Atour Hotel — Hotel in Shanghai

Location:||The hotel is located close to the former french concession in a somewhat residential area, not in a backally but kind of set back, next to another hotel (currently being renovated), a court/muncipal building and some luxury shops. There are restaurants and supermarkets around 500m away from the hotel. ||||Lobby:||Very stylish and modern, looks kind of like a Ikea.||||Room:||Most rooms are located on the same (4th) floor. Which is a problem as you have endless maze-like corridors to find your room. And there is only one elevator (not centrally located). So you will walk a lot to your room. And wait a lot as around 80 rooms share one elevator.||When you enter the room you step into the tiled area of your room - as it is the same area where your sink is. Personally I consider that fairly unhygienic as you walk around in street shoes in an area that normally is also used barefoot.||The rooms themself are fairly spacious in modern design, the beds are comfortable and big. The bathroom and shower is fairly large. ||Sadly the light switches are only labelled in Chinese and fairly confusing, there is no safe, etc. in the room. Only some rooms seem to have an armchair. ||The view goes towards a very small courtyard.||||But now to the problems with the rooms:||The ventilation system is a joke.It does distribute cigarette smoke and other smells(e.g. bathroom) evenly between the rooms (all members of our group had the same problem, although located in rooms on different ends of the hotel). Shanghai does normally prohibits smoking in all hotel rooms, but the staff does nothing and even smokes themself in the housekeeping closets. ||So basically we had to endure the constant and massive smell during our whole stay (for one member of our group it was so bad that smoke was pushed out directly and visible out of the vents).||(Furthermore the doors are fitted badly and therefore do not stop any sounds from the outside coming in, in addition there seems to be some kind of public entertaiment hall above the hotel)||||||Amenities:||A coin laundry exists. There are no other amenities, including no bar or restaurant (beside the breakfast restaurant)||||Breakfast:||While not that noteworthy it was okay and offered both western as well as asian options. It was refilled in time, though. ||||Staff:||Staff in general is friendly but speaks almost no english. But even when someone speaks chinese they are extremly unhelpful and basically cannot offer solutions/advice to any problems or inquiries. (E.g. our smoke problem, a inquiriy about restaurants, etc.)||||Pro:||+ Spacious rooms||+ Breakfast okay||||Contra:||- Absolute disgrace of a ventilation system||- Unhelpful staff||- Not enother elevators/ long walks to the room||- You walk into your "bathroom" when entering your room||- Very loud rooms||- Amenities required for 4 stars missing (Safe, etc.) missing||||Conclusion:||Would I book the Atour Shanghai Xujiajui again? Definitly not. Shanghai offers too many alternatives for the same money that are far superior in terms of rooms, service and standards. ||While the rooms are spacious everything else felt rather "unfinished" and "wrong", even for mainland...

This hotel definitely qualifies as a design hotel. There's a beautiful reading library next to the lobby, but most (if not all) the books are in Chinese. ||||Pros - new hotel, spacious and well-appointed rooms, universal power outlets, stylish design. There's a laundry room (free to use) on level 4 with two washing machines, ironing boards and a steam iron. Lots of local food on Yude Street, many which are open for breakfast, as well as 2 supermarkets and some minimarts. Hotel staff (as per company policy, they go by nicknames here) are friendly and helpful. ||||Cons - no fridge. ||||Overall I enjoyed my stay at this hotel, and I can recommend it for travellers whose main activities would be centred around...

1/5 because the hotel is not soundproof.

You can clearly hear people laughing as if they were in your room at night. On another night, the neighbors watched TV all night, and the sound was so loud it felt like the TV was in my own room. Unfortunately, the lack of proper soundproofing makes it impossible to get a good night’s sleep. Even though the staff are friendly and nice, the noise issue outweighs everything else. This adds an unnecessary level of stress during business travel or vacation, as sleepless nights leave you waking up late, missing part of the day, or feeling constantly tired. Staying here isn’t worth it if you value your rest and...