If you go to any city in China, it is very likely that you can find a hotel named after the name of the city. For example, Beijing has Beijing Hotel, Hangzhou has Hangzhou Hotel. And these hotels usually have those typical ’state owned’ characteristics such as government influence,  central location, weird services etc.

And of course we have Shanghai Hotel in Shanghai. Shanghai Hotel is located in Wulumuqi Road and Huashan Road together with Jingan Hotel and Shanghai Hilton in the same block. Its location might be regarded the best area in Shanghai by local Shanghainese, as it is in the busy city centre enjoying all the conveniences, but meanwhile still has the quiet and romantic environment.
Shanghai Hotel and Jingan Hotel both belong to Jinjiang Group which is a large hotel group in China with government background. So both Shanghai Hotel and Jingan Hotel can be regarded as state owned and managed hotels.

Shanghai Hotel

The building of Shanghai Hotel replaced Park Hotel to become the tallest building in Shanghai in 1983 when it was established.  It is located in the North Wulumuqi Road. Although it was built as the first modern international 4 star hotel in Shanghai at that time, it looks a bit dated now.

Jingan Hotel

There are two buildings for Jingan Hotel. One is called Jingan Hotel Old Building which is a beautiful old Spanish building with a garden in the front. And the other is called Jingan Hotel New Building which is a 1980s look Chinese ordinary building. Jingan Old Building is rated as 4 Star hotel but the new building is not rated although I was told it is 3 Star standard. So when you make a reservation to the Jingan Hotel, please make sure you book the right building because they are actually two different standard hotels although they share the same name and belong to the same group.

In terms of the price, the two 4 star hotels (Shanghai Hotel and Jingan Hotel Old Building) are very similar about 500RMB. Jingan Hotel New Building is about 300RMB.
The best thing about these three hotels is their location. Convenient to go anywhere and also nice surrounding you can walk about.

The not so good side is all of them are a bit old in terms of facilities, services etc.

My personal comments:

If you want a 4 star hotel, Jingan Hotel Old Building is better than Shanghai Hotel because
- Jingan Hotel Old Building is not adjacent to any street. So it is quiet.
- It is nice to feel the old Shanghai in Jingan Hotel Old Building’s historical Spanish building. However, Shanghai Hotel building is lack of characteristics.

Jingan Hotel New Building would be a good choice if you travel on a budget but still would like to stay in the city center. Although the facilities are really old especially the bathroom is kind of Japanese style which means very compact, the hotel does offer what they claimed 3 star standard. What impressed me is their breakfast although it is very small. Unlike most 3 star hotels which only provide Chinese breakfast, it does have some simple western choices such as toast and fried eggs. But Jingan Hotel New Building charges ridiculously high for Internet connection (1RMB for 1 minute or 100RMB for a day).

Tags: Hotel in Shanghai

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