On Shanghai's Le Royal Meridien

Fifty percent of the reason why I tagged along on this trip to Shanghai, was because my sister had booked a suite at the Le Royal Meridien, and I wasn't about to let her indulge in that by her lonesome. The other eighty percent of the reason was just because I knew I'd miss her like crazy in the month that I wouldn't be able to see her. And I'm 100% clear on the fact that I cannot do simple math.

Although she hasn't done one in a while, I've always loved reading Ree aka the Pioneer Woman's "Hotel Tours" - I've always said that my dream job would be a major hotel mogul bringing in the dolla dolla bills, so I wasn't about to stay in a fabulous hotel and not blog about it to my heart's content. Indulge me, guys.

Hi, I'm Caroline, and I'll be your tour guide through my (ex) hotel room today. Because that isn't a weird notion at all. But let's just go with it.

Someone (but not your tour guide, because she's obviously smarter than that) was a doofus and forgot to take pictures of many critical parts of the tour, including but not limited to: the main entrance, the lobby, the insane maze-like elevators that almost smelled like a blooming garden in the summer, and more.

But that's okay, we'll enter through the back entrance because that's what the cool kids do. And this back entrance is conveniently located right on the Nanjing Road pedestrian street, which is mere minutes away from a huge F21, Gap, and Zara. Nothing says "China vacation!" than a jaunt into some very Western stores for a shopping spree!

We'll go straight to our room up on the 38th floor. I've already taken the liberty of moving us on right inside. As soon as we enter the doorway, there's a cute little entryway. If we turn left, we'll enter the bedroom:

Excuse the mess. I may have taken a quick snooze. Don't let this picture fool you - there is also a flatscreen TV, a fridge, some amazing views, a huge desk, and some very spacious closets in this room. Oh, and this:

The master bathroom, complete with a rain shower and a huge tub to soak in (with it's own little rubber duck!), and get this - a sound system that connects to the TV in the bedroom. So you can shower while listening to Jimmy Fallon's late night show. Cool, right?

Back to the entryway. Let's go straight ahead, now:

To the left (to the left) is a massive sitting area. To the right is a BOSE iPod dock, and this:

There's also a half bathroom next to this lovely kitchen. AND, one of my favorite perks - there was the closest thing to a Keurig I could find right in this little kitchen. I didn't get around to using it, but it was nice knowing that I could if I really wanted to.

Oh, and there was this view:

I think I may have found China's Central Park!

Back to the sitting room we go. If you need to take a little breather from this tour, take a nibble from the welcome fruit trays and/or these amaaazing butter cookies:

And just slooooowly turn your head to the left, and you'll see this breathtaking sight from the floor-to-ceiling windows:

As if all of this wasn't enough to have me happy bawling like Kristen Bell with her sloths, we also had access to the members-only lounge on the 44th floor. There was free breakfast up there, with a nice lady who made me the egg white omelette that I've been craving since school ended; there was also afternoon tea, which delighted the four-months-until-I'm-blissfully-in-the-UK me {with lots of cheesecake and macarons too}; there was also happy hour that delighted the future drunkard in me. You didn't read that.

But, alas, I settled for a frothy cup of cappucino as I settled in a corner and watched the rain gently drizzle down into the city:

Bliss.

Thanks for sticking around, ladies and gents.