Hongqiao State Guest House Shanghai

Only a reminiscence of a 5 stars hotel. I would give 4* to the outdoor area and 3* to the indoor area. The indoor area smelled bad, a mixture of a smoking place and mold (on the corridor and inside the room). The lobby smelled nicely and freshly perfumed. The carpets were old and partially stained. Reception desk staff was nice. Restaurant staff also. I had to ask the cleaning service to use the vacuum cleaner in our room. They forgot to do that twice. They only arranged our beds. Breakfast served 99% the same food for 3 days in a row. Same for lunch. No new ideas on behalf of the kitchen staff to impress the guests. Saw green flies around the raw salmon fish on the second and third day. The cart driver who was transporting our family to the swimming pool was nice on the first day, opening the door to my wife and kids. On the second and third day, they stopped being nice and I asked why. The reply was “now you know how to open the door by yourself.” The worst part was the swimming pool. The changing room walls were cracked, full of mold. 1 star for that is a high revue. The water in the pool was clean, no bad smell. The life guards had a huge electric fan at full blast 1 meter away from the pool. We had to ask the kids to be careful not to play with water guns near that side of the pool. Overall, we were happy because the kids relaxed. Not a 5 stars hotel, way overpriced for what it has to offer.