After reading so many negative comments about this hotel on Trip Advisor I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was during our stay. My husband and I thought the rooms were quite lovely if not the largest we experienced during our tour of China. The bathroom was large and clean. The linens were new and bath sheets rather than regular size towels were a treat. Water pressure in the shower was great. The closet safe was a good size, but was not bolted down. It was nice to have an alarm clock in the room.
We thought the breakfast was way more than adequate. It is served on the second floor in a large room. Be careful to check out the entire circumference of the room as the breakfast offerings are spread out all over. There was a good mix of Chinese, American, a Japanese section, fresh fruit and dried fruit for oatmeal (including candied kumquats, a favorite of mine), breads and pastries (not stale like a lot of other hotels), fresh egg and soup service, etc. We both liked the fact that the tea and coffee carafes [one on each side of the room] were self-serve. If you cannot find something you like for breakfast here, you are beyond fussy.
We had read about the ‘ladies’ by the lifts at night. My husband saw then when he went down to read in the lobby after I went to sleep and asked at the front desk about them. The hotel staff was aware of these ladies. They said they worked for the massage studio that advertised in the hotel. Who knows? If you go to the Hilton one street over, we were told by a Chinese business person staying at the Shanghai Hotel to be aware that all the bars across from that hotel are hostess bars and to avoid them.
If you like to walk, this is a GREAT location. It is easy to go north (right) a bit and end up on Nanjing Rd. This is especially fun at night when it is all light up. We enjoyed walking south [turn left as you exit the hotel] into the French Concession on Wulumuqi Rd. There were some restaurants and very good bakeries on this road. IF you are looking for a small local place to eat, there are a bunch of what looked like clean little places on the first cross street south of the hotel if you turn right at the first intersection south of the hotel. Continuing on this street will take you to a park and a little further (where a few streets come together) there is a big grocery store. It is on the right across the street and the entrance looks small, but it is pretty large and quite interesting.
If you want to get to the Jing’an Temple, or just go on subway line 2 it is a 10 minute walk. This line goes all the way to the PuDong International Airport at a cost of 7 rmb (less than $1.25. This is how I went to the airport.) To get there exit the hotel and turn right. Go to the first intersection and turn right again. Walk to the next intersection. You will see a big overpass. If you go slightly to the right there is an escalator you can use. Go up this. When at the top of the escalator turn right and then left as you want to get off diagonal from where you were. Unfortunately, it is regular steps on the way down. Go straight ahead –i.e. north towards the Temple. At the corner you will see and up and down escalator on your right that you should take down. If you turn left at the bottom, this will take you into the Number 5 exit of the Line 2 subway station. The ride to the Pudong International Airport takes 1 hr and 15 minutes. It is another 15 minute walk to get to the airline counter.
Enjoy your time in Shanghai!