed, unless you try to go swimming without a cap, also kind of...

Let me begin by saying that I have stayed with the Intercontinental for the past 6 months on business travel. I am a platinum elite member, and would whole-heartedly agree that the Intercontinental in Australia is what you would expect from a 5-star hotel chain. Unfortunately, the one I stayed at in Shanghai (Ruijin Er Road) was not. Maybe it was that I booked on points so I got given an unexceptional room and sub-par service, but if I've given you my business for the past 6 months, I expect a little more when I book a stay on points for 2 nights.

Check-in issues: During check-in, I was informed that I would not be receiving an upgrade (no reason given whatsoever) even though as a platinum elite member I am eligible for free upgrades every time. I'm not that fussy, so whatever. It's fine. I was then told no rooms were available yet - I was checking in at 11am so I understood - maybe I was a bit early. I can wait. "If you want a room immediately" I was told, "you will have to pay $XXX per night to upgrade to a Club room. Otherwise it's an hours wait." No, no, I'm fine. I've booked on points and am willing to wait an hour. It's fine. "Oh... I will have a look again." Miraculously it turns out not only 1 but MULTIPLE rooms matching the description I booked WERE available. Can we just note that I was standing at reception during this whole 5 minute ordeal and no one had come to check out?

Room issues: While the room looks fairly grand, upon closer inspection a lot of things are made from cheap plastic. These bits kept falling off from inside the shower, the bathroom, even the card recognition plastic beeper thing on the front door fell off and we had to put it back on ourselves. Maybe it's just the building I was staying in (the main building) but airconditioning is not actually by room. We set our room to a balmy 21 degrees and it never reached it. Eventually we set it to 10 degrees. Stayed at 24 degrees the WHOLE TIME. When we called someone to come look at it at 2am as we could not sleep, they informed us that the entire building runs off the same temperature and "the Chinese are afraid of the cold". Uhm, excuse me? What is the point of having individual thermostats if you can't change the temperature? I did not expect to have this problem in 2015, let alone in a 5 star hotel. Room was facing a school playground - really noisy during some times of the day. Otherwise bearable.

Check-out issues: We requested late check out (perks of platinum elite membership) and was kindly granted until 4pm. Full disclosure: we lost track of time through no fault of the hotel and requested an extension until 4:30pm. "No problem" they said. We got back into our room and rapidly started packing when the phone rang and a voice spoke to us in Chinese asking "when are you getting out?" (lucky I understand Chinese...) and I responded with "we just notified reception of our new check out time" to which the lady seemed flustered and hung up.

On the upside, the grounds are beautiful and location is superb. However that is not enough to offset the issues present.

I completely understand if this was a new hotel with teething issues, but this is a reputable hotel chain and an established hotel at that and I am severely disappointed I chose to stay here. I think I will now be taking any future business to a different...

Ahhhhh...what a feeling to be back again to one my of my favourite hotels.

Located in the former French Concession area, the grounds are bewitchingly exquisite and the setting mesmerizing. The historical significance of this property added to the authenticity of the Shanghai experience I have experienced before and would like to savour again and again.

Booked a regular club room but with IHG/Ambassador status, I was given a premier suite in the newer building of the property. I wasn't going to take the generous offer as I would like to stay in the historic wing but since they were booked up for the weekend, I had really no choice at this point. However, Rita from the reception desk was very apologetic about not being able to provide a room in the Club Wing.

Disappointed as I was leaving the reception counter, my eyes lit up upon entering the room! It was massive, very well appointed and very impressive. Overlooking the beautiful grounds of the property and the historic gardens and the busy side streets below, my disheartened fastidious self was reeled back into a convivial mood. With a bathrooom and a half and a spacious foyer, living and dining/desk area, a family or group of 4 can comfortably stay in the suite long term.

After resting from a few hours, we went to the Club Intercontinental located in the Club Wing (a short walk away or you may avail of the golf cart service) for the afternoon tea. We were greeting by Justin. He was very friendly and welcoming and offered us a table right away. Right after we sat down, he explained the food offering for the afternoon tea and left to get our beverage. He came back after a short minute and chatted a little bit and he must have found out that we've stayed here before as he said he was glad to have us back in the hotel once again. His attention to detail was exceptional and the service we received from him and his crew during the afternoon tea actually set the standard of our dining experience during our stay so high that we were a little bit disappointed with the service that we received from the other two restaurants. We saw him and his crew a few more times during our stay and I can say that, he and his crew were the best staff members we have encountered during our short stay.

During our first night, we went out for dinner and when we came back, the room and the bathrooms were cleaned once again, slippers were placed on each side of the bed, water bottles replenished in the two bathrooms, coffee station, dining table/desk and on the night stands and bathroom amenities and towels were replenished. The bed turned down for a restful rest ahead. To top it all off, welcome basket (well, plate) of fruits and assorted sandwiches were left on the table. This was repeated during the next night and I was just amazed on the level of meticulous care that they put in to make their guests' stay comfortable. The cleaning crew did a great job and must be commended as well!!

Only a few reasons why I love coming back to this hotel because they think of the minutest detail to make their guests happy and satisfied. The service is truly above reproach.

I cannot wait to be back in...