Sun Island Resorts, Shanghai — Hotel in Shanghai

We stayed here through a timeshare exchange. The resort is peaceful and quiet, and the grounds are beautiful. We had a bungalow with a bedroom, spacious living room, dining room, nice bathroom off the master, and kitchen with a stove, sink and wine cooler that served as a mini fridge. It was very clean and well maintained. The staff is helpful, especially the guest services manager who made herself available by phone, text and in person to help us arrange car services and answered questions about getting around and local attractions. Not everyone speaks English but there was always someone who could help in every department we interacted with (restaurants, front desk, activities, housekeeping, etc). We mostly ate in our room or out during our day trips to Shanghai but we did enjoy the breakfast buffet several days. I believe it was about $40 for three people if I recall. There is a small bus that can be called to get anywhere around the resort (it was about 1/4 mile from our bungalow to the front desk/main building and about 1/2-3/4 mile in the other direction to the main entrance). There is a small grocery store in the main building for noodles, eggs and non-perishables.

The resort is 1 1/2 hours from the city center. Booking car service through the resort into/from the city is about $80 each way. If you arrange taxi on your own, it's about $50 each way. We often took the local bus service (#3) to Zhujiaojio, where we then could take the train (#17) into the city. The bus originates right outside the resort entrance and is 1 Yen per person. It's a 40 minute ride to Zhujiaojio. You can't miss the stop for the train station. The train is 8Y each way per person to ride on three lines, which is typically what is needed to get to the key tourist destinations. The train trip takes 2-3 hours each way and the Zhujiaojio station closes at 11 p.m. The train system is easy to navigate because everything is translated in English. It gets very crowded as you near the city but hardly anyone is on at Zhujiajio because it's the second from the last stop...

The rooms were quite clean and nicely decorated. They had all of the modern amenities including a western style toilet. There were two choices for meals. You can prepare your own or you can eat at the main building. There was often a buffet that allowed you to pick what you wanted. It was also possible to order from their menu as well. There was somewhat of a language barrier as we did not speak any Chinese. They spoke enough English at the main desk to get along and were very friendly. They provided a guide who spoke fluent English and had many insights on tourist destinations. The guide arranged a driver to take us to Suzhou and Hangzhou as well as into Shanghai. The guide also was willing to come with us a couple of times and this was most helpful. There was a convenience store nearby with items for preparing your own meals – which seemed to be quite popular. We stayed there for a week over new-years (calendar) and the weather was usually frost at sunrise and it warmed up during the day to the teens C. They have a golf course and horses but I believe these are only available in the warm weather. The resort is on an island so there’s often the sound of boats on the...

We stayed in the galaxy suite. It was excellent, furnishings were good quality and looks well maintained, and room was extremely clean, even the kids’ play area. Heating was good too. Beautiful environment, close to nature. Only cons were that the lack of food choices onsite, it’s not a problem if you drive, and some of the facilities were not open in the colder months. Hot spring and animal farm were really enjoyable. Staff were all very kind, friendly and helpful. My kids enjoyed it so much we extended by an extra day. We will love to visit again during warmer months in summer to...