Holiday Inn Shanghai Hongqiao — Hotel in Shanghai

I stayed at the hotel b/c I missed my 7 PM flight on a Halloween night (I'll spare you the gory details; but note, it was a Halloween night).

Overall, the experience was very good once I manage to get to the hotel. The challenge was getting there. If you could get a taxi, then you are in luck if you can tell the taxi driver the cross roads for this hotel location (more on this later). If you could not get a taxi (like on a rainy night) coming out of the airport, then it turns out you could catch Airport Line 4 and get off about three stops after you leave the airport. This sounds close, but actually it's further than you think; the first stop is AFTER the bus gets off some highway exit. So do NOT even think for a moment you could walk to the place.

My only suggestion to the hotel staff is that you give clear instructions to visitors in terms of where the hotel is located (it's a been two weeks now so I vaguely remember it was Qixin Road and Xinzhan Road, I think). And better yet, tell the visitor right away that he/she could get to the place easily by taking Airport Line 4. I speak Chinese Mandarin natively, and regularly uses Hongqiao for my stopover. It still took me two calls to get this info out of the staff (who was trying to be very helpful, but did not sense my frustration on a rainy night until my second call). I can only imagine if it was your typical non-Chinese business person or tourist, and it was his/her first visit to Hongqiao, he/she would probably be freaking out. BTW - Offering the RMB 350 rent-for-a-day Van / SUV as the first option does not help either; it set me off, but had the good effect of getting the staff to tell me about Airport Line 4.

Once you get there, everything about the hotel is great: Room, staff, food, etc. The fitness center was a pleasant surprise in that it is actually a full fledged fitness center that's co-located w/ the hotel and operates independently.

Now that I know how to get to this hotel easily and cost effectively, I would definitely consider making this my hotel of choice when...

The quality of service from staff was quite decent. The decor and design of the hotel was appealing. However, with the hotel advertising itself as being the closest one to Hongqiao Airport is definitely not an advantage!

1. Noise: The hotel management obviously did not consider the noise of planes when designing the hotel! For the 3 nights (I was planning to stay for 4) that I spent there, 2 of the nights, I would hear deafening noises of planes crossing by - even as late as 3 or 4 am! Even late at night, the planes came in 10-20 min intervals. When expressing this to the staff, they would explain that it was due to their hotel being so close to the airport, that noise elimination measures had been made. This is totally unacceptable! If they knew that noise levels can't be prevented due to the hotel's proximity to the airport, maybe they shouldn't consider building one there?!!

2. Location: Normally hotels (even Holiday Inns in other parts of the world) offer shuttle service, complimentary or not, round the clock. The hotel only offers hourly service between something like 07:30 and 18:30 from the hotel (no service from the airport). It is too infrequent and hours of operation too short. If you take a cab from Hongqiao Airport or Train Station, taxi drivers hate it and would normally be treated badly as the trip is too close (RMB 20). It is understandable as upon asking a driver, he said they normally wait in line for 1 hour.

It is regrettable that this poorly planned hotel carries the Holiday Inn name. It doesn't even meet the basic standards of being a hotel - allowing guests to sleep through the night....

I booked this hotel because of the location, and had no specific expectations - apart from the standard Holiday experience. The outside does not look exciting, but the inside is very nice. The lobby is very big, and staff welcomes you in a very friendly manner. Being a Spire member, I got an upgrade and must say the was a big upgrade: I would not describe it as a room, but as an apartment. I was also treated on fruit and cookies, well appreciated! The bathroom is big, with a shower and a separate bath. For couples, be aware there only is one sink.||The bed is huge and comfortable. The hotel is close to the local airport, and planes are very low...and noisy. The staff knows this, since I received some ear buttons upon check-in. I was on the 7th floor, not sure this is better on lower levels. The planes pass at a high frequency till around midnight. ||The hotel also offers an execute lounge access at the 7th floor... but this one is in another building at the opposite side of the lobby. Communication on this would have saved me some searching time. The lounge was empty, so I only stayed for a coffee (was good quality).||Breakfast obviously offers plenty of Chinese options, but also a few Western style ones (like donuts, toast, croissant, cookies). There is however no jelly or something similar. The coffee is in a big can, and was colder than the hot milk. That could be better. Also here: I found out after day one, that IHG members have a separate section: you have to cross the entire restaurant and at the end you have the seperate section. The coffee here is much better!||All in all, a very good hotel, and...