Shanghai Hotel Reviews

Shanghai has a lot of good restaurants and right around the corner of the hotel in the Xintiandi complex is Va Bene, T8, Kabb ect. Furthermore the Bund has very good restaurants and bars like M at the bund, New Heights, The Glamour room, Mesa/Manifesto and for Live Jazz, JZ Jazz club. I like to get the LUXE guides for the cities they offer it for, because it is easy to carry and it has the very essential things of the city you''re in.

The hotel is within walking distance to the People''s Park, the pedestrian Nanjing Lu East, Xintiendi, and Huaihai Lu. Also, taxis are inexpensive; you can get practically everywhere for less than RMB 20.

Visited Shanghai then onto Beijing. Used cabs and subway for most travel. Did have the services of a friend who is Chinese to assist in translation as cab drivers don''t speak English. Go to Jin Mao tower, take elevator to Cloud 9 the club on top of building, nicer than observation deck with same view and food and beverage available.

The Bund is a must. A side trip to Suzhou is recommended, but do not take the Suzhou-Zhouzhuang one-day tour because you can''t see much of either city in one day. The restaurants in Xintiandi ("New World"?) are all good.

Taxi rides to the Bund, Old Shanghai and just about everywhere were under 30 Yuan. Don''t hesitate.

Bought some fake watches for friends and myself. Don''t buy from the guys at Nanjing Road. Go to the fake market. Don''t pay more than 20 EURO, doesn''t matter what they tell you. I was shopping at the Decathlon outlet. It''s worth the trip to Padong. Decathlon is french sports outfitter that is really huge and prices are unbelievable.

We used subway and walking as our main ways of getting around, taxi only being used to transfer to the railway station. walking enabled us to see more of the city, a good example was the walk from Xintiandi to the Wu Gardens, walking down Dajing Lu from Renmin Lu to Henan Nanlu and then onto Fanbang Zhonglu gives a great insight into Shanghai life. As a first time visitor to China, crossing the roads was a challenge, however main junctions have traffic Assistants who help greatly. The best sights for us were the Wu Gardens and Shanghai Museum. We travelled by train to Suzhou, soft seat was fine and cheap, there is a ticket window at shanghai railway station clearly marked for english speakers, buy your tickets a day or so early, I didn''t and had to opt for my third choice train time. The soft seat waiting room is comfortable and well organised, we used it again when travelling by train to Beijing. www.china-train-ticket.com were a problem, my train tickets were not delivered to my hotel, I had to ring their Beijing office to resolve this. After wasting several hours waiting for tickets to be delivered they had bought tickets for a cheaper and later train than they had contracted with me for, I had no more time to pursue this matter and so accepted the situation. On the train the 2 berth compartment was fine but the food in the restaurant car should be given a miss, plan to feed yourself.

If you are traveling from Beijing I highly recommend to take the Train (Z). It takes 12 hours but you will have a great bed to sleep with dinner included. Take a look into the next web page to check it out: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20040801_train_from_beijing_to_shanghai.htm

One tour not worth doing is the 3 hour river boat trip, if you have to do a river tour then 1 hour is enough unless you enjoy seeing cranes and more cranes. My best trip was to Suzhou & Zhou Zhuang water village and the city tour is fine although both include the inevitable silk factory. The city is more modern with little pockets of the old way of life. Shanghai is worth a visit but personally I would not stay much longer than about 4 days.

For Shanghai: Thumbs up to M on the Bund for brunch, Jean Georges for dinner, Xintiandi for shopping, the new art area (can''t remember the name). Over-rated are the French Concession, 3 on the Bund for shopping, Shanghainese food.

Of course Xin Tian Di and french concession area. Very nice restaurant "The Face" in an old house or "M on the Bund" for a more glamourous and trendy style. Fantastic view on the Bund from the terrace.

Taxis best way to travel - everything very central and easily understandable. Never leave your hotel without a destination card written in chinese and alternately, have your hotel card with you at all times. Shopping excellent. Dine at one of the Grand Hyatt hotels as a highlight - spectacular view and excellent service. The Huadong Hospital has fast and efficient English speaking doctors. Antibiotics are dispensed there by the doctor for one small fee. Air Pollution is exhorbitant so wear a mask while touring to save your chest.

Always visit the Face bar in the Rui Jin Bing Guan off of Mao Ming Lu while in Shanghai.

You can find very good street food by turning left from hotel''s entrance, turn right at the first light, turn left at the Xian Yang Nang Lu (I think it is the first light), you will find great street food down the street on the right side in the mornings.

It was our first trip to Shanghai so it was a learning experience for us. The traffic was not as bad as I expected. Pedestrian crossings are generally OK but you have to be careful of some aggressive drivers who impatiently force their way through. Travelling as a family, we either walked or took taxis (I only tried the Shanghai subway once for the experience). All the taxi drivers we encountered were honest but I wish I could say the same compliment about the road manners of some. I particularly remember a stressful taxi trip which passed through the busy narrow lanes of the Old Town. We did the usual tourist route of Nanjing road and the Bund. Unless you are seriously shopping or snacking along the way, you could do Nanjing road from the No.1 Dept Store to the Peace Hotel in an hour or less, by which time you might need to use the toilet in the Peace Hotel (which is "hidden" up a short flight of stars opposite the reception desk). We also took a 1-hour cruise on the Huangpu river for the experience: a large part of it passes through the industrial-looking parts of the river, so you might not want to do it if you do not have time to spare.<br> <br> We went to the Yu Yuan (garden) on a Monday, hoping to avoid the weekend crowds. It did seemed less crowded except for the Nanxiang Mantou restaurant where people were literally standing behind those already steated, waiting to sample the "xiao long baos" ( I can''t tell you whether they lived up to their reputation because I took one look at the crowded place and gave up). The Garden itself is lovely. comparable to any gardens in Suzhou and well worth a visit. We stayed at the Hong Kong Plaza service apartment in Huai Hai Zhong road and took our breakfasts at a cafe called the "Coffee Club", located right behind the smallish Huai Hai Park: the cafe is located on the ground floor of the Somerset apartment building. The Dongtai road antique market is a short walking away and is interesting for a walk-through browse.

I had dinner at the Indian Hazara and the Lan Na Thai, both with excellent food and atmosphere. Chill out in the trendy Face bar, located in the same buidling than the Thai restaurant. All 3 spots are located in a small park between Maoming Lu and Ruijin Lu. Not easy to find but worth a visit.

Restaurants: M on the Bund is highly overrated. An excellent choice for Thai food is the beautiful Lan Na Thai at the RuiJin Guest House. Shanghai Museum is a must especially the bronze collection. Easy to get around by taxi. Do not recommend subway.

Pearl''s TV Towers, went on a Friday morning at about 10am. We were lucky not to encounter the massive crowd and the queue is very smooth which we heard not to visit the place during weekends. The museum just at the basement must not miss. Went to Nanjing Lu shopping mall for a walk. Is just like finding wally in the crowd. Xingyang market, must visit early in the morning as it gets very crowded in the late morning and early afternoon and you must really really bargain. Depend on how good is your bargaining skill, you can get 80-200% off the price. Watch out for colour runs on that ''North Face'' jackets or any other brands and also make sure there is no 2 ''Brand''s'' sticking on that ''branded'' t-shirt you are buying.

The apartments were great location to the performance hall and local shopping. We really enjoyed the light lunch fare at a local coffee and tea shop behind the local mall. We enjoyed the jazz show at the Peace hotel, a must see evening. My husband and sons would enjoy the kite flying along the Bund. The harbor cruise and dinner in the TV Tower made for a pleasant, get your bearings evening when we arrrived. The Yu Yuan gardens were close to the hotel as was the Nanjing shopping area.

Xiangyan lu is a good bargain for people who are generally interested in buying counterfeit goods. Do not book the day tour package (to HanZhou) from the hotel, as the coach bus is in a very very bad condition. And the knowledge of the hotel staff about the package is very limited.