Shanghai Budget Hotel

Shanghai Budget Hotel

In my Shanghai China trip, I've stayed in so many hotels. With a rather long stay, I wanted to stay at hotels with decent budgets, yet comfortable.

Here is my list of the budget & rather cheap/ affordable hotels I stayed in Shanghai.

Uhome Inn
No.32 Gu Jin Road
Xuhui District
Shanghai
I was interested in this budget Shanghai hotel because of its description on its website - stating it as quite a trendy, yet an affordable place to stay.

Well, walking into the small hotel's lounge area, yes, it do have that trendy look and feel to it, even with a real fireplace!

I thought that the toilet looks quite good too! (basic, but see, they do try to make it look nice!)

The room is not bad too for the price.

And like all hotel rooms that I stayed in Shanghai, it came with a TV. However, for this, the funny shaped desk was a lil small.

Now, the question would be why didn't I continue to stay here throughout, after coming back again to Shanghai. Well, firstly, the location is quite far from the city centre.

And secondly, the staffs here were quite of contrasts. While one helped me with my purchase of train ticket, the lady at the reception was the rude Shanghainese who put no effort to please the customer.

Price: 200 yuan/ night
My rating: 2.5 stars (mainly for its interior)


Jiu Long Hotel Jin Jiang
When I came back, I thought I'll try a higher grade Shanghai hotel. Though this is not really a cheap hotel, and I had to pay more than an average budget/ cheap hotel, but I booked it because it stated it had some promotions on the website.

And it also mentioned location was 1km from the bund - which at first I thought was near - wrong! (unless one like to walk in the dark cold streets to the bund at night).

Think a typical 4 star China self rated hotel - and all the hotel problems with it.

Price: 340 yuan/ night
My rating: 0.5 (too much problems, and not worth the price).


Motel 168
So, the following day, I checked into this hotel with its huge chain of motels all over China. I booked my room through their telephone network booking system, which was quite efficient.

This time, I chose the hotel which was nearer to the city centre.

Actually, motel 168 stands for 168 yuan/ night, but they mentioned that that range rooms are fully sold out. So, I have to take the more expensive one (sometimes, I wonder if it's just a gimmick).

Anyway, the hotel lobby looks quite decent, and so does the room. In fact, it looks so much better in pictures!

I have to agree with the receptionist that the room is one of the larger ones in Shanghai within the budget hotels.

However, again, I only put a night here, mainly because they didn't separate between smoking and non smoking rooms. This made my eyes red, and I felt rather uncomfortable.

Also, this motel like feel hotel is a lil uncomfortable, as I felt a lil unsafe (for my things).

Price: 198 yuan/ night
My rating: 2.0 - thumbs up for spacious room, and near distance to subway.


Le Tour Traveler's Rest
Bldg. 36, 319 Jiaozhou Road
JingAn District
Shanghai
So, my next hotel came about... in fact, I've been 'eyeing' this hotel for a while, but so hesitant because it came under the label as a hostel, but which also provided single rooms.

At first glance, it really does look like a hostel hostel, with reading room and all. In fact, it also has ping pong tables!

But despite this being a hostel, it does provide a sense of warmth and coziness, making up for the a bit smaller and rather cram room.

And it is here that I finally decided to spend my other 5 nights in Shanghai. The only problem was that I didn't know that there was a 'shooter' at the top of the window, which I left open for 3 nights - and made me had restless cold sleeps! (-2 degrees!).

But despite that, this hostel/ hotel in Jing An district is really the best - with so many different eateries nearby, plus even a fair bit of shops... and most of all, with the Shanghai metro just within a decent walking distance (and the station just a few stops away from the city central).

And the night before I left the hostel, I tried what the other hostels people do - write on the wall with chalk. Guess you know what I wrote. Haha! :)

Price: 200 yuan/ night
My rating: 4.0 - will definitely consider this when going back.

*Some Shanghai hotels have different rates for twin beds and queen beds. Some are higher for twins, and some are the othe way round. It's best to check before booking.

Coming up next: my other budget hotel stays in the other cities in China. I sure did some hotel hopping!  :)