My Shanghai and Suzhou Hotel Reviews
During my recent trip through Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuzhen, Nanxun, and Hangzhou, I stayed at seven different hotels. This is part two, reviewing three hotels I stayed at in Shanghai and Suzhou. One in Shanghai was right on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, and the other was in the Xintiandi area. In Suzhou, I stayed near Pingjiang Road. In part three, I'll review hotels in Wuzhen and Nanxun. Part four will be about a trendy makeup and photoshoot experience in Wuzhen. Part five will cover dining. If I have time, I'll also share my experiences with Suzhou's gardens, taking electric bikes around Hangzhou's West Lake, ordering transportation, booking long-distance rides, and using high-speed trains and subways.
1. Yitel Premium (Shanghai People's Square Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street Shop) (和颐至尊酒店(上海人民广场南京路步行街店)
This was the first hotel I stayed at in Shanghai. In the videos, it looked big, but it's actually quite small. The first floor is empty; you have to take the elevator to the fourth floor for the reception. Overall, it's adequate and convenient.
Price: I booked a double room with a window. Weekday rates were around 2,200,000 VND, and weekend rates could be around 2,800,000 VND, depending on the day.
Pros:
- The location is very convenient, right on Nanjing Road, surrounded by a pedestrian street filled with shops. The two small alleys next to it are full of restaurants. Transportation can drop you right at the hotel door.
- The reception area and dining area look nice and new.
- The breakfast is decent, not a huge variety but acceptable.
- The room equipment is quite new. My room had a full-body massage chair, which my mom appreciated after a lot of walking. However, not all rooms have massage chairs, so keep that in mind.
- If you leave a good review when checking out, they give you a gift of a five-tube hand cream set. The staff is also helpful.
Cons:
- The room is tiny, about 18 square meters, smaller than it appears in the hotel photos. The bed is only 1.5 meters wide.
- It's supposed to have a window, but the window is tiny. It does overlook Nanjing Road, though.
- The elevator only goes up to the seventh floor, and they put me on the eighth floor, so I had to drag my luggage up a winding path.
- The subway station is about 1 kilometer away. I thought it would be a short walk from the train after arriving from the airport, but it was tiring dragging my suitcase.
2. Atour Hotel Shanghai Xintiandi Metro Station (上海新天地地铁站亚朵酒店)
This is where I stayed on my last day. Overall, I was satisfied. Around the Xintiandi area, within a 600-700 meter radius, this seemed to be the most reasonably priced hotel. The Atour chain is better than JI Hotel in my opinion.
Price: Weekdays are 2,600,000 VND, and I went on a weekend, so it was 3,000,000 VND. Note that when booking on Trip, the website holds the room fee, but you still have to pay 835 RMB at the hotel, and the website refunds it after your stay.
Pros:
- The location is very close to the Xintiandi area, about 500 meters to Xintiandi Style 2 and 700 meters to Xintiandi Style 1.
- The room is quite large, about 23 square meters, with a 1.8-meter bed. The room is new, clean, and modern.
- The reception staff is helpful.
- The breakfast is decent.
- The hotel is newly built, so the facilities are new. There's a reading area, gym, and laundry room. Free porridge and steamed buns are available in the evening.
Cons:
- Regarding location, although it's a few hundred meters to Xintiandi, there aren't many shops or restaurants nearby. There's construction happening across the street. It was rainy when I went, so walking to Xintiandi was cold and wet, and since there weren't any nearby eateries, I had to order food.
- The room was okay, but it wasn't soundproofed and was near the elevator and housekeeping room, so it was quite noisy. Sleeping at night was fine, though; it was fairly quiet.
3. Hovle Mansion Club & Hotel (苏州平江华府酒店)
This hotel is in Suzhou. Overall, I was happy and felt it was worth the price. There are many hotels in the area, but my criteria for choosing a hotel in Suzhou was that it shouldn't be too modern or industrial. I still prefer hotels that maintain Suzhou's classic style. People often recommend Pan Pacific Suzhou, but it's a bit far from the attractions I wanted to visit, so I found this place.
Price: 599 RMB on weekdays, about 2,000,000+ VND. Also booked on Trip; the website holds the room fee, but you still have to pay 599 RMB at the hotel, and the website refunds it after your stay.
Pros:
- Beautiful location, just steps away from Pingjiang Road. 600 meters to Couple's Garden (藕园), about 1 kilometer to Humble Administrator's Garden and Lion Grove Garden.
- The hotel has a small, enclosed ancient courtyard, which I quite liked.
- The room is also spacious (25-30 square meters), the bathroom is large, and there's a soaking tub.
- The equipment is good and clean.
- The staff is helpful.
- The breakfast buffet is decent.
- The hotel has a small restaurant with acceptable dishes, which is convenient.
- The room has literature books or ancient books and a map introducing nearby attractions.
Cons:
- I can't remember any cons =)) Overall, I thought it was excellent for the price.
I'm reviewing based on my personal experiences to preserve memories of my first independent trip. Feel free to refer to it. If you repost, please credit the source. Honestly, I didn't want to stay in a different place every night, but I'd already made the plan, so I had to go through with it =)))
