Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Sanlin

This hotel is quite adequate for a budget hotel in its price range. You can't pay budget prices and reasonably expect a 5-star experience. I'd consider staying here again. It's well-suited for those arriving on a flight into PVG after 11 PM, since it's relatively close to the airport (almost all public transport closes down early, and taxi prices rise). Warning, though: it's hard for taxi drivers to find and they can't make sense of the English instructions on the IHG website. I had the hotel's phone number and that solved the problem. Based on my experience, I agree with the more positive reviews and feel that either many of the previous negative reviews were unfair, or things have improved. Here we go, point-by-point: Worn-out rooms: Not at all. My room was surprisingly nice. The bed was on the firm side, but I liked it and slept well. Bad breakfast: It's geared for Chinese people, as you'd expect. But I enjoyed trying some different things. And they had grape tomatoes. I'm not saying it's great, but it's about average for Holiday Inn Express and other hotels in this price range with free breakfast, if not better. Bad internet: They told me upfront that the wifi didn't work. I later realized that there is wired internet access, which works just fine. Bad staff with no English: There's a kernel of truth here, but I think they were ok. They helped me find the subway and answered my questions in English. I ordered ice and it came. Bad location: It took me less than 10 minutes to walk to the subway. There's a Walmart literally across the street, as well as a KFC and a ton of Chinese eateries (if you're adventurous...no English menus that I saw). There's a convenient minimart in the same complex as the hotel. The location is fairly suburban and not near the tourist attractions. But the area is clean and quite pleasant, plus you can hop on the subway and get to most hotspots in less than 10 stops (probably have to change lines) for less than dollar. Or take a taxi (but under no circumstances take a dark red one). The location is not ideal, but it's reflected in the room rate.