Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
spacious room for ¥268. Services are basic
but the rooms are cheap and clean, with a
bright colour scheme, and staff speak some
English. They do offer rooms by the hour,
though - the place isn't sleazy but you
might not want your kids to stay.
2
-
3
.
Yes Inn
悦思酒店
yuè sī ji
scheme. Staff could be friendlier but the
dorms are pretty comfortable, with TVs and
DVD players. It's on the route of bus #806,
a 10min walk from Yan'an Xi Lu subway
station. Dorms ¥88, rooms
3
.
YMCA Hotel
青年会宾馆
qīng nián huì bīn gu
n
123 Xizang Nan Lu
T
63261040,
W
www
.ymcahotel.com. See map, p.64.
It has seen
better days and the four-bed dorms may be
on the pricey side (you can do better
elsewhere), but this bright, practical, no-frills
place is central, and the private rooms are
cheap considering the location. Dorms
¥100, rooms
4
-
6
.
i diàn
711 Ding Xi Lu
T
62826070,
W
www.yesinn
.com. See map, p.98.
Though billing itself as a
boutique hostel for backpackers, this is
really just a downmarket business hotel with
more beds in the room than usual and
some odd design touches, such as
chequerboard floor tiles and a bold colour
Mid-range and upmarket hotels
Shanghai's
mid-range hotels
(
4
-
6
) are usually well equipped and comfort-
able, though they tend to be rather anonymous. There are some exceptions,
however, in the form of the charming converted mansions of the Old French
Concession. You can expect an en-suite bathroom, a business centre, WiFi (for
which you will have to pay a small surcharge), a booking service for onward
transport, and the larger ones will have a gym and sauna. Breakfast apart, meals
are better eaten out than in the hotel restaurant as hotel food at this level is
never much good.
Moving up the scale, there are plenty of
upmarket places
(
7
-
9
) and more
are being thrown up all the time. They're comparable to their counterparts
elsewhere in the world, offering all the facilities you might expect, with gyms,
saunas and swimming pools. The choice in this bracket comes down to whether
you want to be right in the heart of the neon jungle, or if you want views of it
from your window - few places manage both.
Even if a room in one of these establishments is beyond your budget, you can
still avail yourself of their lavish facilities, including restaurants that are often
pretty good and, by Western standards, not expensive. You may find the finer
nuances of service lacking, particularly in older places - the Chinese hospitality
industry is experiencing a steep learning curve, which means that the staff and
services in newer places are much, much better. An annoyance at this level is
the high extra charges for services that are free in cheaper places, such as
wireless Internet (sometimes as much as ¥100 a day); hoick your laptop to a
nearby café instead.
than those at the Peace and with superb
views along the length of the Bund (room
rates increase the higher you go). Some
rooms are drab, others have been newly
renovated, so check out a few. Like all the
other old hotels it leaves something to be
desired in terms of style and service.
7
Le Royale Méridien
世贸皇家艾美酒店
shì mào huáng jiā ài m"i
"
i ji
diàn
The Bund and Nanjing Dong Lu
Broadway Mansions
上海大厦
shàng h
i dà shà
20 Suzhou Bei Lu
T
63246260,
W
www
.broadwaymansions.com. See map, p.51.
This
huge, ugly, 1930s lump on the north bank of
the Suzhou Creek was originally a residential
block, but now offers rooms rather larger
106
