SKILINE - Shanghai Serviced Apartments

I quite liked the idea of a "serviced apartment" as it seemed to have many features you usually have in a hotel -such as housekeeping-yet you usually pay less than in a hotel so if you're planning to stay in town a long time this option was worth considering. Having spent 5 weeks on the 19th floor of Skiline company`s room (I prefer not to call it an apartment) I still like the idea though not as much as before. I booked a category C room which according to their website should be 50m2 but in reality is somewhat less than that (not entirely sure what is included in the room size according to the Chinese). Basically the room had everything you need: a decent bed, sofa, dining table&chairs, tv, internet, fridge, microwave oven, cooker, electric kettle and a washing machine which the nice cleaning lady washed my clothes for free whenever needed. I did a lot of groceries and usually prepared my own breakfasts, sometimes even lunches there. The location was perfect for me as I studied Mandarin in a school 5 min from the apartment. The Jing'an Temple metro station (on Metro line 2) was also 5 min away so it took 15 min to The Bund, 30 min to the Longyang Rd station (where the Maglev leaves for Pudong airport) and 30 min to Hongqiao Airport. Ok, now the bad news: the room and the actual World Union building are in a pretty bad shape. I suppose quite many tall Shanghai buildings are in similar condition. Whenever it rained (quite often), the windowsill had ponds of water on it and I mean inside the room. The room was on the 19th floor but you could hear the traffic and all sorts of other noises night and day clearly through the apparently quite thin windows. Everything in the room worked ok but the toilet and most of the furniture were terribly worn out. The burner in the kitchenette didn't work at all but when I complained I got a brand new and very efficient one from the office. The wi-fi in the room was ok apart from the evenings when it was almost impossible to do anything online. The housekeeping came by 3 times a week but I'm afraid they didn't do a very good job . A quick look under the sofa or bed and you could tell by the amount of dust and other debris that these spots had not been touched by any cleaning device in a very very long time. Lots of dust in other parts of the room as well. Didn't see any bugs nor any other insects during my whole stay though! I didn`t really have problems with noisy neighbors but the corridor outside the room reeked of cigarette smoke and old carpets. The office staff were very nice and helpful - prepare to pay your whole rent when checking in, or within a couple of days. There's a guard in the 1st floor lobby the whole time and especially the night guard always greeted with me with a smile! I'll definitely go to Shanghai again and might even think of staying in an serviced apartment but not in this building.

I have lived and worked in China (Shanghai and other regions) over ten years ago. When I was asked by my Brother to travel to China to celebrate my Nephew's 21st along with my 78-year mum, I was little apprehensive at first. This was purely due to previous experience. However, I was pleasantly amazed and absolutely blown away by the changes, growth and diversity of the city of Shanghai. Its diverse culture and acceptance of the aliens (as they describe foreigners on their arrival card)!! The mode of travel (Metro and taxi services) has been simplified to an extent that it puts advance nations like Australia and UK to shame. The trains stations and trains so clean and it’s a breath of fresh air to walk through those beautiful metro understand and you feel completely safe and secure. The hotel accommodation was fabulous with waiting staff at service desk 24/7. They made sure that rooms were clean and changed each day and ever hindered our stay at all. The location is central to Jing’an district and 5 minutes’ walk to the Jing'an Temple metro station. The links directly to Pudong Airport and that’s a bonus.

We choose this apartment because we wanted home conveniences when traveling with a 7 month old. The apartment has all the amenities you need - there is a two plate hob, a good sized fridge freezer and microwave. There is also a washing machine and the cleaning lady will wash your clothes for you (the machine is in mandarin) we didn't use this service so I don't know if the machine also dries the clothes. The decor is very Chinese, we were on the 14th floor and could clearly hear street noise however we could sleep through it. We booked through an online hotel booking site and then found out that if you book directly the rates are 50rmb a night cheaper. The wifi is somewhat slow especially in the evenings however I think this is something one will experience most places in China. It is a well priced apartment in a good location however it is not the ritz so ensure your expectations are on par with the prices. We slept comfortably and fortunately were not disturbed by our neighbors.