The spa manager at Le Meridien Sheshan left recently, but before she did she left behind a thing of true beauty: the chocolate body scrub. I was a little skeptical, but the nice fuwuyuan kept pushing it, so I took the bait. Moments later, stripped nudious, I was covered in what felt like Nestle Crunch bar sludge. I wanted to eat myself. Apparently, covering yourself in chocolate is The Latest Thing. It’s supposed to do everything that oils do without that oily residue. Whatever. I felt like a human Snickers bar.

Luckily, as price for being the guinea pig I extracted an additional facial from them. Gotta tell ya: I’m a big fan. In fact, I’ve decided to swear off all body massages altogether and go only for scrubs and facials. Body massages never quite leave me feeling satisfied, but facials are pure bliss. Don’t know why.

That was followed by an incredible dinner at the Lakeview Restaurant with Tony Wang who is my new favorite hotel PR guy. He’s put in his time, learning the game from Michelle Wan at the Portman Ritz-Carlton then honing his craft at The Four Seasons before coming to Le Meridien. Tony is super PR guy, acting as Director of Marketing Communications for Le Meridien Sheshan AND Le Royal Meridien AT THE SAME TIME! Wow. Super sweet Shanghai guy.

Tony let me in on a bunch of very cool Items of Interest like the soon to open Jumeirah in Xintiandi which is owned by the same group which owns the world’s only six star hotel in Dubai, that thing that looks like a sail boat. He also hinted to me about a hotel in Tianma Shan invested by Shimao and run by the Sheraton which will be 90 percent UNDERWATER! No way!

Thanks to Tony for a great evening of culture, exploration, discovery and super duper media points.

Tomorrow, after a lazy breakfast on the verandah, I’m off to Shaoxing.