Yitel Shanghai Zhangjiang High Technology Park

My research on Pudong (Shanghai) airport hotels had provided little specific information, so during a stopover, we dropped by Motel 168 and pre-paid $75 for a 3-bed room a month later. The "motel" (really a hotel) is between terminals 1 and 2, alongside another slightly more expensive airport hotel. Because it is between terminals, you must pass through immigration to go there. Nationals of many countries are eligible for a free transit visa if you can show an electronic ticket for an outbound flight within 24 hours of your scheduled arrival time. The room was large enough for two over-sized twin beds, a desk, a few chairs, and two luggage carts, making it much easier to check-in for our early morning flight the next day. In addition to a flat-screen TV, it contains an en-suite restroom with a translucent full-panel view of the shower . There is, however, a pull down curtain present, to permit privacy. The shower itself is tops, with hot water gushing from both diagonal and overhead spouts. The sink has a deliberately off-level tilt, making you wonder how the water drains (it does). The only crease in the contemporary look is the poor anchoring of the faucet and its controls (one good yank could probably separate them permanently from the wall). The room was reasonably quiet and slightly overheated. The temperature controls did nothing and opening the window allowed a bit of traffic and construction noise in along with the cool breeze. The cable Internet was usually satisfactory, but occasionally slowed down considerably. My wife and daughter loved the wide-screen hi-def TV, though there was nothing we could understand other than one news channel. Hotel check-in and -out procedures are laden with a sample of the kind of mindless bureaucracy to which you are probably accustomed if you have already applied for a Chinese visa. There is a flurry of paperwork, copying, sending you off to another desk to pay a deposit (and then in the morning get your refund). But nothing that put me off or delayed our check-in (100 minutes was just right). Motel 168 runs about twice the price of its competitors in the Pudong area, but given time, taxi charges and quality differences, is certainly probably offers a higher price-quality ratio.