The Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund works so well, you’d never know there’s a service issue in China. The attention to detail, the personalization, the fluency of the staff are impeccable, and unlike the typical American visitor who speaks English only, the employees at this distinctive, luxury property speak English—and more.

Nevertheless, Dirk De Cuyper, general manager of Hilton’s first Waldorf Astoria in Asia, says labor quality is the key issue. It seems China’s march to prosperity is outpacing its ability to produce lodging employees skilled in service, particularly at the luxury level. So De Cuyper takes cues from other industries when he hires for the property’s 20-suite heritage building and its 252-unit Waldorf Astoria Tower.

Only in the last three years have high-end operators opened hotels in Shanghai, says De Cuyper, citing the Fairmont Peace and the Peninsula as key members of the Waldorf Astoria’s competitive set. “Particularly in high-end luxury, it’s a whole new territory for the hospitality industry in China,” he says. “Hence the available labor force has to be trained and educated to match the expectations of visitors and guests staying in those high-end luxury hotels.”

The issue isn’t numbers—China’s population is 1.3 billion-plus—but quality. In an interview at the hotel, De Cuyper said China lacks vocational schools and hotel management is still in its early phase, so he contacts “brands in the fashion and jewelry industries to exchange ideas for what we can do to develop the talent to match and understand better to service those high-end guests. It could be Christian Dior, Chanel, people who have been operating luxury stores in China longer. They have the same challenge”: the luxury market in China is growing so fast labor can’t keep up.

Situated on the Bund, the long, stylish walkway that highlights this city of 23 million, this hotel aims to fuel buzz, exemplifying the “timeless elegance” Waldorf Astoria strives for, says John Vanderslice, global head of luxury and lifestyle brands for Hilton Worldwide. He says this year, China tallied the same number of millionaires as Europe, but Europe took thousands of years to reach its count, China only 15. (According to rediff.com, a business portal based in India, the U.S. has the most millionaires; Japan is next, China third at 1.1 million—more than the United Kingdom.)

Vanderslice, who oversees the Waldorf Astoria and Conrad brands for Hilton, said in a recent telephone interview from Hilton headquarters in McLean, VA that “Shanghai is a great symbol of global growth and all of Asia-Pacific looks to key cities as its beacon.” Staying at this beacon comes dear: A King Deluxe unit of 484 square feet has a rack rate of 5,000 renminbi, or $387; a Luxury King River Suite, at 1,076 square feet, goes for 9000 RMB, or $1,392. (These are rates posted on the hotel’s website.)

De Cuyper likened today’s Shanghai to the U.S. of the go-go ‘80s, “when everybody was working all night, burning candles at both ends.” It’s not unusual for a wealthy Chinese woman to spend two to three months of her annual salary on fashion, stocking up on Louboutin shoes and Chanel suits. “The symbolism of advancing economies is really important in China.”

While he praises the service at the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, Vanderslice acknowledges it as an issue, “one of the reasons our luxury brands don’t have as many hotels. There are only 24 Waldorf Astorias; Four Seasons has 80-plus hotels. We need to make sure every hotel is its absolute best and our team members are trained well. We make sure we measure twice and cut once when it comes to luxury.”

A Special Property
Not only is the historic Long Bar in the heritage building a focal point, Peacock Alley in the tower speaks to the legacy of the brand, evoking its iconic namesake, the Waldorf=Astoria New York. The heritage building opened in April 2010, the tower a year later. The hotel already feels lived-in, experienced. Here are some impressions I put down following a trip that brought me, along with a group of consumer journalists specializing in travel, food and wine, there in early May. I flew from Cleveland to Chicago to Shanghai, Business Class, on American Airlines:

I’m in my suite on the 21st floor jetlagged into oblivion, eager for the deep but too-brief sleep that usually follows a long flight.

My unit has a panoramic view of Pudong on the west bank of the Huangpu River, which divides the old Puxi part of Shanghai from its futuristic, business-oriented sibling. Pudong’s huge buildings shine with neon, and at night the dinner boats glow.

My living room is roomy, with six chairs, a sofa and a writing desk next to a clutch of electronic accessories. The decor is minimalist colonial, befitting a property that builds on the period Shanghai Club that Hilton updated.

The hues are soft: dusty jade, beige, rich, reddish wood. The furniture is traditional, the art diverse, most with a nature motif. It spans the representational and the abstract, walking a line that separates the thoughtful from the bland.

Each of two marble-floored toilet areas is equipped with a high-tech Japanese toilet providing a variety of pushbutton-activated ablution options not seen in U.S. hotels. Nice touch: heated seats, like in a luxury car. Nice to the feet: the carpet, its pattern an abstract sea floor in white, aquamarine and gold.

The bedroom is as big as the living room. Not only is there a multi-pillowed king-size bed, there’s a lovely sitting area, a flat-screen HDTV with a console that activates television and Internet via a dedicated keyboard, a settee, and a bedside touch-screen tablet that acts as room “orchestrator”. With that custom tablet, you can control the lighting, the drapes, and order roomservice. There’s even a jetlag mode under lighting.

The technology is cool, from the keycard wave that gets you into your room (no swipe here) to the wand scan of your visa at Chinese Customs. At check-in, front desk scans your passport, providing visual confirmation of identity in case you forget keycard or wallet. The desk-side Technology Kit bristles with cables and adapters—including ones, apparently, for speakers—but the crowning touch is an inset on the top of a shelf to one’s right containing an iPod/iPhone outlet, HDMI, VGA, S-video, video and audio, USB—and a 230V-8A 1840W Max plug array obviating the need for an adapter.

I had trouble with Gmail, though that might have been Google’s (or China’s) fault; my AOL mail worked better. Still, the suite was dandy, as was the service. Not only is the staff painstakingly courteous, touches such as the gilt-and-wood basket in which one’s underwear—ironed, of course—is delivered, and the monogrammed soft-cloth carrier for shirts and pants, are more than welcome.

The Outlook
GM De Cuyper says the clientele is expected to be 50% to 55% domestic, 25% U.S., and the rest from Europe. The guest profile is a combination of business and leisure, and the key is experience. This is not a hotel for the road warrior, he says, noting the Waldorf Astoria competes with the Peninsula Shanghai, the Westin Bund Center, the Hyatt on the Bund, the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai, and Ritz-Carlton, with a hotel each in Shanghai and Pudong. He notes these hotels—particularly the Peninsula and the Fairmont Peace—are distinct, and it’s for customers “to decide which style they prefer.”

Spencer Dodington, a Texas expatriate and long-time Shanghai resident who runs the web site luxuryconciergechina, says the Waldorf will continue to generate buzz for the Long Bar alone, “a big hit with the local expat and Chinese drinking crowds.” He suggests in an e-mail its key competitor will be the Peninsula. Vanderslice, Hilton’s luxury marketing guru, seems to agree: “There are a lot of fabulous hotels run by competitors,” he says, acknowledging the Peninsula and the Peace. Still, this Hilton beachhead stands out. “In all of China and Asia Pacific, I think it would be hard to find a better hotel than the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund in terms of design, heritage, service and location.”