View from the Room: Narada Boutique Hotel, Shanghai Bund
Room 502 greeted us with a high 4-poster style bed smothered with a large cosy duvet amongst the dark wood furnishings. The Narada Boutique hotel is generally dark which made it tricky to put the key card in to have light. Once I remembered the trick that any card can be placed here (I used an M&S gift card) we left a light on in the room.
The room was pretty much divided into two with wonderful sliding doors into the bathroom area:
Large central bath with a high tap in the middle (so suits two people)
Two sinks either side of the bath with mirrors plus shelves underneath (All the mirrors are in the bathroom, which I took to):
Separate large shower
Separate toilet
Dressing table with another mirror and plug socket
2 large and 2 hand towels
Shower gels attached to shower unit wall
2 bath mats
Jars of bath salts
Hairdryer
Washing bin
Towel rails
Practicalities
There are a lot of lights and I especially loved the strip light alongside the window seat that guided me to the water in the fridge in the middle of the night. However, in true hotel-style, I never figured out which light switches controlled what during our three nights here.
The electronic blinds and blackout bedside controls worked a treat though. It was lovely to be able to see the view and then close the blinds before getting out of bed in order to preserve modesty.
Wall-mounted bedside lights
There are a variety of sockets although some of the three-pin ones didn’t work so it was a bad time for our main international multi adaptor to stop working.
Safe in room
Large TV on wall opposite bed (only Chinese TV stations)
Tissues
Iron/board (also a mini one in the laundry room on floor 2 which can only be reached via a lift) (no stairs)
Two robes
Two pairs of branded slippers
Refreshments
Complimentary soft drinks in mini-bar + hot and cold drinks in the lobby
2 bottle of water replaced every day
Drawer housing coffee, tea, sugar etc.
Coffee pod machine
Kettle
Mini fridge
Teapot and cups
2 branded mugs
2 glasses
As well as the good-sized dining table and two comfortable chairs, there is a lovely seating area by the window which had 2 corner windows behind shutters that opened but were protected by netting although the air-con worked fine.
Storage
Bedside drawer units with shelf on both sides
2 double wardrobes, one with automatic lighting
8 regular wooden hangers
Two shelves above fridge area
Elsewhere in the hotel
The hotel has a washing machine and dryer with complimentary washing powder. There is an incredibly useful 15-minute wash setting which goers super quickly when relaxing with a magazine on the seating provided. (All the books and magazines provided are unsurprisingly Chinese). Laundry facilities are becoming more common in hotels and something we have started to look for as it halves the number of clothes we need to take.
Breakfast is served in the lounge which had a roof garden
Complimentary hot and cold buffet food served here each night from 10-11.30, another perk that is becoming more usual in hotels, especially in the Hilton chain. We mostly popped in for a small plate of noodles and a hot drink around 10.30
The hotel staff were helpful and practical and Narada Boutique Hotel, located by the Bund and close to the subway from where we walked with two suitcases, generally very comfortable.
