La Garfield Hotel

“Unforgettable first night in Shanghai”

I had a guaranteed booking through my travel agent in Jakarta for this hotel, but when I arrived at the hotel (at 10PM due to transit delays in HKIA) they didn't have my reservation. Up until today I still don't know whose fault it was. The staff couldn't speak proper English, not even vocationa... more

I had a guaranteed booking through my travel agent in Jakarta for this hotel, but when I arrived at the hotel (at 10PM due to transit delays in HKIA) they didn't have my reservation. Up until today I still don't know whose fault it was. The staff couldn't speak proper English, not even vocational English. They had to translate every word I say through this online dictionary on their computer and very often I had to write down the word on paper. Finally I was contacted by the HK travel agent that is used by my travel agent in Jakarta, I was told to pay for 1 night first and settle the problem the next day. I finally checked in at 11.15PM. I had to remind myself this is a very Chinese hotel, so don't expect much. The hotel is mostly dark colored. I'm not sure why they chose such color scheme for a hotel. It's pretty unusual to me. They also have lots of paintings attached on their walls. These paintings are mostly images of traditional Chinese girls. The hallways are dimly lit too. It was kinda spooky that late. When I entered the room, honestly it was okay. Still dark, spooky, and dimly lit, but most of the furniture look new. LCD is 42" I think. Free broadband Internet connection, ethernet-based, no WiFi. Bathroom is clean, bed and pillows are nice. One major issue for me though, paintings on both side of the bed. I couldn't sleep with these paintings looking at me. I wanted to take them down, but they are permanently nailed to the walls. Luckily my travel agent moved me to another hotel for the rest of my Shanghai business trip. I was supposed to stay for 3 nights at this hotel, but the other 2 is at another hotel which is much better. Had they kept me at this hotel for another 2 nights, I would be extremely pissed when I get back home.

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