Shanghai City Central International Hostel — Hotel in Shanghai

One cannot expect to have familiar home comforts and conveniences under a different language, culture, custom and regulations. ||Yes, they have strict rules and regulations in China.||There is no Google, Facebook, Instagram, Line, Messenger||Forget about the usual points of references||||Remember the core essentials: service, value, cleanliness||||STAFF||||ESL standard improving n China compared to the past. The country was mainly hidden behind a red curtain for a good part of the millennia, with restricted access abroad and domestically||Staff are trained to manage the property, but are not tourist guides!||Critics mentioned the desk clerk does not smile or is not talkative||This is part of the Sino culture and conservative custom||||LOBBY||||Fishtank amusing for the kids||||WESTERN RESTAURANT/BAR||||Funky, laidback décor with assorted sofas, curios and musical instruments.||Natural lighting design a plus illuminating the lounge.||Delicious hamburger and fries with tasty breakfast served||Snooker table in the corner||||ROOMS||||Spacious loft for family with bathroom toiletries, TV and kettle. ||Corridors with high ceilings adorn this old establishment in the traditional Shanghai architecture.||Again, remember this is China! There is WIFI, but Google ect. will not work here.||||LOCATION||||Just a few minutes walk away across the road is the subway metro (CHAOYANG)||Hotel strategical located in city suburb||Orientation is an issue, wherever you are in China!!||Even GPS may not be helpful, as the street address may be hidden within an enclosed compound off the main street, as was in this case. There was a lot of construction work in the area, and we almost missed the street which branched into smaller streets. ||||For the accommodation rate we paid, it was a good bargain! This is a hostel, not a hotel. One is disappointed if one has overexpectations, unrealistic and unpractical to the running costs of a hostel providing such services at bare minimum rates.||The hostel suited our purposes...

Stayed in this hostel for 3 nights, on arrival have read some reviews about staff being rude/not helpful, but had absolutely no issues at all. Checked us in with no issues.||On to the room - the bed was pretty hard but it seems throughout Asia this is the case in most places we have stayed. The bedsheets were clean, the walls in the room could be doing with getting painted, the furniture was dated but not an issue. Fresh towels every day. The bathroom shower was actually very good but again bathroom a bit dated. Air conditioning worked ok but maybe a bit on the loud side but we didn't lose sleep over it. ||No Wi-Fi in the room, but get Wi-Fi in the bar downstairs just next to the reception. ||I've stayed in better places, but it wasn't bad considering the low rate. ||Subway station 5 minutes walk away and can get anywhere in the city for cheap, definitely best way to travel around the city. Also download the shanghai metro app(works offline also), and gives clear instructions how to get to...

First time back in Shanghai since the 1990s so this place was a bit of a strange experience. ||Most of the staff have some English, which together with a pre-downloaded dictionary worked ok. ||Family room (two singles and a mezzanine with a double was quite spacious really and did the trick. ||Bathroom is old and yes, could do with a deep clean. ||Towels- not bath mat provided, just a towel per person, which made the bathroom floor a bit lethal! ||Worst thing for us was smoking rooms meant the smoke wafted into ours. Walls are very thin and you can hear conversations. We had Americans on one side and Chinese on the other so it was interesting to listen to their conversation. Very glad there was no romance going on because would have felt creepy listening to that! ||Very close to Caoyang Road station, easy to get to. For $55 AUD a night for four bed room, cannot complain. ||We had no problems with the room key or getting wifi...