Adrie Reinders

JC Mandarin Hotel Shanghai

No.1225 Nanjing West Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai 200040, China

When I first saw the word “Mandarin” whilst looking for a hotel in Shanghai, I immediately thought of the Mandarin in Hong Kong where I stayed about ten years ago. However, when I saw the price level I doubted it would be one and the same chain – and I turned out to be right.

The JC Mandarin is a five star hotel. Whilst not as breathtakingly gorgeous as its namesake in Hong Kong, it has all the facilities you could possibly need – a nice gym, swimming pool, decent restaurant with varied buffet every day and comfortable rooms. Service was excellent, friendly and very helpful.

With a price level of around the 900 RMB it is a great choice, particularly given its location which is very central in Shanghai (Puxi – the west side of the river)

Decor: 7
Quality: 7.5
Service: 8
Price/Quality: 8

I learnt a lot about doing business in India a few weeks back thanks to the guidance of our local partners Nitesh and Asif. But although I enjoyed every second of my successful trip to India, it was time to continue on to China – or to be more precise, the city of Yangzhou. This morning I realised that the two countries, India and China, make up about half of our world population.

We are in China for three key reasons:

1. One, to speak with the Governor of the business district of Yangzhou, Guangling about our business plan competition “Made for China” over the next years.
2. Secondly to discuss establishing a local head quarter there
3. and lastly – to get a real sense about China from a business perspective.

I have been to China a number of times now – but never yet for business, always as a tourist. I have to say that the experience is very different. In both cases however, the hospitality is just amazing – in all sorts of ways. The people I have met are all very capable and willing to do business with us.

Yangzhou is an old town, with a history stretching back more then 2500 years. It used to be one of the key cities in China primarily because of its location on the Yangtze river and the long (2200 kms) man made river that crosses it. Thankfully the city thus far has managed to preserve much of its rich culture and history – which is more then can be said of the larger cities.

Over the past years Yangzhou is starting to make its way back to the top and is working tirelessly to attract industries such as technology and Life Science. The government assists companies with their incorporation, investments and housing against very favorable terms. As it is not far to Shanghai from here, it’s an excellent location for a first base in China (and please drop me a note if you would like to know more!).

This past Sunday was the final of the EFactor business plan competition “Made for China” which started in October last year with early rounds at universities in Boston, the Bay Area, Shanghai and Beijing. We received 208 business plans which resulted in 8 finalists (2 from each of those regions) that we received in Yangzhou for the final at the beautiful conference centre in Yangzhou.

I have to admit that I was extremely impressed with the quality of the eight finalist’s businesses and plans. You can read the event report on the site along with the profile of the winning company!

All in all I have been very impressed with the cooperation of the government concerning investments and establishment. A wonderfully rich and educational experience.

Don’t forget to read about the second half of this trip next week!

Trident Hotels
Bandra Kurla
Mumbai

The first thing that comes to mind when describing this hotel is “What an amazing service” – this is one of those hotels where you are truly a guest.

The Trident is located in the financial and business district of Mumbai, about 20 mins. from the international airport. The hotel is very security conscious, which is one of the first things you notice upon arrival.

It’s a modern hotel, about 3 years old and has every creature comfort you could wish for. Apart from a very comfortable, spacious room with a proper bath, it has a beautiful and well equipped gym and a fantastic swimming pool (33 metres long!) and next to that a great Spa.

The hotel has two different restaurants, one serving international cuisine and the other Indian style food.

You can order á la carte or enjoy the luscious buffet. Service is really unbelievable. You only have to squeak once that you eat gluten free, and they serve it to you from then on without fail even if you order room service.
This kind of service occurs throughout the hotel, not just the restaurant – whether it is house keeping, reception or the concierge.

Our local partners managed to negotiate a great rate – I really couldn’t have done better.

Comfort: 9
Service: 10
Quality: 9

Should you find yourself in Mumbai, then this is the place to be!

Mahesh, Sea Food Restaurant
Juhu Tara Road
Santacruz (w)
Mumbai

During my visit to Mumbai this past week, our partners really made a tremendous effort to share the culture and restaurants of Mumbai.
it’s unbelievable to see how many restaurants there are in the city, but then it is a town with around 15 million people and a large amount of business travellers.
Mumbai is the financial centre of India, with a good representation of IT and media as well.

Given my preference for seafood, we went to Makesh, Sea Food Restaurant, one out of the four Makesh chain.
It is clearly an exclusive restaurant, nicely laid out over two floors. The decor is warm and inviting and the service was excellent, attentive and knowledgeable.

If you have chosen, based on the recommendations, a dish – the servers first come and show you the live fish to show just how fresh it is…in my case that live crab led to some consternation at the table!

Apart from the above victim, we also chose tiger prawns and white fish with a side serving of a roti made out of dry powdered fish – so without gluten!

The quality was truly wonderful and what I like about Indian cuisine is that you can share many smaller dishes so you experience a broad palate of flavours. Normally the food can be quite spicy but the restaurant was quite happy to serve a milder version at request.
All in all – a highly recommended restaurant to visit.

Comfort: 8
Service: 8
Quality food: 8.5

Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah

The Grand America lies right next to Salt Lake City’s centre, with great views of down town, the beautiful Mormon Temple and the other-worldly gorgeous mountains, topped with snow, in the background. Picture Postcard perfect!

Salt Lake itself is not so much a city in my view as a series of suburbs. Down Town is relatively small.

The Grand America in SLC is my favourite hotel there because of its quiet elegant feel, consistently quality decor and amenities. The rooms are comfortable and contain all you may need with lovely, almost classically english bathrooms. On top of that the hotel has a good gym and pa. The restaurant is a little bit boring in terms of interior design but the food is good for all the meals, and they offer gluten free versions of most things on their menu, including the french toast!
All in all the hotel is one of these places that is so comfortable and soothing, that you almost forget to venture outside for days on end.

Service is good to excellent in all departments. The only downside to me is the fact that the hotel does not seem to have an alert for guests that are staying there regularly so every time I check in I am asked if this is my first time there. The good news is that this is one hotel where WiFi is free.

Located only about 15 mins from the airport, this hotel comes highly recommended.

Rooms: 8
Lobby Facilities: 8
Food: 8
Gym: 8.5
Service: 8.5

BLT, bar and restaurant

In the W hotel on Washington Street in the Financial District (right by Ground Zero) you will find the  BLT Bar and restaurant.

In many W hotels, maybe in all of them, the restaurant is managed by a famous chain – like the Spice Market in Atlanta. In this hotel, the restaurant is run by BLT.
One of the great things about the restaurant is the spectacular view across the new WTC and the monument at Ground Zero.

The decor is all a bit too down played, but service is excellent. Very friendly, knowledgeable and well trained. I had the pleasure of eating every meal of the day there (not all on the same day, mind you) during the course of my visit to New York, as I tried to host as many of my meetings there as possible.

The food is excellent. I started with Tuna Tartar – brilliantly served on ice on a bed of a not too spicy guacamole. This was followed by a nice piece of white fish (halibut) as my main course. All the dishes were very fresh tasting and well prepared. Another thing I liked was the fact that they had some small dishes, tapas-like, that you could have to share with the table before your meal or to replace the individual starters. My favourite was an excellent prosciutto that came from a local farm in New Jersey but tasted as good as the Pata Negra, an exclusive jamon iberico from Spain.

In other words, if you happen to be in the financial district, the restaurant come highly recommended.
BTW at night, the bar is an absolute magnet, very very busy so if you want to meet people from the financial industry – this seems the place to be.

Decor: 7
Comfort: 7
Service: 8
Food: 8

Puccini & Pinetti
129 Ellis Street
San Francisco CA 94102

Just around the corner of our San Franciscan HQ, heart of town, you will find Puccini & Pinetti. I am always looking for restaurants that are close by for a quick lunch so this was worth a try.

Unfortunately, it sounded a lot better then it was. Part of a hotel, the bar was also located in the restaurant area (or maybe the other way round?) and it created a very noisy environment. Not great for having a quiet conversation over dinner or lunch. The Interior and service were both of a rather mediocre variety – dutiful but not enthusiastic or caring.
I had one of my favourite dishes for lunch – a gluten free version of the short ribs. Not to put too fine a point on it, it was not great and it wasn’t bad either. But certainly not up to my standard.
I am afraid this will not be a restaurant I will visit a lot in San Francisco.

Decor:, 6
Comfort: 6
Service: 6
Food: 6

W Hotel at Ground Zero

People reading my blogs on a regular basis will know that I am a fan of the W Hotels. This time I came across one I have not been to before via Hotwire, against an exceptionally low price.

The hotel is situated hard on the side of Ground Zero offering an impressive view from the hotel rooms located at the front into the memorial grounds and fountains that have been completed there.

Besides this unusual feature, the hotel has all the known comforts of a W Hotel. They seem to even get a touch better each time they open a new one.

In this particular case I was specifically impressed with the service level of all personnel. Literally everyone was at the ready to get to know you and help make your stay a pleasant one. The concierges were particularly great, and of the highest standard. The interesting thing that we noted was that the concierges desk was not hidden in a corner, like at most hotels, but so central that you couldn’t possibly miss it. A great idea.

The rooms were wonderful (see picture).

Whilst the location is unique, without a doubt, I do think that it only makes sense staying at this hotel if you have to be local. If you are in the financial district for meetings it is great, otherwise you face long metro or cab rides every time you have somewhere to go to (the underground is a few blocks away). And in the weekend this is a very quiet part of town.

Comfort: 8.5
Service: 9
Price/Quality: 9

Crosby Bar & Grill
79 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012

You will find the Crosby Hotel in the heart of SoHo, the very first US hotel owned by a renowned English chain.

I was urged to go and visit the hotel for lunch, so I obliged and headed there on Saturday. Since SoHo is my favourite part of New York it’s never a punishment to head that way.

Crosby Hotel Lobby

The entree to the Crosby is spectacular, modern, light, very stylish – and forms a nice contrast to the little old cobbled street it is located in.
The restaurant is on the ground floor, next to the hotel lobby, and definitely offers that “Wow” Factor when you walk in. It is beautifully decorated.

Kristine Tonkonow, food and beverage manager, took the time to explain the secrets of their menu/restaurant. The food is modern American. I went at brunch time and all the dishes were nicely laid out, with just that touch of extra attention that make it special and attractive. The menu is all up to the latest standards of modern nutrition – it was a welcome surprise to find they offered a great selection of gluten free dishes, including bread and pastries – all superb and of a high quality.

Omelette and GF Toast!

The decor is comfortable and service as it is meant to be in a restaurant of this level- as Kristine told me “Professional and friendly, but with Attitude”.

A Must Go – if you are in New York and looking for something fresh and just a little different.

PS – next time I really would love to stay a night in the the hotel – very promising indeed!

Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 8.5
Price/Quality: 9

Lark’s Creek Steak Restaurant, San Francisco

I am a frequent visitor of Lark’s Creek restaurant, located in the Westfield shopping mall. Lark’s Creek is known for their steaks and burgers.
Like most better restaurants, they have a limited menu which is the only way they can guarantee you always receive fresh ingredients.
Whilst I love the occasional burger or steak, most of the times I have lunch there, I will have the Woodsmoked Chicken Cobb salad, see picture.
It’s an absolute favourite.
The decor is nice and comfortable, service top notch.
Lark’s Creek has an open kitchen, which always gives a restaurant something special and definitely gives you the impression that they have nothing to hide.
Lark’s is the perfect place to relax after shopping in the mall.

Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Decor, comfort: 8

Cobb Salad