Apple Hotel Apartment (Shanghai Railway Station Branch)

It's a basic hotel akin to an Ibis Budget in Europe. Don't expect luxuries, frills or a fully renovated room. It's quite good for the price. Exit 10 of Hanzhong Road metro station is only 20-30m away from the hotel. You can get to the very city center in around 20-25 minutes. Washing machine inside the room is a big plus. You can ask for detergent at the front desk. Staff is kind and helped me to use the washing machine. The only way to communicate with them in English is Google Translate on the phone.

Short version: If you are a non smoker who is sensitive to cigarette smoke DO NOT stay here. Long version: Starting with the positives, the location is fantastic. Right next to a metro station with 3 metro lines and a nice mall with lots of food options and a supermarket. The front desk employee is also nice and for the most part tries to be helpful (English is nonexistent). They gave me a free upgrade to a room with a bigger bed and a fridge, nice but also not that huge of a benefit to me. The room is really basic and relatively small, but nice enough and the bed is also fine. All necessary amenities are available. HOWEVER, unfortunately I had to leave early after two nights (originally planned 5), because I absolutely could not sleep here. I initially arrived during the day (I was able to check in early) and stayed for a bit. Everything was great and I was happy with my hotel choice. The problem started when I returned in the evening when other guests had also returned. Suddenly a strong smell of fresh smoke started wafting into the room from the corridor through the door and window cracks. Previously there was no smell at all. This kept going on sometimes stronger sometimes weaker for the next hours well into the night. I was able to sleep maybe 3 hours that first night. The only explanation I can come up with is that the neighbors started smoking in their room despite this being a non smoking hotel. The smoke had to have come from somewhere and it 100% didn’t have anything to do with the aircon because it occurred independently from it running or not and clearly came from the corridor. When I went to the front desk they offered me to change the room the next day, but also said they couldn’t guarantee it would be better in the new room and I would have to be at the hotel mid-day on the next day to choose the room „I was satisfied with“ (which didn’t work with my plans snd it was not the room itself that was the issue). I decided to give it one more chance, however unfortunately the same thing happened again the next night. I ended up having to sleep (poorly) with a mask. This was by far my worst hotel experience in China, possibly in my life and the first time I ever left a hotel early. Fortunately the front desk lady was understanding (even though she didn’t really seem to believe the smoke was coming from the neighbors although it was really the only possibility) and through the Trip.com support I was able to get my money back. All that to say I want to warn my fellow smoke sensitive non smoking travelers to choose a different hotel if possible and rather spend a little more money. For smokers (even if smoking is not technically allowed) or people who don’t really care about smoke smells this is a great budget friendly hotel at a great location.

Strategic location, just 40 m from 3 metro lines, allowing you to reach most of the city in under 30 minutes. Great value for money and excellent staff — always very helpful.

The room was clean and very nice. The hotel is well located, with access to a nearby mall as well as metro station that is incredibly well connected. The hotel could have perhaps benefitted from a communal dryer and kitchen facilities, but these are small considerations that did not take away from the stay. Overall, a nice stay at a very reasonable price.

Very good hotel, very nice staff, nice location and so close to the metro station !

Was a little smoke smell and low ventilation but overall good especially location.