Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Gongkang — Hotel in Shanghai

The worst hotel service I’ve been to, with the reception called “Lucky Li”.

We booked a room with an extra bed, and unfortunately got one with a broken air conditioner.

At first we thought because it was just turned on so it’s not completely working.

But after an hour the room still feels hot. We decided to call the reception, a man answered and he offered to give us a fan to help cool down our room, and he told us to wait until the air is cold.

And we accept the fan, the technician also checks our AC setting and there’s no problem with it.

But after a while the fan wasn’t helping, and we started to feel suffocated due to lack of air, so we decided to call the reception again, this time the man agreed to give us a new room.

We called again to confirm that the new room has an extra bed, a woman answered, the one named “Lucky Li”. She refuses to give us a new room, and instead she gives us another fan.

I called again to ask for a new room, and she sighs annoyedly. We go down stairs to talk directly to the reception, we ask for a new room. Then this “Lucky Li” called someone by phone (I don’t know if it’s the technician or housekeeping), telling them that we want to move to a new room.

The worst thing is, she’s joking on the phone told us to carry the extra bed by ourselves. She thought we didn’t understand her language. We really feel offended because she sees the guest as a joke! I confronted her and of course she denied all the things we clearly heard. She finally gave us a new room, and told us to go upstairs and wait outside the new room. We packed our bags and waited outside the new room for a while, nobody came and did nothing. So we decided to go downstairs again and ask for the key card, this time a man helped us and we finally got our new room card. After we walk away, she still talks bad behind our backs. We told her to shut up, and said she doesn’t appreciate guests and has no manners. When we step into the new room, the air is fresh and the AC is working well without having to wait. IT’S THE WORST HOTEL SERVICE I’VE EVER...

Stayed for one night and had a flight to catch the next day, tried online check in, but the in room wifi kept dropped after browsing two three pages, reboot again and again, wasted my whole night trying to get online, called the front desk, didn't really try to resolve my issue, just asked me to keep on trying.||Otherwise, this hotel, although far away from the main city center, is located in a quite nice local residential like area. With nearby restaurants and various shops, it's nice to walk among local people, very relax and peaceful.||Check in was a little confusing at first, the reception staffs couldn't recognize my one-time Taiwanese entry permit, which I didn't have any issue with my previous stays at other hotels in shanghai. ||As a Spire member, there's no offer at first, but they upgraded me later to a suite room because somebody else canceled the reservation. Appreciated for the upgrade!||Room size is spacious, clean and tidy, it's holiday inn express brand, nothing fancy.||But I found one stand alone steamer in the closet which is a convenient addition for women.||Since wifi is a must for me when staying in hotel, I think I won't come here again, unless they improve their wifi...

This hotel is not for a typical tourist as it’s in the northern suburbs of Shanghai (Baoshan) but for those who have seen the sites of Shanghai and maybe transiting to a cruise ship this is an ideal location to relax in the suburbs for a day or two. Items of interest are the beautiful tree lined boulevards, the nature “Greenways” around the expressway and the local restaurants.||The hotel itself is very well appointed with large rooms (for the Express brand), wife corridors and a good Chinese style breakfast. The only real minor downside is the limited spoken english of the staff but this is manageable.||Should you wish to venture to the traditional tourist spot the rail is very close and taxis are freely available.||I make note of one restaurant within walking distance as the Shaxian Snacks noodle outlet on Sanquan Road, a close walking distance via Changbei Road which starts at the rear of the hotel. The staff don’t speak English but the menu also has pictures with English wording. The noodles here are hand made right in front of you and the pricing is approx $US2.50 for a bowl that a big man will struggle to finish.||A very good experience was had in staying at this hotel...