The InterContinental Shanghai Expo is one of the newest InterContinental hotels in Shanghai, having been completed and opened before the 2010 World Expo. It made quite a bit of money during the Expo period, which also led to significant wear and tear, making its hardware look even older than that of the InterContinental Shanghai Puxi. Perhaps due to its location, it’s clearly not very popular now; transportation is highly inconvenient with virtually no buses or subways nearby, and there aren’t many companies around either, so business travelers are unlikely to choose this place. It gets a bit livelier on weekends with some wedding banquets and such. Occasionally, celebrities performing at the nearby Mercedes-Benz Arena might stay here~~
Back in 2010, when I first came here for a meal, I was amazed by the massive carpet in the lobby depicting the entire Expo site~~ It really is huge! But of course, such a large carpet has a serious problem: it can’t be cleaned… Now it looks pretty dirty.
Large Carpet
Although the room is 42 square meters, the somewhat peculiar layout prevents it from feeling spacious. The currently popular layout places the bathroom right at the entrance, followed by a bathtub behind transparent glass, then the main room area, with the minibar, TV, wardrobe, etc., along one side. However, at the Expo InterContinental, you encounter the bathtub first, then the bathroom, then the wardrobe, and finally the main room area. This arrangement lacks an overall sense of space, though the actual floor area isn’t small. The decor feels a bit dated, which I don’t particularly like—I still prefer the modern style of the InterContinental Shanghai Puxi.
Another issue is the twin beds. This room was originally a king room, but to accommodate guest requests, it was converted into a twin room. As a result, the 2-meter bed was split into two 0.9-meter beds—the smallest beds I’ve ever encountered in a hotel… Honestly, it would have been better to just stick with the king room since there’s practically no difference except for a 0.2-meter gap removed from the middle…
Another feature of the room is that it’s filled with mirrors. However, I must say the layout is truly impractical; the minibar is extremely low, with the ice bucket and glasses almost touching the floor… Strangely, the TV lacks an HDMI input. It’s directly connected to a Bose home theater system, and while there’s an iPod dock next to it, it doesn’t work. There’s also a separate Logitech docking speaker by the bedside, which sounds decent.
Writing Desk
The view from the large floor-to-ceiling windows is quite nice—probably the best among the four InterContinental hotels in Shanghai. Right outside the window is the river scenery; although it’s not the most bustling section, sitting by the window watching boats come and go on the Huangpu River is still enjoyable.
The hotel’s gym and swimming pool are excellent—the most fully equipped hotel gym I’ve ever seen. And like gyms in other hotels, it’s very sparsely populated~~~
As for service, the overall service is rather average. My room was upgraded to an Executive Room, but without club benefits. The welcome fruit consisted of three mangoes and three chocolates…
The restaurant downstairs is also quite large, with breakfast only filling about half the seats. The old villas outside used to belong to the former Shanghai Alcohol Factory. They’ve now been converted one by one into meeting rooms, bars, and the like. There’s also a large lawn nearby, making the environment really pleasant. The complimentary drink vouchers can be used at the bar.
Villas and Lawn Downstairs
Regarding dining, since I’ve eaten here several times before, both the daytime buffet and breakfast at the all-day dining restaurant are pretty good. The Italian restaurant is also quite nice, but the afternoon tea at the Lobby Lounge is absolutely terrible… Unbearably bad…
Afternoon Tea
Lobby
As for nearby restaurants, Tony Roma’s Ribs and Masala Art used to be close by, but both have closed. Slightly farther away, there are only Paulaner and Senjia Xuan. For more options, you’d need to head over 2 km away to the Expo Source, where there’s plenty to eat~~ If the weather is nice, walking along the river isn’t too far. On the way, you’ll pass Paulaner and Senjia Xuan. These two occupy a standalone building: Senjia Xuan is on the 4th floor, apparently serving only teppanyaki, while floors 1–2 house Paulaner, where we had dinner.
Paulaner
A classic German beer hall, filled with various brewing equipment. Their house-brewed beer is indeed very tasty. We ordered the signature sausages and pork knuckle, both of which tasted great. Service was very fast, but the pre-meal bread was awful—served cold.
Pre-meal Bread
Sausage Platter
Half Pork Knuckle
House-brewed Beer
The atmosphere is extremely noisy, and because of this environment, I probably won’t return a second time… There’s a live singer, but the sound system is terribly poor. Surprisingly, despite being in such a remote location, the place was packed. Kids were running around upstairs and downstairs, making it impossible to hear the person sitting across from you. We finished our meal hastily and left as quickly as possible… Service was okay, though staff seemed slightly overwhelmed—but honestly, working in such a noisy environment every day must be tough for them…
Photos in this post taken with SONY NEX-5R + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.
Support
