A lot of plans are being mapped out this year, Murray says. After nearly a decade of operation, the hotel is getting ready to be refreshed - in both facilities as well as ideas. Major moves coming up include the reinvention of the coffee shop and the promotion of the hotel as a conference destination.

It plans to offer meeting experiences with innovative "brain food and brain box", specially designed to cater to the needs of business guests.

As for refreshing the culinary offerings, Murray has his own view on how it should be done.

"Many Chinese don't really care about the looks as long as the food is good. They know the quality, and they know the price," says Murray. Having noticed the sensitivity to price and the importance of value, Murray says Radisson Blu is now catching up.

"Everybody is looking for food and beverage at Dianping.com, and you're competing with a zillion other restaurants. That's tough, but that's the market. You have to play with the market, so we're walking through that."

Murray spent more than 24 years in different countries, including Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Japan, in various positions in the hospitality industry, but he still finds China fascinating,

"It's an onion. There's a layer, and there's another layer. It's just so different."

Prior to coming to Shanghai, Murray was the general manager of Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Tianjin for more than a year.

"Compared with the conservative culture of Tianjin, Shanghai is just so fast. Here, people live to work, and work to live," he says. Shanghai's business-centric atmosphere has kept him busy so far, but he has enjoyed the challenge and motivation.

"It doesn't feel like China, and it doesn't feel like anywhere else, either. The pace is relentless."