Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li

“Where do I even begin?”

To say that I had an amazing stay would be an understatement. I was waffling between this and another property, and am SO glad that I chose this one for my four nights in Shanghai. Service is as hand-ons or as discreet as you would like -- Ms. Julie (I think that was her English name) saw that I re… more

To say that I had an amazing stay would be an understatement. I was waffling between this and another property, and am SO glad that I chose this one for my four nights in Shanghai. Service is as hand-ons or as discreet as you would like -- Ms. Julie (I think that was her English name) saw that I really liked the package of nuts in the complimentary minibar, and gave me some extras on my last night. Each night I would come back to a different treat as part of the turn-down service: my favorite was the bookmark. I also loved how QUIET it was, for being in the FFC and in one of the world's busiest cities. My rate included breakfast, served in the Pierre Gagnaire restaurant. Food was flavorful, and as to be expected, the bread was great. I also learned that I like kale celery juice, haha. Sadly, I was in meetings and couldn't take part in any sessions of afternoon tea or happy hour... Again, I must repeat: service was excellent. I know, at this price point, staff are supposed to be, but I also feel that there was proactivity AND warmth behind each interaction. There was a minor problem with the sink draining one night, and staff came right away to investigate. All in all a wonderful experience; I only wish I had stayed much longer. Ahh, there's always next time, right?

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“A 5 star experience that does not disappoint!”

A perfectly exquisite hotel in a beautiful tree lined street neighborhood. High attention to service with lots of personal touches ...for instance coffe and pastry ready for us for our early morning departure. Only regret is we couldn't stay longer.

“Wonderful experience. Will stay longer next time.”

Remarkable 55 room hotel sweetly crafted & curated in a 1930 Shikumen building block, loving preserved. No real check in desk. They come to you. Jaya Ibrahim was the designer and if you are not familiar with his work, check him out. Aman Resorts, The Puli-Shanghai to name a couple. Meals are pres… more

Remarkable 55 room hotel sweetly crafted & curated in a 1930 Shikumen building block, loving preserved. No real check in desk. They come to you. Jaya Ibrahim was the designer and if you are not familiar with his work, check him out. Aman Resorts, The Puli-Shanghai to name a couple. Meals are presented in the Michelin Star Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire. Each guest room block is 4 stories, about 12’ wide, preserving the original apartment units. All the rooms face an exterior pathway lined on one side with your private walled garden, the other side is the back of another row of units used as a servant entry for room service, which is the original Shikumen organization. Enter through your private garden into a 14’ tall ceiling reception and small powder room. A short flight of steps up to a TV room and minibar. Up yet again an even shorter flight of steps (6) to the bedroom with exceptionally tall ceilings, sitting area and wardrobe. Up another very short flight to the spacious bathroom. And finally up a steep stair to your private roof deck. I was a bit nervous buying into a townhouse configuration but it is really well done and not tiring at all for this arthritic fella. The only drawback is if you forget something in the bedroom when you leave for the day. The interior finishes are best described as a masterful blend of Asian and Western, which the Shikumens are. A modern interpretation of painted wood panel and raw silk panels, herringbone wood floors. The service is exceptional and it is what adds to the ambiance.

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Our stay last May was heavenly - it was what started our luxury hotel journey as the service we received was out of this world. From the porters who would run towards me after noticing me without an umbrella, to our housekeeping lady who took note of our minibar consumption patterns and gave more o… more

Our stay last May was heavenly - it was what started our luxury hotel journey as the service we received was out of this world. From the porters who would run towards me after noticing me without an umbrella, to our housekeeping lady who took note of our minibar consumption patterns and gave more of our favourite drinks, to the breakfast receptionist who would take the stairs just so that she can wait for us again on the 2nd floor after receiving us on the ground floor, every single staff member went out of their way to pamper us. Since then we were on a quest to see whether there's any hotel out there that could top this, that is until we returned for the second time in May and realized a significant drop in service quality. While Capella Shanghai will continue to be one of my favorite hotels in the world, I would probably not make it a mission to stay here in the future. Our stay started on a strong note, after I emailed the reservations team to enquire the name of the housekeeping lady whom we met last year so we could bring a little gift for her. The Culturist, Amber, went out of her way and dug through old records to find the names of the housekeeping ladies and arranged for them to serve us again. The rest of the stay was just as magical, that is until lapses in service started to happen. There were a lot of new faces this time round, and it was rather evident that they did not possess the mentality of the staff whom we met last year. For example, we gave a box of cookies from Hong Kong to the front desk lady to be shared with the team. A few days later when we met her again, she did not seem to remember us and made no comments about the cookie. I did not want to sound like I was fishing for compliments so I did not ask her either, but it made us feel like our efforts were not appreciated. Similar things happened when I was checking out. I had to leave early for work and my partner checked out and left our luggage with the concierge. When I returned to retrieve the luggage after work, the front desk manager did not seem to recognize me as a hotel guest and did not ask about my stay. The concierge, after retrieving our luggage, also did not offer to help bring it outside. The porter was also just standing there after clearly noticing me with a big suitcase. Eventually the Didi driver helped to load it up. There were some highlights though, like the lovely breakfast ladies who insisted on feeding us and kept coming back with more goodies, and the kind housekeeping ladies, who upon receiving our gift, left a note for us and two plush toys. However, the main thing that set Capella apart from the other luxury hotels that we've stayed at was the flawless, textbook service execution. I know people say this all the time, but it truly felt like we were staying at a home away from home. Every single need that we could even possibly have, Capella anticipated it, which made this stay all the more disappointing. The funny thing was, I posted my thoughts on two separate social media platforms, and Capella read them both, but no service recovery or follow-up was made. They did not even apologize or at least acknowledge these service lapses. Granted the language I used was not as harsh as this review, but it nevertheless proved my point, that they simply just didn't care as much as before.

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