We checked out of the hotel (Howard Johnson Plaza) by noon and transferred to Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel. I was giddy with excitement since we were going to "one of the highest hotels in the world".

Upon arrival at the Jin Mao Tower (the 5th tallest building in the world) we took the elevator up to the hotel lobby on the 53^rd floor. Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story skyscraper. It contains offices and the building's anchor tenant - the 5-star Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel which occupies from 53^rd to 87^th floors.



I was a bit surprised due to the fact that the lobby was quite crowded. There were long lines of people waiting to register. HB went straight ahead to the front desk area and lined up.

Most guests filled the rows of seats. I was watching the benches and sofas with an eagle eye (hahaha) and I finally managed to find a seat after several attempts. phew! As I was waiting for HB, I noticed one of the guests carrying a camera was approached by the hotel manager and told he could not take a picture inside. That's the reason peeps, why I don't have any pictures of the lobby. However, here's a photo courtesy from Hyatt Hotel and Resorts. ;)

Watching the people was the highlight of the day. As my eyes roved the reception area something I hadn't really anticipated. I was like watching a fashion show for luxury bags. Some of the guests walked into the lobby with utmost confidence hovering handbags from Hermes to Louis Vuitton to Chanel and Gucci. whoa!!! I also spotted some couples dragging their set of Rimowa luggage. wow! But wait, on closer inspection, HB was also carrying his Rimowa and Tumi bags. Okay, enough said. ;)

Back to the queues, I spotted around 10 different staff members working the front desk but the queues were super slow moving. The waiting and the whole process took more than 30 minutes. Arrgh!

Soon, we went up to the 62nd floor. Once the elevator door opens we walked into a radiating elevator hallway.



And almost immediately, we were awe-struck with the 32-story barrel vaulted atrium (one of the tallest atrium in the world) that starts at the 56th floor and extends upwards to the 87th. wooh!



Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel was the highest hotel in the world until its height was surpassed last 2007 by the Shanghai World Financial Center which is next to the building. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).



Trivia: The Jin Mao tower and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel including the famous atrium, were featured in the futuristic film Code 46 (2003).