Homeinn Selected Hotel (Shanghai Train Station South Square)

One of the best value for money options, close to Shanghai station but also in a relatively calm street, has few free parking places, provides 15 yuan coupon in a popular traditional breakfast restaurant opposite to the hotel, has free coffee machine in the lobby, the room is clean, and the staff are proactively helpful. The only challenge I had as a foreigner was to find the exact location since the main photo on the app was confusing to me. It’s better to replace it with the name sign outside the main door!

First - the info not on the Trip.com entry for this hotel - if you're coming by metro, you want Line 1, exit 3c - the other lines at Shanghai Station are a long walk away if you're coming with suitcases and from some exits, you'll be forced back down again at certain times of day because of barriers preventing people from crossing the road). Expect to lift suitcases up two long flights of stairs to reach ground level (a lift/elevator is marked on the station plan but if it exists, it's behind a locked metal door and thus requires assistance to use). Even in the hotel, the level I was on (level 2) had short flights of stairs after getting out of the lift. Overall - didn't really reach the standard I've become used to in China at this price point in (I paid CNY370 per night on average across four nights, roughly what I've paid elsewhere in Shanghai and Guangzhou recently). Room clean but with minimal facilities - kettle, hangers, basic toiletries, but no fridge and quirks such as light switches on one side of the bed operating other lights but not the bedside light. No sound-proofing on windows - I was woken early several mornings by such things as garbage trucks - I've become used to Chinese hotel sound proofing being pretty good. Staff mostly helpful (one in particular very helpful when Wi-fi didn't work though couldn't solve the problem - I couldn't get it to work during my whole stay) though they were far slower to choose to use translation apps than most hotels, often preferring to enlist the help of other guests. Overall they seemed unused to working with non-Mandarin speakers. They also seemed to be frequently arguing with each other, e.g. pushing each other away as one tried to use the shared computer.

All good! Very friendly staff at the frontdesk, used translation app for english. Room was a bit narrow but it was no problem.

We had a 14days trip in China, started in Shanghai, we liked this hotel so much that we came back twice , all three times were just as nice. Highly recommended.

We stayed for four nights and would definitely recommend this hotel. It is clean, well-located, and has convenient amenities nearby—a Family Mart right in front, a Starbucks around the corner, and a noodle bar next to the hotel. It’s also just a few minutes from the metro and train station. The staff was very friendly, especially the cleaning lady, who was incredibly kind and warmhearted. A great bonus is the free coffee machine downstairs, which adds a nice touch to the stay. The only downside was that the room was smaller than it appeared in the pictures, but overall, we had a good experience and would recommend this hotel.

The staff are fantastic, as is the location. It’s a short walk to subway lines 1, 3, 4 and  a few minutes further to line 13, as well as Shanghai train station and bus station. There’s an Aldi and a shopping centre about a 15 minute walk away, along with a nice park. There’s lots of restaurants around and also McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks. I was disappointed to see that I booked a premium room (the most expensive room), but I only had a frosted glass window facing a small ventilation shaft on the multiple occasions I stayed here. Some standard rooms have a street-facing window it seems. It can be a little noisy but is tolerable. I’d stay here again. Thanks to the staff for all being wonderful and making me feel at home.