Best Newcomer: The craggy glass tower of the Regent Shanghai is staking out its new turf with the tallest hotel in west Shanghai, gorgeous views, elegant decor, luxurious in-room amenities, fine dining options, and the city's largest pool.
Best Service: An impossibly difficult category with fierce competition, but our vote goes to the St. Regis Shangha]av]i, which has refined service to a whole new level with their customized "Lifestyle Butler Service": No request seems too frivolous or difficult for the hotel's 24-hour butlers, not even escorting guests on city tours. A close second is the consistently friendly and efficient service at the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai. Staff is extremely discreet and anticipates your needs rather than reacts to requests.
Best Business Hotel: The Portman Ritz-Carlton not only wins this category in Shanghai, as poll after poll of foreign business travelers consistently show, but it has been deemed by the same polls to be the "Best Business Hotel in Asia." The Hilton, though older, also consistently receives raves from foreign business travelers for its efficiency and location, as does The Westin Shanghai.
Best Hotel Perks: Perhaps to compensate for its less-than-ideal location in Pudong, the St. Regis Shanghai throws in a host of perks like free wireless Internet in all rooms, and free happy hour cocktails and canapes for all in their executive lounge. They also have the largest rooms in town, fitted with Herman Miller Aeron chairs, BOSE CD wave radios, and some of the largest bathtubs in town. There's no reason to leave the hotel at all.
Best City Views: The JW Marriott, the tallest hotel in Puxi, also has the most stunning 360-degree views of the whole city. Lodged on the 37th to 60th floors of Tomorrow Square, the hotel is tall enough to afford a bird's-eye view, but not so tall you're enveloped in fog half the time.
Best View of the Bund: The nearby Grand Hyatt is higher, but the Pudong Shangri-La is closer and at just the right elevation for a spectacular view of Shanghai's European architecture across the Huangpu River. The view is even better at night when this riverfront "colonial scroll" of banks and trading houses is lit up.
Best Hotel Spa: Every hotel worth its salt glow boasts a spa these days, but the nicest, largest, and most luxurious is the Himalayan-themed Chi Spa at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, where an array of treatments will have you thinking you've found paradise. Equally sybaritic is the world-famous Banyan Tree Spa at The Westin Shanghai, though pound for pound, The Spa at The Hilton has the strongest and best trained massage therapists, even though the Spa itself is not as luxurious or extensive as the others.
Best Celebrity Room: Of all the famous visitors who have stayed in Shanghai's hotels through the years, perhaps no guest is more renowned than Albert Einstein, who stayed at the Astor House Hotel, now renovated into a three-star outfit. His room is yours for ¥1,580 ($198) a night.
Best Whiff of Old Shanghai: The legendary Cathay Hotel, now the Peace Hotel, located at Shanghai's most fabled intersection (Nanjing Lu and the Bund), is a living museum of Shanghai's Art Deco and colonial past.
Best Setting: Ruijin Hotel, located on the former Morriss Estate in the French Concession, boasts one of the loveliest colonial settings with four original villas (and several faux additions) amid sprawling manicured lawns that are lovely to stroll. To boot, there are several excellent restaurants and bars on the premises, which means you never have to leave the grounds of this block-long estate.
Best Health and Fitness Facilities: The health and fitness facilities at the Regal International East Asia Hotel don't stop at the 25m (82-ft.) lap pool, the aerobics gym, the simulated golf range, or the 12-lane bowling alley; add in the 10 world-class tennis courts (two indoors), including a center court with seating for 1,200 spectators.
