In the past, many of my friends and colleagues have raved about doing staycations. I always thought they were a bit pointless. What’s the point in staying in a hotel in the place where you live? That said, at the time of writing this post, the heat was insane and with everything going on, I just wanted a break.
I had been to the swimming pool a the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square before. It costs 380RMB to use the pool for the day. However, there are times when it’s only open to guests of the hotel (and a limit of 40 at the pool area). I took a quick scan of Trip.com keeping in mind that I wanted a place with an outdoor pool and the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square was the best, most central option for me. Considering that and the price of a room which included breakfast the next morning, I made a booking.
Getting There
I will be honest, getting to the actual reception to check-in felt like an awful lot of effort! Now, as previously mentioned, I had been here before to use the pool, so I should have known better. I entered the building to be greeted by staff at the door who told me to go to the second floor. However, there was no reception there.
After that, I went up to the sixth floor and asked at the spa if they could help. They didn’t speak English, my Chinese wasn’t good enough. In reality, I didn’t make a whole lot of effort.
Then, I decided to try the swimming pool where I met a wonderful member of staff called Graham. Not only did he point me in the right direction, but also took me to the reception up on the thirtysomethingth floor. He was full of chat, too! From there it was pretty much plain sailing.
It’s about time for my arrival
I checked in, paid my deposit and I was taken to my room. The view was incredible. People’s Square is an extremely busy area in Shanghai. However, it was strange looking down at it all whilst listening to the sound of silence.
As soon as I dumped my stuff in my room, I went straight down to the pool. There were a few small groups but it wasn’t packed at all. I saw many staff around, attending to guests and there was a pool menu if you wanted to order something.
Most items were priced at the standard Shanghai prices (e.g. 28RMB for a Diet Pepsi). Given the limited spacing, I loved it because it wasn’t too crowded. It was pretty quiet and the element of escapism was there.
There were a few moments when I looked up at the blue sky and I felt like I could have been anywhere. (That said, ultimately I knew that I was still in Shanghai!) The outdoor pool area was open from 10am until 7pm if you really want to get a whole day out of it. The indoor pool was open from 8:30am to 9:30pm.
What do you mean no dinner was included?
There was no dinner included in the cost of the room and I wasn’t too keen on a big dinner so I can’t really comment on what was on offer in terms of meals during the evening. I can however confirm that the breakfast buffet was incredible. There was a wide range of western and Chinese options and you are free to help yourself. When I was there, it wasn’t too crowded, either.
The Bedroom
The bedroom was well equipped. I booked the deluxe double room and found it to be very spacious and clean. There was a television, desk with pen and paper, coffee machine, mini-bar, iron, etc.
Long story short, there was plenty more than needed for a quick staycation! That said, if you wanted to extend your stay and needed an area for work, it’s fine as well. The bathroom had a bath, a shower, a sink and a toilet.
Toiletries were available but I did need to call reception to receive some items as they were conscious of reducing waste. I must give a special mention to the housekeeping staff who were incredibly hospitable during my stay as well. I checked out at 11am and that was the end of a lovely staycation.
That’s all for this post. Many thanks for reading! If you liked this post and you would like to read some more, you may like my posts on my city break to Hong Kong.
