It is a safe bet that when I return to Shanghai, the Portman Ritz-Carlton will not rank high in my consideration for places to stay. This was the first R-C hotel that was disappointing. Previous experiences in their other locations, such as in Hong Kong and the Half Moon Bay (California), did not prepare me for the quality of room I would get from the one in Shanghai. The actual entrance to the hotel receded away from the busy road where it was located (Nanjing Xi Lu). The foyer was dark and stuffy, an omen of things to come, I suppose. The reception area was even darker. I understood that they wanted to set a certain mood, but the entire lobby area was devoid of natural lighting, which I thought was unfortunate. The area made me want to run outside, but even if I did, I would not see daylight until I walked very far away from the hotel entrance.
The workmanship of the room was poor: the walls, the moldings, and the paint. I thought that the first time I entered my room, I had checked into a Ramada Inn! The bed was very uninviting: the mattress was hard and not comfortable at all. The pillows were small and not supportive enough. The light buttons on the side of the night table reflected a poor quality. The armchair sofa looked sad alone, without its usual Ottoman accompaniment. The very small bathroom had a regular non-descript bathtub unlike the wider and longer ones with chrome fixtures at other R-C locations, and once again, the workmanship looked and felt cheap. Only those in-house R-C bathroom amenities (Shampoo, Conditioner, Lotion, Bath Gel) and the thick, plush towels reminded me that I was somehow in an R-C hotel. In a nutshell, I did not feel as if I were in a Ritz-Carlton hotel. Somewhere from the receptionist desk to my room, I must have entered an elevator that had whisked me to an entirely different and inferior hotel. The accompanying image is borrowed from the Ritz-Carlton website. WYSI-not-WYG (What You See Is Not What You Get).
The work desk had ample space, but the Ethernet cable was not wired conveniently. The modem was hidden inside a drawer, from where the Ethernet cable originated as well. Instead of wiring it so that it would pop up from behind the desk, this cable had to be released from the front, causing the drawer to remain ajar. There was a hole made underneath this drawer, but trying to get the Ethernet fit in that hole in such a narrow drawer was quite a challenge. Having successfully done this, I was disappointed to find that the housekeeper had restored it back to its original annoying position when s/he had come in to the clean the room. The Internet rate, at Y1.60 per minute, had a maximum daily charge of Y96.60. One does have an option of not paying the entire Y96.60 if one just wanted to use the Internet for just a few minutes; but passing the 60-minute limit entitled one to use the Internet for the next 24 hours. Every time I disconnected from the Internet, I had to re-log in through their web portal.
Not too long after checking in, I ordered a room service: the spaghetti Bolognese looked very old and the strings lumped together as if they were just heated in the microwave instead of cooked fresh. The today’s paper was delivered in the evening: when I inquired why, the icy receptionist answered that they did not get the papers in until the afternoon. Fair enough.
But enough of the negativity: there must be something of value to this hotel? If there are such things, one must thank the team of people working the Concierge desk: people like Apple (a female staff; and yes Gwyneth, you are not the first one to name your baby ‘Apple’), Victor and William restored my faith somehow in this otherwise major let down hotel. At 10:30pm, Victor offered to get me a SIM-card for my cell phone, had it installed and returned back to my room by the time I came back from dinner. Reservations to restaurants were made at the last minute through them and were greatly appreciated.
The gym and the spa people also made my stay more bearable. The gym had a group activity schedule in which guest could join: I decided to take advantage of the adult swimming lesson by Ms. Zhang. I asked her to teach me two strokes (the back stroke and the butterfly) within the allotted one hour. She must be so efficient an instructor that within the very 60 minutes, I was able to do both strokes comfortably. The massages were of good quality. There was a price difference between having it done at the spa or at the room (additional Y50).
The Lonely Planet Guidebook noted that a renovation was done in 1999 at the cost of US$30 million. With corruption running rampant in this part of the world, I wonder how much was actually earmarked for the hotel, because the quality of the rooms and the workmanship (it could not just have been mine?) was downright lacking. The book also said that this PRC (very convenient acronym this hotel could make!) had replaced the historic Peace Hotel as the new favorite hangout for the expats. Calling it cream of the crop of Puxi was a little bit of a stretch. Thank goodness I am moving to the Four Seasons Shanghai soon.
The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai
Shanghai Centre
1376 Nanjing Xi Lu
Shanghai 200040, China
Tel: +86 (21) 6279-8888
Fax: +86 (21) 6279-8800
www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/shanghai/
