PRICE:
Frommer's Recommended

Built in 1860 and reconstructed in late Renaissance style on its present site in 1910, this hotel north of the Bund is China's oldest, and the first place to use telephones and electric lights in the country. In 2003, this formerly run-down backpackers' favorite underwent a much-needed renovation and is today a somewhat pricey three-star outfit with executive-level rooms and average service. The brick-enclosed inner courtyard on the third floor leads to rooms that have been refurbished and stripped down to accentuate the building's original highlights (high ceilings, carved moldings, and wooden floors). Beds are firm and comfortable, bathrooms large and clean, and there are even little flourishes like old-fashioned dial telephones. Visitors can also choose from four restored "celebrity rooms," once occupied by famous visitors such as U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1879 (Room 410), Scott Joplin in 1931 and 1936 (Room 404), Bertrand Russell in 1920 (Room 310), and Albert Einstein in 1922 (Room 304).

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Shanghai, 5th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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