Kerry Hotel Pudong — Big Rooms, Huge Pool, Kids' Club: Shanghai's Standout Family Hotel

Think about a scenario familiar to any parent who's traveled to a big city with young children: the hotel pool is tiny, the kids' playroom is a cupboard with two beanbags, and you spend the first evening hauling tired, restless children back out to find somewhere to eat. Kerry Hotel Pudong is the antidote to all of that. The indoor pool is genuinely large enough to swim proper lengths. The Kids' Club runs structured activities. The rooms — starting at 42 square metres — don't feel crowded when there are four of you. And The Brew, the hotel's own craft-beer pub, means you can decompress without going anywhere once the kids are settled. This is a hotel that has clearly been thought through for families, and the review score of 9.4/10 from more than 6,400 guests reflects exactly that.

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Rooms here are a genuine selling point. The standard Parkview King is 42 m², which is noticeably larger than the city-average for a 4-star in Shanghai. Step up to the Club Premier Twin at 60 m² and you have two proper single beds, enough floor space for luggage, kids' bags and still room to move — this configuration is the most booked for family groups. The Club Twin Suite at 84 m² is the largest standard room type and genuinely spacious even for four people. Windows are floor-to-ceiling with views of either Century Park or the Pudong skyline. Decor shows its age in some rooms (the hotel opened in 2011), but guest reviews consistently note that "for a hotel this old, it is extremely well maintained."

The facilities are the headline story here. The gym covers 6,000 square metres — an almost absurd amount of space for a hotel, with a dedicated RPM (cycling) studio that would hold its own against serious gym chains. The indoor pool is the real deal: multiple lanes, consistently clean, open early. Add tennis courts, basketball courts, a spa, and an executive lounge for Club room guests, and you have a property that rewards multi-night stays in a way that most hotels simply don't. People who book three or four nights here tend to say they didn't need to leave the hotel as often as they expected.

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Four on-site restaurants give you enough variety that you won't feel trapped. The Brew is the standout — a craft-beer pub with a relaxed atmosphere that's perfectly placed for an evening wind-down. The MEAT handles the steakhouse cravings; The COOK covers the international buffet for breakfast and beyond; Blossoms does Cantonese. Directly attached to the hotel is Kerry Parkside Mall, a solid mid-to-upper-level shopping centre with additional dining and grocery options, so you're never far from food choices across several price points.

On location, be honest with yourself before booking. This is Pudong, not Puxi. The Bund is roughly 20 to 30 minutes away by metro — entirely manageable but not a stroll. The nearest station, Huamu Road or Century Park on Lines 2 and 7, is about an 8-minute walk. Line 2 connects directly to Lujiazui (Oriental Pearl, Shanghai Tower, IFC) in three stops, and onward to People's Square and Nanjing Road. Century Park itself, a large and genuinely pleasant green space, is a 10-minute walk — useful for morning runs or a low-key family afternoon. If being Bund-side is essential to your trip, that's a reason to look elsewhere. If you don't mind a metro connection, the location is quiet, safe and practical.

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A score of 9.4/10 from over 6,400 Trip.com reviews puts Kerry Hotel Pudong among the highest-rated 4-star properties in all of Shanghai. Guests across platforms consistently flag three things: genuinely helpful and warm staff, a very high standard of cleanliness, and facilities that exceed expectations for the price. The two recurring criticisms are minor: room furniture in some units can look dated, and the parking fee is billed separately — neither of which matters much if you're arriving by metro or taxi.

The honest summary: Kerry Hotel Pudong is the best upper 4-star for families and multi-night stays in Shanghai. If your priority list includes a big pool, a large room, world-class gym facilities, a pub that doesn't require going out, and a sensible metro connection to the sights — this property ticks every one of those boxes and does so at a price that consistently beats what comparable hotels in other cities charge for the same package. Typical rates ¥700–1,100 for standard rooms in regular season; higher during Golden Week and major trade shows at the nearby SNIEC.