Motel 168 Hua Xiang Road Inn

This Motel is actually NOT the one on Huaxing Road, but rather on Sinan Lu and Taikan Lu. I couldn't find it on the TA list and I wasn't going to be able to write a review unless I chose one of the Motel 268's from the given list. Taikan Lu is in my opinion the BEST place in Shanghai. The Chinese name for Taikan Lu is "Tianzifang". It is an old quarter of SH with a maze of pedestrian only ally ways that house many small shops selling ethnic art, boutique clothing and tons of cafes and restaurants. I first started going there around 2007 when I lived there. The small shops are pretty cool, but the restaurants have gone WAY downhill focusing ONLY on tourists and not building a base clientele. More on Motel 268..... I also stated staying there the first month they opened around 2008. At that time it was clean, affordable and service was generally good. I just stayed there for 4 nights starting October 3rd 2012. It's not clean anymore and while service at the front desk was 'OK', I had a housekeeper go ballistic on me! I asked for an extra towel. She flat out said "NO"! The reason I asked for it is because their shower leaks all over the floor, which was explained to her. Again she flat out aggressively said "NO". So, I picked up ONE towel off of her housekeeping cart and she ran after me. It was straight out of a comedy movie. I held the towel above my head and she actually started jumping, grabbing my arm and in doing so scratched my arm and yelled obscenities at me. I know this is all hard to believe, however, for those of you who have LIVED in China, you'll get it. Absolutely the last thing you want to deal with after a flight from New York to Shanghai. The room has bugs, is not at all cleaned with bacteria killing houskeeping products and the shower in my room was hanging on the wall by a thread. The weather was warmer than I expected and when I turned on the AC, it smelled like amonia. The smell was so horrific that I never turned it on again and instead kept the window open all night hearing street noise. On my previous stays before this, someone would come around in the early evening slipping business cards under the door advertising "Sexy Chinese Massage" with a phone number and photo of a smiling half nude Chinese girl. Moreover, I believe the person distributing the business cards actually got a room roster from the front desk as well an electronic card key, which you need to access each floor since business cards were ONLY left at rooms that had the red "occupied" sign lit. Rooms cost about 230 RMB, which is about $38 USD. The price is more or less the cheapest you will get. I also noticed they now have a large banner outside on the wall of the motel advertising a special 6 hour rate of 98 RMB. Hmm..... The long story short: I wouldn't stay there again . . .

I stayed here for one night, due to late arrival into Shanghai and early departure via railway to Beijing the next morning. When I arrive, the staff seemed confused at my booking, but we finally sorted that. They did not speak any english, and I had my train ticket booked for Beijing sent there by China TripAdvisor. I tried to explain to them that I had a ticket, but they could not understand. I used google translate, and they just did not get it. I couldn't ring China TripAdvisor as it was late at night, so ended up having to buy another ticket at the train station ($137 US down the drain). The room was tiny, with a rock hard bed. The shower/bathroom was tiny with very little water pressure. I would avoid this hotel at all costs.

We were looking for some good hotel near the airport and hongqiao station and found this one. It was better than I expected with clean rooms and staff very cooperating. A few points to note though: - If you are coming via train to Hongqiao station, always use South-Exit and get a taxi from there. - Taxi does not take more than 20RMB but if you are relatively new to Shanghai, driver can cheat you and charge extra by wandering around the same area to increase the value on meter. The board is visible from far away, so look for it. - Shanghai Nan (South) railway station is about 30kms away from this place. Hotel reception can get to private taxi which is without meter, so you can fix the rent before going there. We paid 60RMB.