The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong

When I walked in at Flair, the reception was fighting and arguing in front of my face and even 1 lady staff moved my arm indicating me to move out of her way. Cocktail and mocktail presentation were terrible and really unsuitable for a 5 star hotel bar. My mocktail looks like a leftover purple liquid with a dishwashing leftover foam put on top. Service was also disgustingly terrible, the only good thing is the taste of the drink is quite decent and the lady bartender in the picture noticed when my girlfriend looks confused about the drinks menu. Came with high hopes and returned with disappointment.

I have stayed at this property before and would always class it 5/5 but have been left disappointed and quite annoyed by my latest visit. Firstly, when I asked for a glass of Champagne in the lounge (always free flow moet in the past), i was told that they no longer did it because of greedy business men having 7 glasses and that ritz carlton could not afford it! My room was nearly £400 a night. I was told that i could have 1 glass of Prosecco instead. Secondly, i visited next day for afternoon tea. I sat down and was ignored for 35 minutes despite my attempts to catch the eye of the hostess. There was a pair of local gentleman in the corner who had 3 people fussing over them whilst I wasn’t even offered a drink. I did help myself to a soft drink but then left. This is such a shame that poor staff attention is letting down this fine company and property. The facilities here are top class, as are the views but there is an expected standard of service expected and my expectations were not met. The main area of concern is the ritz carlton lounge. Elsewhere the staff seemed better trained and more customer orientated. I think there may be a training issue so possibly not the employees fault. Unfortunately for ritz carlton the Langham will be getting my business on future trips.

Wonderful stay The staff has been amazing and the people tried to help us even with some issues The lounge was worth it and the room was great Big recommendation to this ritz Just one comment I think there was cocktails available at the lounge because I saw some bottles, but because there was no menu I didn’t know if there was any. In the ritz Carlton Shanghai Portmann there was a menu so it was a better to order cocktails Anyway good stay

Wonderful Club Lounge. Great food and attentive service. The handmade noodles (a weekly special) with a choice of four different broth were delicious - all rounded off with a fragrant non-caffeinated tea “eternal summer”. A real after work treat! Special shout out to lounge attendant Gloria who was very helpful (and suggested the tea!)

A slightly belated review as I just realized that I hadn’t written about this property & I wanted to highlight the check-in situation. We booked 3 suites for a 9-member family trip. Whilst one was coming in from USA, the rest of us came in together from Singapore. The young adult coming in from the US landed 3 hours earlier (12 noon) than we did (3pm) so we contacted the hotel a few weeks before to ask them to let her check in first as her flight was a very long one. She arrived at the hotel around 2pm and was asked to wait in the club lounge till check in time at 3pm. Imagine our surprise when the rest of us arrived at the hotel at 5pm & she hadn’t been given the suite yet! The poor thing had to fly nearly 20hrs to Shanghai and wait more than 3hrs for her room (way past the check-in time of 3pm) Furthermore, there was some issue with the 3 suites we booked & as we had 2 older folks with us (85 year olds) and didn’t want to wait, we just took whatever they suggested. We did get 3 suites in the end but not the original ones we booked. That aside, the rest of the stay was pleasant and our breakfasts and post dinner experiences in the club lounge were nice. The staff there are very friendly and accommodating. The hotel has stunning views of the Huangpu River and The Bund especially at night. It’s also well located near Shanghai Tower and shopping areas. The rooftop bar is very trendy with great views and has a good drinks menu. All in all, it was a pleasant stay except for the check-in which surprised us as my parents have stayed there before and never encountered issues.