[Shanghai] River Suite at The Waterhouse

The Waterhouse at South Bund

Add: 1-3 Maojiayuan Lu, near Zhongshan Nan Lu / 毛家园路1-3号，近中山南路
Tel: 6080 2988
Website: www.waterhouseshanghai.com
Visited:  Mar 2011

If you’ve seen pictures from my previous post on The Waterhouse, you already have a good idea of what its style is like – broken tiles, exposed bricks, rough edges, and plenty of rust…the design is certainly not for everyone, but for those who do like it, take a look at its River Suite. Like the public spaces in the hotel, the suite has a minimalistic and bare look, but is comfortable nonetheless. A few characteristics that stood out: large bed to lounge on, open wardrobe, and an exposed bathroom (nope, no blinds…)

What’s included in the room: flatscreen TV, DVD player, safe, fridge, bathrobe, iPod docking station…and free wi-fi, thank you very much.

Here’s the bathroom in plain view, with nothing but a tinted glass as separation. Yes, you better be very comfortable with your roommate. What you’ll find in there: bathtub, rain shower, oversized towels, hairdryer, basic toiletries, and – going along with the rustic theme – wabi-sabi tin containers.

Except for alcoholic beverages, everything in the mini bar is included in the room fare.

Here’s what the suite looks like when lighted in the evening.

The morning after, it’s breakfast time! Served from 6:30~10:30am at Table No. 1, right downstairs.

You can order any permutation of items from the menu, which includes the typical breakfast fare: eggs, sausages, baked beans, waffles, pancakes, bagels, yogurt, museli, fruits…etc. Coffee, tea, and bottled juice are included, but if you have to pay extra for freshly-squeezed juices. Hmm…this I object.

Here’s what we had: pastry basket, plain yogurt with fruit compote, pancakes with syrup and crème fraîche, and Table No. 1 Full (bacon, eggs, sausage, baked beans, tomato, and mushrooms). There’s nothing elaborate like what you expect from a lunch or dinner at this restaurant, but breakfast is breakfast – I wanted simple and comforting food, and that’s what I got.

Staying at The Waterhouse is not typical – there’s no pool, no gym, no business center, no spa…I really enjoyed the stay, however, and expect many others to find it a unique and fun experience as well. A few last words regarding service: During the stay, we didn’t have any outrageous requests and got all of our wishes fulfilled – wine glasses and bottle opener delivered, breakfast time extended, extra water sent to the room, taxi arranged on time…Nothing we could complain about, really.