Crowne Plaza Shanghai — Hotel in Shanghai

AVOID this hotel at all costs. The management here seems to be engaged in questionable practices, as every negative review receives the same generic, scripted response—clearly avoiding any acknowledgment of the serious issues at hand.

Let me elaborate on the myriad problems with this establishment:

Misleading Address: The hotel's address is incorrectly listed and can only be found on Google Maps under a different name, which is highly misleading.

Unprofessional and Rude Staff: The receptionists were shockingly snobbish, unfriendly, and blatantly rude. They even made degrading comments about my younger brother’s appearance, who had just turned 18, right in front of us. Despite my fluency and ability to communicate in Mandarin, I discovered their English proficiency was alarmingly poor when they failed to understand a basic sentence from the Booking description. This language barrier is clearly a recurring issue, which has evidently not been addressed.

Complicated and Shady Payment Process: The payment procedure was chaotic and unclear. According to Booking, my card was supposed to be charged the full amount (which was processed and then refunded), yet upon arrival, I was asked to pay again. To add to the confusion, they demanded an additional deposit, the amount of which kept changing. Initially, I was told it would be 500 RMB, but they ended up charging 900 RMB, which was neither disclosed in the Booking details nor refunded to this date. This reeks of a scam.

Substandard Breakfast and Facilities: The breakfast was disgracefully poor for a supposed 5-star hotel, particularly on the Chinese side. The cheesecake was served frozen, many buns appeared to be pre-made or frozen, and the overall quality lacked the freshness and care one would expect from a 5-star hotel. The facilities are similarly subpar—there isn't even a proper lobby.

Dismissive of Special Requests: I had specifically booked this hotel for my younger brother as a treat during his travels in Shanghai and had requested that his stay be made special. Instead of accommodating this request, the hotel sent a generic, irrelevant message, did absolutely nothing to honor my request, and proceeded to mock him while creating unnecessary stress over payment.

In conclusion, this hotel is a far cry from the 5-star experience it falsely advertises. At best, it might be considered a 3-star establishment. The staff is rude and unprofessional, the facilities are lacking, and the overall experience is one of cost-cutting and poor management. This hotel is unworthy of the Crowne Plaza name and is an utter scam. I strongly advise potential guests to consult the Google reviews, which reveal ongoing issues that management has consistently...

Please look at my other reviews, I'm generally a positive reviewer, and for me to write a a negative revision review must inform that there is a issue. ||Just spent some time in Suzhou for some work, and was travelling to Shanghai. |Booked this hotel as it has a good reputation and was looking forward to relax, enjoy goos service, spend time at the pool and enjoy the comforts of the hotel. |Was caught up in a tropical storm, so was very delayed getting into Shanghai. ||Booked a room for 2 adult and 1 child (12 years old). Check-in was fairly smooth, hotel looked nice and modern. ||Got to the room and found there was only 1 bed. Did the usual of looking around for the sofa or hidden bed, no luck. ||So went down to reception to ask them for the bed, expecting them to call housekeeping to deliver bed or move us to a room with beds for the booked guests. ||I was very surprised as they said i could have a  bed for my child, but i would have to pay for it, a cost of 2100 yuan (see image, I could have bought a bed cheaper than this).||Told manager on duty there was no chance I was paying this, as i had booked a room for 3 so i expected a place to sleep for 3. I asked if i had to pay for 3rd towel or 3rd soap or 3rd teabag. ||Then I spent 90 minutes of my life (this was late at evening) trying to get the manager to understand that when i book a room for people the least i expect is a bed for them to sleep in. There was no chance my child was going to sleep on the floor. The manager didn't seem to u understand that when you book a people into a room, you don't have to pay extra for them to sleep in the room. ||After 90 minutes i had enough of the awful service and paid the 2100 yuan for the bed, as it was nearly 10pm.||The manager at one point raised her voice at me and also mocked me to her colleagues. They situation could have been resolved in 5mins by the manager, however with the poor customer service skills it had left bad experience for me and my family, and has lost the hotel a returning customer. ||I found the service that I received very poor, and 100% won't be staying again. In my opinion, the manager needs education on customer service.||Note i was happy with rest of hotel, the location is excellent, the conserage were really helpful, hotel close to metro - line 2 from people's square goes to PVG airport 1 hour on line 2, the pool is good and...

As a business traveller with over 20 years of stays at IHG properties in China, I found the Crowne Plaza Shanghai Nanjing Rd completely undeserving of the CP brand. My experience was lacking in the following areas:

General:

• Upon arrival, the Doorman (who was not busy) refused to help retrieve luggage from the taxi. When I gave the luggage to him, he only placed it at the top of the entry stairs. This person did not even make the effort to open a door for me.

• The concierge was unwilling to assist in the purchase of train tickets, something I have never experienced.

• While the staff are doing their jobs, they appear to do so unhappily, and I have not experienced one attempt to provide friendly, courteous "above-and-beyond" service.

• The internet service does not auto-connect on mobile devices, as it should at all IHG properties. My phone must be manually connected to Wi-Fi when I arrive at the hotel, and also does not connect if I go to the restaurant or lobby.

• When relating my concerns to Manager "Cassie", she was unable to provide a satisfactory resolution. I then asked to be put in contact with the hotel's General Manager, which she refused to do. I did receive a follow-up email from the hotel after my stay, acknowledging my concerns but offering no resolution.

Room:

• All CP properties in China have rooms equipped with the following, which my room did not have:

Complimentary shoe shine service

Note pad

Pen or pencil

Scissors

Stationery

Envelopes

Decaffinated coffee

Highball glassware 

• The bathroom sink does not drain properly

• Upon arrival, I was told that there was maintenance being performed on the water systems. Some hours later, when I used the water, the water was brown for ~5 minutes. This is most unsanitary, and should NEVER happen.

• While the weather has cooled during my stay, upon arrival the air conditioning was unable to cool my room below 23C.

Restaurant

• It appears your restaurant is charging guests 70RMB more to charge breakfast to the room. So, people off the street using Alipay are charged 128RMB, while IHG Rewards guests are being charged 198RMB.

• The restaurant often is not re-filling dishes, limiting the choices...