Pudong International Talent City Hotel

Where do I start? Possibly the worst Mercure on Earth! On arrival they insisted on a HUGE deposit- double the 6 days of room rental I pre-paid directly through the Mercure Website. Then they charged me again for the WHOLE cost again on departure saying it would all be reconciled some days later. They are a rip off... Asked for a twin room - got a queen and a rollout that was the most uncomfortable bed for my business companion. Room would not cool lower than 25C. This hotel is far from Shanghai City proper and only stayed becasue it was close to conference at local Uni. Taxis do not like to go there. The front desk staff dislike westerners which could be seen evidently by their attitude and plain ignorance of any requests.

I chose this hotel as it was near the Pazhou fair ground. We booked a total of 4 rooms & stayed 7-8 nights for 10 of us. It looked like a typical Chinese Hotel, other than the name, there's nothing to link it to the Accorhotel brand which i was accustomed to. However, I was given the VIP treatment as a platinum card holder, i got the room upgrade and even given free vouchers for breakfast for 1 pax because they did not have a members' lounge nor minibar in the room. The breakfast spread was nothing to rave about, i saw sweet potatoes, porridge, some buns and eggs, I found better local selection about 10 minutes away costing like US$2. The location is not prime, but it's not inconvenient either. We could get a taxi easily with the help of front desk & get to the nearby ChangTai Mall in 10 minutes. Another advantage is the convenient store right by the elevator, you can buy your water, snacks & sometimes even fresh fruit before going up to your room. My team members also had not issue moving around to & from the hotel on their own. I must mention the G.M- Mark. He spoke very good English, and understood what we needed. The front desk was also very helpful when we needed help with the wireless router or even sending up an electric fan for the room. The other staff from housekeeping cannot speak English, that was a problem for our non-chinese speaking colleague. So make all your request at the front desk. On a whole, our stay was pleasant and I would recommend the hotel.

I have had to pickup somebody in Pudong airport and decided on a hotel in a reasonable distance for an early arrival in the morning. Picked Mercure as usually you get at least some kind of standard and the prices are moderate. This was the first time I really felt let down by the hotel. First thing first, the hotel is under construction as you can see in the photos, this was not mentioned during the booking process. You approach the first wall in the entrance lobby. But also on our floor, which was very noisy and the whole floor was dusty and smelly of construction work. Checkin was not the fastest but kind of okay. Asked for my welcome drink, was told that they do not offer this, also a first timer. Went to the room and passing by the construction side. Requested a non smoking room, the sign was up but the smell in the room was terrible, it was recently smoked in there. Had to go to the receiption to get the room changed which took a long time. The new room was okay. The rooms are partially damaged as well as you can see in the photo of the wardrobe. Due to the construction, some doors are open and wiring is hanging down from the ceiling (see photo), can only hope it is not on power. The shower was good, constant water pressure and temperature. Also the internet worked well, as much as you can expect here locally. Checkout asking for a Fapiao took a long time however. In summary the whole thing reminded me of a local Chinese hotel. But for such kind of standard I pay only half price in a Chinese hotel. For the construction I would expect a hint while booking the hotel. Even 1 week later now my membership points are not awarded yet.