Novotel Shanghai Jingan — Hotel in Shanghai

I don't really write reviews but for this experience, I really have to. Stayed there for 4D3N recently and had a bad experience. We had to call multiple times to the front desk on delivering bottled water. First call was always acknowledged but after waiting 30-40 minutes, nobody came to deliver. Only after the second time, we had to continuously mention in Chinese that "We called earlier to request for water and there was nobody delivering. Can you get us 6 bottled water?" The roomkeeper came up and delivered us 2 SMALL bottles. This situation occurred on 2 different days and for a 4 stars hotel, the service can be much better... Housekeeping only refills 2 bottled water each day, why not more? The housekeeping also did not bother to ask if we need more. If being environmentally conscious is part of your mission, then consider having filtered water taps in the rooms itself? The constant trouble and hassle to get plain water already made our mood go down drastically.

Secondly, the carpet was dusty as my friend who stayed with me had sneezed alot. We called the hotel, and they sent a housekeeper to vacuum. When she arrived, she told us that the vacuum had issues and I could see her struggling to find the attachment that was loose, as the vacuum was not sucking up the dust properly. She told us that she would come back to our room on the next day to vacuum, which was probably during the time when we were out and did not witness. Upon coming back at night to the room, my friend still had sneezed a lot - which is an indication that the housekeeper probably did not bother vacuuming the carpet.

Thirdly, the amount of mosquito in the hotel room is disturbing! We complained to the front staff about it and they told us that there is an attachment (diffuser-like) for repelling mosquitos. But we felt it was quite useless as my friend still woke up scratching herself and finding new bites (we also closed the windows and curtains). We tried to find possible spots that the mosquito would have entered but it was quite impossible to tell.

Among all the 4 star hotels I have stayed, this is probably one of the worst experience I had. Also to note to international tourists, if you wish to purchase on Taobao or order Delivery, it is quite impossible as the app would require you to key in a mainland China number (they do not allow international phone numbers). In other cities in China i have stayed, the hotel would graciously provide their in-house 24/7 hotline which enables delivery riders to contact. However, this hotel does NOT provide any number at all which was very disappointing. I expected much more service from them. To those who want to book this hotel, you can try at your own risk. Not sure if management has improved but hopefully they are able to note the issues...

Unbelievably Incompetent - The Worst Welcome After a Long Journey

I am writing this after a truly disastrous check-in experience that has ruined our family trip. We are a family of four who flew 11 hours from Australia and then endured a 3-hour taxi ride, arriving extremely late and exhausted. We have stayed over 16 nights with this hotel group in other cities, but our loyalty meant absolutely nothing here.

There were three staff behind four consoles, yet we waited over 15 minutes just to be acknowledged. Why? Because two staff members were spending more than 20 minutes sorting out what seemed to be a meaningless issue for another guest, apparently about a room upgrade for two girls, which was deemed "very important" while our tired children had to wait.

When we were finally "helped," the service was shockingly unprofessional. We were given no information about WiFi, hotel services, or amenities. We were given only ONE key for a family of four. And the ultimate insult: they assigned us the worst room in the entire 29-story hotel—on the 7th floor, sandwiched directly between floors 5, 6, and 8, which are all undergoing loud renovation. We were given no warning about this construction, which will undoubtedly start at dawn.

As a Chinese Australian, I speak the language fluently, and I still couldn't understand the logic or the sheer lack of basic hospitality. The staff's attitude and competence were appalling, more like what you'd expect from a poorly managed hostel in a rural town than an international hotel chain in Shanghai.

We will never, ever stay with Accor or any of its brands again. Avoid this hotel...

Arrived at hotel on 12 Nov 2024. Porter came to take out the two suitcases from our taxi. Instead of taking them out gently, he jerked them out. Consequently, he broke the handle on one the two suitcases. When I notified one of the receptionists at the front office, she asked whether the suitcase was too heavy implying that his colleague did not cause the damage. I then approached the front office supervisor. He pulled a long face and said that he will investigate the matter by viewing the hotel's CCTV. After more than 30 minutes he still refused to accept liability on behalf of the hotel. I then told him that I would like to see a senior executive of the hotel if he is not authorised to settle the matter by replacing a new suitcase that was obviously damaged by the hotel's porter. Finally, he reluctantly agreed to replace the suitcase, but he told me that it will take a day of two for the replacement suitcase to arrive as he was going to order one from Taobao. When the replacement suitcase was delivered to me, I noticed that it was of a very poor quality, and it was smaller than the damaged suitcase. I gather that the replacement suitcase cost not more than 100 RMB. The front office supervisor had poor attitude that was shown on his facial expression. On the day of checkout on 14 Nov, the same porter refused to lend a helping hand to load the two suitcases into the taxi. I will not stay in this hotel ever again and if I am asked about my experience, I will share the same as...