“hotel is decent, but the neighbourhood is terrible”

Stayed in a Superior Room with King Bed (non-smoking) for 3 nights Pros: ->clean room; modern looking ->close to subway stations ->front desk staff speak decent English + are helpful ->staff at business centre can help with booking of various events/attractions Cons: ->room was very small ->located in a very shady neighbourhood (which you cannot tell just by looking at a google map because it is close to attractions such as the Bund) ->was approached every day by various street people who were trying to sell watches/bags; some were very persistent and even stalked us for a certain period of time after repeatedly refusing to buy anything from them ->this happens just outside the hotel ->the last day a guy almost tried to pickpocket me 50m from the hotel entrance (we caught a glimpse of it just before he had the chance and he got lost) ->cars are parked just outside the hotel blocking part of the entrance ->no quality restaurants nearby ->internet access if very expensive ($1 US / hour) and there is no wi-fi ->the hotel restaurant is expensive

“A Good Deal”

The hotel is conveniently located. It is one bus stop from the Bund. Our room was clean and large (we had a deluxe room) and had a view of the Huangpu river and the Oriental Pearl Tower. However, the breakfast served at the hotel was expensive and not good. Also there are no good restaurants near by. The Zhapu road which is about one block east from the hotel was filled with filthy restaurants. The food at a Korean noodle house was terrible. The food was so salty we basically had to throw the entire dish away (after asking for a leftover takeout so that not to offend them). Other complains are that there are people smoking in the lobby in spite of "no smoking" sign was posted and some local guests talked extremely loudly in the lobby.

“Good location”

The hotel is just nearby line 10 metro station, but that line is open only from 9am to 4pm. Taxis are cheap and the location is near the shopping area and the Bund. Around the block there's a "department" store of cheap clothing. Breakfast is alright, but not the best.

“There are better places out there.”

The hotel staff spoke little english. The front desk was mediocore on help. I stayed in the buisness suite (don't). All the buisness suites are on the round courner of the hotel so the room may be the biggest sqft wise but the ackward shape makes the space useless. If you are to stay just stay in a king suite. There are better hotels closer to the bund (we were with in walking distance 3 blocks or so). If I went back to Shanghai, I would choose a hotel closer to stuff propably the Astor House seemed to be in a better location than my hotel. There were no english channels on TV everything in Chinese. There was one channel that would have a english movie on then a french then chinese but that was it. At check-out we needed a cab for the airport and not to helpful. However, there are cabbies out side of the hotel "DON'T USE THEM" (they try to get higher rate). Flag down a cab that is driving down the road. I used a cab outside the hotel and he took the long way and tried to add extra fare. The cabbie wanted 280 yuan his meter read 120 yuan as he took the long way. It should have only been around 80 yuan. It took some aruging on my part as I told the cabbie I was not paying the 280 and I told him to call the police as he was trying to rip me off. I shoved 150 in the cabbies had and demaded my 30 yuan change, after I recieved my change I walk away yelling at the cabbie calling him a cheat for taking me the long way to the airport to run up meter.

“Not worth it at all”

There is no Internet, even though it is supposed to be included in the rate, but the staff told me that there is no outlet in the room. The room is big, but the A/C in the room doesn't work well. There is only a remote for the TV set-top box, but not for the TV itself, you have to manually turn off the TV, so you cannot simply press one button before you are sleepy in bed. The check-out process is painful. It took 3 staff and 40 minutes for 2 customers in the line in front of me to check out.

“I could use it again in the future”

The price is right and is in the city

“Wouldn't recommend.”

Service was slow and unfriendly and the rooms were small, old and musty. However, you get what you pay for. On the upside, it was in a reasonably good location. Great markets just around the corner if you're there for shopping.

“Would stay here again”

Really impressed with this hotel. Really good price, good amenities. We had some issues with our TV, which they fixed promptly. However, my guest was fluent in Shanghainese and Mandarin, so I can't say anything about how well the staff speaks English.

“Clean enough, but some smell in the hallway”

The hallway on the 8th floor, where my room was , smelled like some Chinese hot pot food, but the room itself was clean and didn't have any strange odor. Room furniture is of American style but the beds are smaller than in U.S. The room runs drinkable water. Like some other reviewers mentioned, the soap dispenser in the shower doesn't work very well. I don't know why they wouldn't just switch to small bottles of liquid soap and get rid of those clumsy dispensers. The hotel is not at the prime location but close enough to major attractions like the Huangpu River and Xin Tiandi (new heaven and earth) by Taxi, which costs a fraction of those in New York.