by Elizabeth Coughlan

Created on: August 23, 2009

The Radisson Shanghai New World Hotel is in a great location in the center of Shanghai. It is in a modern skyscraper building, attached to the vast New World Shopping Mall, spread over ten floors, with a food hall in the basement. The hotel is also just blocks away from the pedestrian section of the famous Nanjing Road, with its huge department stores and flashing neon signs. Getting around the city from the Radisson was easy, as the subway was right there. We could also walk to the museum and People's Square was just opposite.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay here, although it was not without some minor irritations. When we booked, we specifically asked for a room with a view, but were disappointed to find ourselves in a small, stale-smelling room overlooking the building site for Expo 2010. Our aggravation increased as the building went on all night and it was difficult for us to fall asleep! To give the hotel its due, when we complained, they upgraded us to a deluxe room with a fantastic view overlooking People's Square. This room was much larger, with a separate study. One thing I would recommend is to buy in extra water from outside the hotel, as the provision of drinking water was inadequate and the mini-bar price for Evian water was ridiculous!

In general, the facilities at the hotel were good. They included a fitness room, a warm and well-maintained indoor swimming pool with a whirlpool, a virtual golf driving range, a health spa, and some games rooms. There was also free Wi-Fi in the restaurants and lobbies, which was a great bonus. The hotel staff seemed very professional and eager to please, and tended to speak very good English, so we had no communication problems. They were also very helpful when we asked for directions to various sites.

For dining, there was a coffee shop and six restaurants, including one at the very top of the hotel, nicknamed the Spaceship, from which there is a stunning view of the Shanghai skyline. Although we had cocktails at this heady height, so we could enjoy the view, we only ate breakfast at the hotel as we thought the prices in the restaurants were excessive in comparison to others in the nearby streets. They also seemed to cater primarily for western tastes and we wanted to experience authentic Chinese cuisine. The hotel breakfast was excellent, however, with plenty of choice, and I would definitely recommend it.

We had mixed feeling about this hotel. Although the location of the hotel couldn't be bettered, we felt that, as a five-star hotel, it didn't quite match up to other hotels of that class and price. That said, however, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Radisson Shanghai New World Hotel, and will always have precious memories of Shanghai, China.

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