Shanghai Hotel Marriot at Union Square
 

We are planning to stay for about a month in Shanghai at Marriott Executive Apartments Union Square Shanghai Pudong. Anyone stayed there (it opened in 2006) and your thoughts. Are the one bedroom apartment a good size? Is kitchen small? We are looking for first rate executive apartment in Shanghai in the summer. Please give your suggestions.

I have been in the public areas of these and have seen a 2 bedroom and they are very nice. As it is brand new you will have new furniture and wallpaper, etc which is a very nice plus. Downsides are that I see from the website that the one bedrooms are 80 square meters which is about 850 square feet. That is a pretty good size, I would say it might get a bit tight for 2 people for a month, esp if you have a lot of clothing, two PCs, books, etc. That space will contain a bedroom, a sitting area with at least a sofa, coffee table and a chair, a dining table, and then the bathroom, the kitchen and all your closet space, so its a lot to put into that space. You should ask them to fax or e-mail you plans of each typical room if they are not on the website. This would show how many closets there are and you might get an idea of how big they are. They should be willing to provide all this. Some layouts are also better than others, i.e. corner units may be a much better use a space than middle units and are often bigger. (I have lived in some serviced apartments myself, so I know what to look for, IMO closet space and drawer space is always a bit lacking, so are normal-size refrigerators but those are really hard to find, i.e. with space for ice and frozen items.) Hopefully they can store your suitcases someplace, as these are the worst things to find a place for inside the apartment in my experience.

If there is anyway you can afford the 2 bedroom, IMO for two people you will be happier as you will each have your own space plus more closet space and room for junk generally. I don’t know where you currently live, but unless you are in a small NYC studio apartment, a 850 square foot apartment may be too close for comfort....

A better location might be the Marriott apartments in Tomorrow Square. The Pudong hotel is not really in the main Pudong area, i.e. along the Bund. The Tomorrow Square hotel has a better location IMO. The apartments are older, but very nice as well.

Unless you need to be close to your offices in Pudong, Tomorrow Square is a much better location for your daily life. Do consider 2 bedrooms even if it's only for a month.

Thanks Cicerone and Shanghanese. Cicerone you are always such a wealth of information. We travelled to Hong Kong a year ago and really made use of the great posts you had on Fodors.

I was not aware that the location of Marriot in Union square is not the best. Has anyone recently stayed or see the Marriot apartments in Tomorrows square? We will definitely consider a 2 bedroom.

Thanks.

I have stayed in Tomorrow Square several times over the last year, and I guess I should point out that when I say they are “older” I mean it opened like 3 years ago. They are very nice apartments in probably one of the most prestigious buildings in Shanghai, certainly one of the most striking in terms of architecture. Views are great. The 1 bedrooms I have stayed varied in size, the largest one was probably around 800 square feet, but one was quite small, so ask about the various sizes and layouts. I have only stayed in one of the 2 bedrooms and going from memory, I would say it was like 1,000 square feet (don’t quote me and check with the hotel, they don’t seem to put this info on the website that I could find). The decor is more traditional than the Union Square, which is very modern, but it’s contemporary traditional, it’s not your grandmother’s house or anything. The location is very good for both business and tourists, you can walk to most everything you would want to do and see, including the Xiantiandi area. And while not right on the river and Bund area, you can actually walk to these areas or take a very short cab ride. I would choose this location if the apartments are in your budget in a good size.

Thanks for the detailed information, Cicerone. I am not sure how familiar you are with Shanghai but my son will be going to summer school in Pudong at Pudong Lujiazui
YanLord Garden House Club Lane 99 Pucheng Rd, Pudong. Which Marriot would be more convenient location-wise. We would not mind a short commute if the Tomorrows square location is not too far from Pudong. Cost is not an issue. Thanks for your help.

The Lujiazui area generally means the financial district in Pudong, and if the map I have is correct, Pucheng Road starts quite close to the big curve of the river where the radio tower is (Pearl Tower) and is just a bit south of the Grand Hyatt (a very nice hotel but you probably don’t want to pay to stay there for a month, if you don’t mind paying, look into a suite there; this area is a little dead at night IMO). It looks like a longish street, so it is hard to say where #99 would be.

I think the most important question might be the subway stop. There is a green line subway stop at Lujiazui that I am guessing would theoretically be walkable to the school. The Marriott Tomorrow Square website says it is a kilometer from People’s Square, and it is then two stops to Lujiazui. The Union Square hotel website says it is a kilometer from the Dong Cheng stop, which is then one stop to the Lujiazui stop. Either way, you are looking at a kilometer walk to a subway stop. While I think that the Union Square hotel is probably physically closer to the school in terms of miles, in that case, I think I would still pick the Tomorrow Square location because there is more to do in the area at night and more to see during the day (for you). Commuting time by subway will be very close; if your son wanted to go by taxi, it might be faster going from Union Square, however I don’t know that you want to pay for him to go twice a day by taxi to school, and if it is raining or during rush hours it may be hard to get a taxi anyway.

I don’t know anything about bus service in Shanghai, so can’t say which would be faster, but my guess is that as the Union Square is already on the same side of the river as the school, going to the school from there would be faster.

By typing "Yanlord Garden House Club" in the Google search engine, I am able to find that this Club (located on Pucheng Rd) is nearby Dong Cheng Rd. This puts the Club about 2 blocks from the Dong Cheng Rd subway station.

According to Cicerone, Union Sq Marriott Executive Apt is about 1 km from the Dong Cheng Rd subway station, I have to conclude that the Apt is within walking distance to the Club.

By the way, this Club also has a branch center (from Google search again !) in Xintiandi where the other Marriott Executive Apt is located and discussed in this post.

I can't tell where on Pucheng Road #99 would be, so don't know how far it is from either the Lujiazui or Dong Cheng stop. Also, as the Marriott Union Square says it is 1 km from the Dong Cheng stop, I don't know where that is in relation to Pucheng Road, but my guess is that it is east of it, because it if were west, then the website would say it was also close to the Lujiazui stop, as that is a major stop. That's my guess anyway. So I don't know that the Marriott Union Square is really walkable to the school. You would need to get a map, and my map is not detailed enough. The Marriott website's maps are not helpful either.

From Google search, I was able to learn that the Club, located on Pu Cheng Rd., is near Dong Cheng Rd. Looking up my map, I was able to determine that this Club is about 2 blocks west of Dong Cheng Rd subway station.

Just now, by calling Marriott Apt Union Sq direct, I was told the the Apt is located at the corner of Shang Cheng Rd and Pu Dong Rd South. This puts the Apt about 2-3 blocks due south of the Dong Cheng Rd station.

The bottom line is that this Club is located only a few blocks from the Marriott Apt - well within walking distance.