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March 19, 2018

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Iconic&Shangri-La a signature in sophistication

The Pudong Shangri-La, ideally situated in the heart of Lujiazui, a vibrant finance hub and Shanghai’s future top commercial center, has built up a reputation among sophisticated travelers because of its unparalleled location, supreme facilities and authentic Asian hospitality.

“What is so special about this hotel is that it has combined a very special location with very special facilities, particularly for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) clients,” said Gregor Wateler, who took over as general manager of the 951-room riverfront property last September. “Very few hotels have two ballrooms, while most MICE hotels don’t boast a city-center location and stunning Bund views.”

The Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai accomplishes another prestigious milestone in August when the iconic hotel celebrates its 20th birthday.

Shangri-La’s flagship property in China, which opened its River Wing in 1998 as the first luxury hotel in the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, marches toward its two-decade service milestone, while adapting to the ever-evolving market forces, changes and demands.

In its latest endeavor to extend excellence, the hotel is launching a major culinary campaign at Yi Cafe, one of its 10 cutting-edge food and beverage outlets, to offer a “Bite of Culinary Heritage of the World” journey for foodies with discerning palates.

“We are offering new signature buffet items at Yi Cafe later this month when a new series of Master Shen’s Treasure will also be launched,” Wateler said. “Shen Hongfei, or Master Shen, who was the consultant for the extremely popular Chinese food documentary ‘A Bite of China,’ boasts a lot of natural, organic and tasty produce resources.”

On March 27, the hotel will unveil a second series of Master Shen’s Treasure, featuring tempting spring cuisines to mark a fresh start to the season. It follows on from the success of the first series, initiated at the end of January, for the Chinese New Year holiday. Meanwhile, Yi Cafe, renowned for seafood and a great variety of other dishes since it opened its doors in 2005, is offering new signature buffet items from eight countries.

The innovative and theatrical dining experience is designed to impress the hotel’s guests. There will be more than 10 chefs in open live cooking stations, offering over 170 mouthwatering gastronomic delights, such as arabic beef, Xinjiang kebab, Turkish pizza, Indian chicken rice, deep-fried Japanese natto tempura and freshly baked chocolate fondant, to name a few.

“We are looking if we can find very special products, carefully sourced organic ingredients, and cook them in the best way,” said Wateler, a 20-year hotelier with Shangri-La Hotels. “For instance, we will have naturally raised lobsters and know exactly where they originate from.”

Meanwhile, the hotel’s signature restaurant, Jade on 36, whose innovative six-course themed menu “3D Le Petite Chef — Marco Polo series” has become a hit in the market among both leisure and corporate clients, is embracing new changes by offering something very special.

Starting next month, the iconic restaurant will have two Michelin-starred chefs, one from Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur and the other being the hotel’s own Turkish-born chef. They will work together to create exciting new menus.

Inventing new ideas and creating new products and experiences apart, providing bespoke services always stay at the core of Shangri-La’s signature hospitality.

“The idea is to understand the needs of customers and provide them with tailor-made services,” Wateler said. “For each event, we have an event specialist, offering an one-stop service. We will do internal meetings and external pre-conference with our clients, if they have time to decide how the event should flow and what kind of delight and services we can offer our customers.”

One new example for a customized service involves a big overseas MICE client who requires an “engaging” experience. As most of the participants will be in Shanghai for the first time, the hotel has decided to offer them outside catering, at its riverside garden, so they can enjoy the magnificent view of the Bund, while staff from its two sister properties in the city will support the event.

On the technical side, the hotel has recently launched an enhanced Shangri-La mobile app to further improve guest experience. Fast and intuitive to use, and available for both iPhone and Android platforms, the new app features key functions, which include: fast and easy booking, mobile check-in/check-out, manage golden circle accounts and redeem rewards.

Booking with the new app will entitle guests, both participants of MICE events and individual travelers, to a much faster check-in and check-out process. One hour before their arrival, guests will receive a message about their room number and all they need to do upon arrival at the hotel is to collect the key at a special counter after the front desk staff makes a quick copy of the passport. Check-out is even more convenient for guests, who just need to push a button in their room and the hotel will send the bill through the email.

“Launched at the beginning of this year, this is the Shangri-La way to show how to use technology and keep it convenient for the customers,” Wateler said.




 

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