Development

Holiday Inn opens hotel in Pudong

By Yang Yijun (China Daily Shanghai Bureau)
Updated: 2011-06-14 14:31

Since the original Nanhui area is merged into Pudong district two years ago, there are always complaints that the area is lack of high-end hotels. Then along comes Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao.

The hotel, which is invested by SPG Land (Holdings) Limited, the owner of the Peninsula Shanghai, and managed by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), launched its grand opening at the end of May.

"We are glad to be located in the center of the new Pudong district. The prime location offers great potential," says Darwin Yan, the hotel's general manager.

The hotel is not only close to Shanghai New International Expo Center, but also connects to both Kangqiao Industrial Zone and Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park.

What's more exciting, it only takes less than 20 minutes by car to the Shanghai Disneyland Resort, which is scheduled to open in 2016.

"Disneyland is one of the reasons that we chose this location. We will design some Disneyland packages and provide shuttle bus service when the park is opened," he says.

The hotel offers 390 spacious and contemporary designed guest rooms and suites. All rooms feature free high speed broadband and wireless Internet access.

With MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) guests being its major client base, the hotel offers eight meeting rooms, including a grand ballroom of 1,100 square meters, which can accommodate 1,000 people.

The hotel's unique 680-square-meter winter garden provides the guests with an additional choice to host the functions in beautiful garden setting. The garden also makes the hotel one of the few wedding spaces in Shanghai where weddings can be held both indoor and outdoor.

One of the "wow" factors of the hotel is the cantilever indoor swimming pool on the 24th floor. It's the only swimming pool in China which offers the guests a once-in-a-life experience of swimming with nothing but only glass underneath.

For those who dare not give it a try, they can still relax in the hotel's fitness center on the top floor and enjoy a magnificent view.

The hotel uses electronic menu, a device similar to iPad, in its lounge and two restaurants. Its all-day dining restaurant SML, which refers to small, medium and large, offers a wide selection of international delicacies which can satisfy every typical diner.

The Chinese restaurant serves authentic Cantonese cuisine prepared by the master chef from Hong Kong in traditional ways with modern influences.

In addition, the hotel is the first in Asia Pacific as well as the first in the entire IHG group to use the world leading Probatino coffee roaster from Germany.

"Our food and beverage sections will not only serve the hotel guests, but also offer high-end dining choices for nearby residents," says Yan.

"We feel very proud that we started to make profits in the first month of soft operation. Therefore we have great expectation of the hotel," he says.