Celebrity Garden Hotel

I visited Shanghai for 4 nights and stayed in the Celebrity Garden Hotel which was booked by the hosts for my visit. The hotel is in a residential area of Pudong away from the centre of Shanghai. It is between two subway stations on line 6 and the stations can be reached with a 5 minute walk. Shanghai is about 15 mins away by subway. The hotel describes itself as a hotel but is probably more recognisable as a conference centre. When I was there, there appeared to be no residents other than the people attending the same event as I. In an enclosed area adjacent to a park, meeting rooms, reception and the accommodation block are in separate buildings, surrounded by gardens. The accommodation block appeared to be the best maintained with the rooms clean and having most ammenities. The rooms were ok for a 4 night stay and I slept very well. The reception area and some of the other buildings appear to be in need of maintenance. Paint is peeling from roof of the reception area and windows do not appear to close in some buildings or have the glass missing. When I visited in December, heating was variable in the rooms other than those in the accommodation block. The restaurant is in the "Health Building" which also contains not only a swimming pool but other sports facilities. This building appeared to be the most run down with many of the facilities closed apart from the swiining pool and the restaurant. One morning for breakfast, wallpaper had dropped from the ceiling of the restaurant. Most of the staff were helpful except in the restaurant. There was a young lady waitress that was efficicent and seemed to keep the restaurant operating; the other staff were rather sullen. Breakfast appeared to attract minimal inspiration for the food. There was neither tea or coffee available. Only hot orange squash and sometimes hot milk were on offer. The restaurant was like a trip back to state controlled venues of the 1970s. The accommodation was reasonable and overall I enjoyed my stay. If I was visiting Shanghai for a holiday however, I would opt to stay nearer the centre of the city in one of the more fancy hotels.

Cancelled FULLY PREPAID booking without explanation! We had to search for another accomodation right before travel.