We’re back from our trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong. We had an amazing time at both cities. In the short six days we spent in Shanghai, we stayed at 2 different hotels at 2 different neigbourhoods and had 2 different experiences.
The first place we stayed at is the designy chic JIA Shanghai. It’s locates at a touristy area (Nanjing xi road) surrounded by nothing but malls. It’s not as interesting but it’s got some good restaurants nearby. In fact there’s even some hidden cool places too (report later). The hotel is quite an enjoyment in itself actually. It’s definitely very pretty to look at, comfy and the nice lobby lounge made you want to stay there all day.
The complimentary breakfast was really good too, it was served in their 2nd floor Italian restaurant Issimo. You got a lot of stuffs to choose from, basically you get fresh baked pastries (with homemade jams), fresh juices, fruits or salad, coffee/tea, main meal and dessert. The service was excellent, one of the best we had in Shanghai.
Their homemade croissant (not in pix) was really good. The juices were good and they change everyday, it’s carrot and pear in the picture. The fruit is Pitaya (or known as Dragon fruit) and pinapple.
For the main meal you get 6 choices, there’re standard western fare like egg benedict and 2 eggs + sausages type. Of course eating American breakfast was the last thing on my mind. I chose Chinese Porridge for the both days I stayed there since it’s light and comforting. It came with 6 toppings (dried meat, pickles, soy sauce, seasme oil, thousand year old egg and green onion).
Freda got the Soymilk with you-tiao and Shanghai wonton noodle for the 2nd day. They’re both surprisingly good.
The meal was finished with some homemade pastries. Overall everything taste good and fresh. There were simply way too much food for a morning though, but they did kept us energized till lunch. Afterall it is important to have lots of energy in Shanghai as it’s such an intense city.
Another thing I like a lot about JIA Shanghai is the lobby lounge. It has self-served snacks and beverages all day long, and wine after 5 pm (all complimentary for guests). The fridge is filled with water bottles and juices which came in handy for guests (we always grab a water bottle on our way out). The standard room was about $160 a night (rate might be different in other time) which I thought was quite reasonable. Also each room is equipped with a simple kitchen and dinnerware which was also useful. You can see more pictures of the room on my flickr .
JIA SHANGHAI
931 West Nanjing Road (Entrance on Taixing Road), Shanghai 200041 China
Tel: 86 21 6217 9000
Tags: Breakfast, Chinese, hip, hotel, Travel Report
