The InterContinental Shanghai Expo is the closest international hotel to the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, at about 30 to 45 minutes walk away.

The 348-room hotel has 2 main ballrooms to fit between 80 to 220 guests in classroom style seating. The Grand Ballroom has a fairly reasonable ceiling height of 5.7m, but the 3m ceiling height for the Terrace Ballroom is a bit limited. 9 smaller function rooms are available for breakout sessions or smaller meetings of between 10 to 20 guests each. Apart from these, its Liquor Factory, a bar housed in several 1930s colonial villas, would be ideal for theme functions, while the garden space can be used for outdoor parties.

Perhaps because the hotel has not had very full occupancy since the end of the Shanghai Expo last year, its service staff did not appear to be very well trained. During breakfast, the staff did not offer coffee or tea promptly, and they did not seem to understand simple orders such as “Hot Chocolate”. Food quality also left much to be desired.

Nevertheless, the guest rooms are spacious and comfortable for business travelers, although the mattress can be firmer for better body support. For relaxation and exercise after a long day at the conference or exhibition, the hotel’s indoor pool, spa and gym facilities that comes with natural daylight and full-height window view of the city skyline, will definitely be useful.

The area around the hotel, and indeed the entire Expo surroundings, is largely deserted since the World Expo ended. Riverside park facilities and F&B outlets have mostly fallen into disuse. During the day, some convenience shops and a small local market can be found along the lane behind the hotel, but by night, this is a ghost town. Hence, it is probably safer and more convenient to travel in and out of the hotel by taxi.

For more information, visit its website.