Despite the assurance from the night duty hotel front desk staff that we can leave our luggage upon checkout, we found out otherwise on the next day. The hotel front desk staff in the morning claims that it is a policy of the hotel not to store luggage for guests who have checked out. This is nothing we have come accross in other hotel in the world . After much questioning, Hotel Front Desk Manager Richard Wang informed they are in discussion on the matter and later advised they could help to store our luggage else where with a fees.

I stayed at the Golden Tulip Shanghai Riverside for four days in November 2007. The hotel looked good on Expedia.ca, was near a metro station, and was acquired at a decent rate ($70 CDN/night). Having never been to China before, I didn't know what to expect. It is above-average in terms of hotel standards there, but would be no more than 2 star accomodation in North America. The rate, while low for Western standards, was quite high for China and didn't really come with any added perks (like a breakfast for instance, which seemed standard at every other hotel I stayed at during my trip).

Location: outside of the touristy spots, but the metro stop is directly behind the hotel. I actually preferred to stay out of the way, as there was no hassle with "art students"/tea ceremony people or Rolex salespeople. You can walk the streets freely with no distraction or bother. There is some Western-influence as well, as evidenced by the Tesco Supermarket, McDonalds and Papa Johns pizza a block away. However, if it's a truly Eastern experience you are after, you will get it near this hotel as well. Just walk and explore.

Room: Clean and comfortable. The beds are hard, but they are like that everywhere here. Unless you have a large budget, don't mistake the water in the fridge for the complimentary bottled water found in the bathroom...it turned into a costly mistake for us ($8 CDN per 250mL bottle). Ouch! Elevators are REALLY slow.

Staff: There are English-speaking staff. Could have been friendlier though. Comparing it to other hotels I stayed at during my month-long excursion, I'd have to say it was one of the worst. A smile goes a long way. There aren't many to be had here.

In May, I stayed at the Golden Tulip Shanghai Riverside, a hotel situated in Putuo district in Shanghai.

Before going there, I was a bit afraid of the location of the hotel as I didn’t knew where was Putuo area, but it turn out to be a very good experience as this hotel is in a walking distance from the tube station, only few stops from people square and taxi to go down town in very cheep.

This was a very good value for money stay compare to the other hotels
situated down town shanghai that were much more expensive. Rooms are nice and comfortable.