last month, when i went to taipei, i had to use the restroom near the top of taipei 101 . so in a continuing quest to use bathrooms up high, i went to the park hyatt, shanghai yesterday for drinks with a colleague. actually that reasoning is backwards, but the end result is the same.
entering the park hyatt is actually a little bit intimidating. with the somewhat hidden entrance around back of the back of ifc shanghai, you go into the ground level lobby through a security check and into a muted world of blonde woods and classy black trim.
taking the express elevator to the sky lobby at the 87th floor, you enter into a nice quiet respite from the busy shanghai streets below. it was really quite peaceful. not being hotel guests, and it being a weekend, we were assessed a 100 rmb ($13) cover charge, in addition to paying overpriced charges on our drinks, but if you think about it, visiting the 100th floor viewing platform is also a 150 rmb charge, and there’s no nice music and drinks for your 150rmb.
the view is pretty heady from up on the 87th floor:
but the funky way the windows were angled and the lighting of the bar made for some bad reflections that i didn’t care enoug to correct for, so instead i walked around the lobby.
all around the lobby they had these pithy quotations about house and home such as the following:
and then, the restrooms. andrew had recommended the toilets (as well as the lobby bar at the park hyatt). and there they were – top of the line totos.
so very nice. button layout. automatic toilet lid raising. the height of toilet artistry.
sometime before i leave this town, i’m going to spend the 2080 rmb necessary for a night’s stay here. or i could just stay at home – isn’t that what all these signs are portending anyways?
