WITH unmatched state-of-the-art conference and banqueting venues, the city's largest sports club, plus complimentary mini-bar beers from its craft brewery, Kerry Hotel Pudong, Shanghai meets delegates' needs without them having to leave the complex. Nie Xin reports.

Kerry Hotel Pudong, Shanghai, flows seamlessly within the new Kerry Parkside complex, integrating the hotel with an office tower, serviced residences and a lifestyle retail mall.

The hotel will soon launch its MICE micro site, displaying its MICE facilities.

Soaring 31 stories over the Kerry Parkside complex in the heart of Pudong, the Kerry Hotel Pudong, which opened in February 2011, offers 574 guestrooms and suites, three restaurants, a lounge, a craft brewery, a 24-hour business center equipped with serviced offices and meeting rooms, the city's largest sports club with a wellness day spa and indoor children's playground, as well as Shanghai's largest portfolio of banqueting and conference venues, including the city's largest pillar-free ballroom.

"I am extremely proud of our hotel and what we have to offer our guests. It's by far the most exciting product offering in Shanghai, so I wake up every day looking forward to telling more people about it," says Peter Clarke, the hotel's general manager.

The hotel's facilities are designed to capitalize on the hotel's proximity to the Shanghai New International Expo Center - Shanghai's largest trade exhibition venue, offering more than 300,000 square meters of space - adjacent to the Kerry Parkside complex and directly connected to the hotel via a covered walkway and footbridge.

"The MICE market is continually growing. We are right on Century Park and the closest luxury hotel to Pudong International Airport. We are situated right on a Metro line so in terms of convenient location, we have it, no traffic to deal with and no downtown chaos," says Clarke. "Our goal is to communicate our key unique features and benefits such as our location (Kerry Parkside), product (largest ballroom and Kerry Sports) and services (free mini bar and complimentary high speed Internet) to the marketplace.

"For today's busy traveler, they do not necessarily want to see the city, they want to get in and out in the most convenient way possible, and we offer that," says Clarke. "Organizers love our facility, as they feel our hotel is designed to keep attendees focused; there is enough to do within our complex, so it created a better cohesion with their delegates."

The hotel offers an unmatched portfolio of hotel meeting and banqueting facilities in the city, with more than 7,300 square meters of space spanning a total of 26 multi-purpose function rooms and two ballrooms. Outdoor alternatives include the 195-square-meter Balcony Garden on level three, overlooking the courtyard of the Kerry Parkside complex and the 700-square-meter Rooftop Garden on level five, with lush views of Century Park.

The Grand Shanghai Ballroom, at 2,230 square meters and a ceiling soaring up to 9 meters, is the city's largest hotel-based pillar-free ballroom, with a pre-function foyer area offering natural daylight. The ballroom can accommodate more than 2,800 people theater style and 1,600 guests for banquets and is equipped with built-in LCD projectors and five motorized wide screens. LCD projectors and motorized wide screens are also fitted in the Pudong Ballroom.

The hotel's banqueting and conference venues are equipped with high-speed broadband and wireless Internet access in both ballrooms, all function rooms and public areas; teleconferencing and videoconferencing facilities; simultaneous interpretation services; multi-microphone conference system; public address system; data projector; portable stage; computer-controlled lighting equipment; and moveable partitions/walls. It also has the city's largest moveable LED screen - 40 square meters. Additional equipment, such as flat-screen plasma televisions, LCD projectors, DVD players, is available upon request.

Guestrooms at the hotel range in size from 42 to 168 square meters, with sweeping views of Century Park or the city. Custom-designed in-room consoles with high stools and built-in minibars with complimentary beverages and snacks on arrival, 40-inch flat-screen televisions, iPod docking stations and complimentary broadband and wireless Internet access are standard. The BREW's award-winning craft brew is available as part of the hotel's in-room minibar beverages - guests can get two bottles free. Sliding wall panels partition guestrooms, leading to separate bath and shower facilities.

Spanning 8,000 square meters over three levels, Kerry Sports, which includes the Adventure Zone and Spa, is the largest fitness and recreation destination in the town, designed as a springboard for an active and healthy lifestyle for the entire family.

With 10-meter-high floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking Century Park, surrounding villas and the financial district's skyline in the distance, Kerry Sports provides an overwhelming feeling of space. Operating round-the-clock, the gymnasium spans four activity zones comprising more than 80 pieces of state-of-the-art exercise equipment: the "Iron Man," Cardio, Personal Training, Strength Circuit and free weights.

The Spa offers a pro-active and multi-disciplinary approach to holistic wellbeing with physiotherapy, restorative massage, skincare and body treatments inspired by wushu - Chinese martial arts - and natural skin care.

Designed to appeal to children's fantasies, the Adventure Zone is a 700-square-meter children's indoor playground and recreation center. Three slides, the Hyperglide Astra slide, the Double Drop slide and the tri-level Demon Drop slide, are its main attractions. Meanwhile, it is an ideal venue for corporate team building as the adults can also experience the exhilaration brought by the slides there.

The hotel introduces one of Shanghai's most innovative dining and entertainment concepts, an integrated three-in-one designer showcase developed by boutique design consultancy Stickman Tribe - The COOK, The MEET and The BREW.

The hotel unveiled the city's first mobile keg called The BREW Trike & Trailer. It is literally a bar attached to a vintage sidecar motorcycle with 150 liters of fresh craft beer plus "brewtender." The Trike & Trailer is available for rent at 10,000 yuan and is mobile anywhere in the city.

"Hiring the right staff and keeping them happy, being caring, and ensuring they have all the tools and the skills they need to do their job are important. Work must be fun; we need to engage the staff just as much as we engage our guests. We are one team and everyone 'chips in' to serve our guests," says Clarke.

According to the GM, an ice-ring will be put in the forecourt toward the end of this year, which will be very similar to the one at The Rockerfeller in New York City.

"We are also the official partner of the 2012 Miss Universe China beauty pageant," says Clarke. "We are expecting a lot of excitement around this event, and we are hosting the 30 finalists for a month of 'Beauty Boot-Camp'."