This was my most unfortunate stay with an Intercontinental Hotels chain property around the world. My stays at the China Holiday Inns have been much better. And of course, the Intercontinental Hotel stays have been great to exceptional.

The check-in was ok, upgraded to a deluxe room, which was not deluxe in any sense. It was a very dated (early 1990s designed) room, nothing special or deluxe about it. I cannot fault the room for providing a quiet place to sleep on a western-style bed. However, if you are expecting more hospitality, go elsewhere.

The staff is, well, just not trained in the IC chain style. Smiles and greetings are sparse and efficiency is lacking. One of the biggest faults is the lack of taxis. As many Shanghai travelers know, a taxi is generally a cheap, easy and mostly fast way to get around. This hotel is at least one km from the closest subway station, so you cannot fall back on public transport for a quick trip.

The hotel was designed with no taxi queue! There is no place for taxis to park and wait for the lucrative fares coming from an "upscale" hotel. I talked with several taxi drivers, through an interpreter, and they said the hotel is too inconvenient for them to regularly service. Hence, the only taxis are those which are dropping off passengers. If there are no dropoffs, there are no cabs. This is a "business meeting" type of hotel, with many people lining up at once to get a taxi. One afternoon at 4 p.m., I waited for 20 minutes until I gave up and began to walk the streets. The hotel sent some bellcaps out to the street to lure in taxies, but they were passive. If you have ever seen the effort some doormen put out to find a taxi, you will laugh at this Crowne Plaza's attempt. A complaint to the front desk got indifferent shoulder shrugs and little effort to satisfy the guest for a basic hotel service. Translated loosely into English their (several front desk people) body language said, "So what's new?" For a traveler accustomed to warm Chinese hospitality, this place was cold as ice.

I suffered from sticker shock on the internet charges of 120 yuan (over US$15 a night). This is the highest charge I have seen after maybe 20 hotel stays in China in the past 18 months. (Many are free, of course.) The breakfast buffet, for those not getting a "free" breakfast, was about 175 yuan per person, over $23 at today's exchange rate. Breakfast for two at the Crowne Plaza=almost US$50. It was not a spectacular spread, and they advertised their dinner buffet at the same price. It is price gouging to charge so much to guests looking for a western breakfast. (For China, the US$50 can buy a wonderful dinner for two at a white-linen restaurant.)

Many times I pick up the "vibes" of a place, good or bad, upbeat or depressing. This property had sufficient negatives in convenience and costs that I checked out after two nights of a planned five-night stay. When checking out, no one asked why I was checking out early, if I enjoyed my stay, or gave me a comment card. Perhaps if they would solicit feedback from their customers, they would find out why it is not a hospitable place to stay.

We spent 6 nights at the Crowne Plaza Shanghai in early July 2007. We had just stayed at another Crowne Plaza in November 2006 on the Pudong side, so we thought we knew what to expect. It is a long ride to and from Pudong airport, so prepare for that when planning your stay. It is about 20RMB by taxi to central Puxi. First impression of the hotel was all right, but upon inspection it looks tired and worn everywhere, including the hotel band. We were on business and we had club level rooms booked. The rooms were ok, nothing to brag about and especially not the club-level I expected, quite small, worn out and the view was terrible. The club lounge was also a little tired and what surprised us the most was that there were no windows in the lounge. We ate at the hotel Chinese restaurant, which was quite good, but there are better and cheaper choices even on the other side of the road, just turn right and cross the street. We had a few beers at the hotel bar Charlies, nothing to tell our grandchildren about, very loud music by a terrible band and the price of beer was astronomical by any standards, a pint of local beer costing about 55RMB! Breakfast was fairly all right, but limited in choices.
What upset me was that they charged one of us 134Euros directly from the credit card with no explanation, which we only noticed when we got back. Still trying to get an explanation, but so far no answers...
Overall, not terrible, but not good either and the last part didn't help either. The Crowne Plaza on the Pudong side was so much better, but sooooo far away. Will be staying at another hotel chain the next time.

This Crowne Plaza, one of three in Shanghai, is actually quite out-of-the-way on a back street off one of Shanghai's main shopping streets (although all the shopping is a couple of miles down the road at the other end). There is no Metro stop close by, which would make things difficult except for the plentiful supply of cabs, which are very cheap. Do be sure your driver knows where he's going though - some in Shanghai don't seem to be aware of the basic tourist spots!

Inside, it's a comfortable international business class hotel, with several restaurants and bars. I recommend you book a room on the club floor for the extra space and comfort, the dedicated breakfast area and the priority check in on the upper floors.

The room itself had a decent bathroom and was large with a comfortable bed. The internet connection was fairly slow, despite claiming to be 100 Mbps, but the TV stations were a good mix of CNN, BBC, some movie channels, etc.

My real memory of this hotel will be the exceptionally helpful and friendly staff, however. I was unfortunate enough to be the victim of a crime in Shanghai (nowhere near the hotel, I should add), and two of the staff went out of their way to help me, accompanying me to the police station, translating for me, and generally reassuring me. I couldn't have thanked them enough, and highly recommend this hotel on the basis of those staff. It's a comfortable base, and a pleasant refuge from the bustle of this electrifying city.

Incidentally, the crime I was the victim of occurred on Nanjing Road close to the Bund. It seems, from my research afterwards, that many others have suffered similar experiences in Shanghai. A man approached me on a Sunday afternoon and asked me to help him speak English. This happens a great deal in China. I resisted, but he seemed genuine and in need of assistance. I accompanied him to his choice of venue: an Egyptian bar off Nanjing Road, near the top end by the Bund (which he assured me was a coffee house, but was clearly, on entering, a red light bar). This resulted in me being asked for sex by prostitutes, and when I refused being presented with a bill for nearly 3000 Yuan (around 250 GBP) for drinks they falsely claimed the girls had consumed. I was threatened by male bouncers and not allowed to leave until I paid up. I did so and left, after which I called the police. If you are a vicim of crime in Shanghai, always call the police on 110. They were really helpful, found a translator for me over the phone, visited my hotel room, and eventually took me back to the bar where they got me most of my money back. The police take these crimes very seriously and will be helpful. Two further tips: don't speak to anyone on Nanjing Road, and avoid the Egyptian Bar just off the main street. It's full of appalling criminals.

Enjoy the rest of Shanghai, though: it's a great city.

I was a regular visitor to this hotel until they began the renovation work a couple of years or so ago when the daytime noise became too annoying. Having tried other hotels such as Sofitel and Hua Ting in the meantime, I was relieved to learn that the work was completed and I had no hesitation in returning for a short stay in April 2006. The rooms and service are up to the best Crowne Plaza standards and good value (at least for Shanghai) at about USD 120 per night ,particularly with the upgrade I usually enjoy as a Priority Club member.
Although a bit out of the way from the main shopping and business areas, it is located in a very quiet and pleasant neighbourhood with lots of nice restaurants within walking distance. In fact if you don't like hotel breakfasts there is an excellent cafe with Chinese and Western dishes immediately next door by the cinema complex.
If you don't fancy long taxi rides through the Shanghai traffic it is simpler to get a taxi for a 5 minute trip to the Xujiahui shopping area (several large stores and shopping mall) where there is a fast subway service to Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road shopping districts.
Unless you have a lot of business in Pudong area I would recommend this hotel to anyone - it is also very close to Hongqiao Airport which is much more convenient for domestic flights than Pudong Airport.