I arrived on Sunday afternoon, and chose to find my own way to the hotel. I decided on the train to the city then a taxi. Mistake. I did not know there were 2 train options - Maglev or Metro. I asked which is easier, and the girl said Metro. Wrong. It took ages, then the train started going the other direction, without any warning. So I had to jump off and cross the platform. I am told the Maglev is the best, then you change at Longyang Road and get on the Metro. If you have loads of bags, don't bother, just get a normal cab - it will cost around 200 RMB (£20), and will take about 45 mins. My journey took over 2 hours and I will not take that option again. However, the metro is cheap - 70 pence for a ticket (7 RMB) !!! The hotel wanted 720 RMB to pick me up which I thought was a bit steep.

Now onto the hotel, it is located in what looks like an area with loads of consulates / embassies, and is a green oasis in a noisy and busy city. It is not central, but if you are like me and choose to stay pretty much in the hotel (I am alone on business), it is perfect. The staff are very friendly and customer-service orientated. This is different to other hotels in China I have stayed where they can be gruff. It was a pleasure to stay here. The room was excellent. Free internet via cable. Bed incredibly comfy, complimentary water. All spotless throughout. English TV channels like the Discovery Channel although I don't watch much TV. Hotel restaurant has lots of European options, such as burgers, pasta, as well as Asian stuff. A steak will set you back about 250 RMB, but a burger about 90 RMB so it's pretty reasonable. Of course if you ventured out you can pay buttons for local stuff, but as I only stay a couple of days in each city, I tend to "stick to what I know", which is not very adventurous I know, but I know I'll be OK that way. Breakfast is very good. They have HP sauce, ketchup etc. My meetings were in Western Shanghai generally (Pu Xi), so the location was perfect. I cannot speak highly enough about this place, and will definitely stay here next time.

We stayed here for a few nights and we arranged two rooms, one of which was on the club floor. Upon check in I was surprised by just how welcoming the staff were, and soon found this to be a common feature of the staff in both the restaurants and the bar. We ate at both of the restaurants, and the food was ok. Both rooms were very clean and of a good size. We didn't use the club floor facilities, however, because the lounge looked very small and I'm not really sure being on the club floor was worth any extra expense. The internet was quite slow in both of the rooms. The only glitch with our stay was that one evening we were about to leave the hotel when we realised it was raining, and so we asked the doorman if we could borrow an umbrella. He took us to reception where we were told we could go back up to our room to collect the umbrella which was provided. Most hotels would simply give you with an umbrella. Upon explaining that we would have to go all the way back to the room and then come down to the entrance again when we only intended to pop out for a few minutes, we were told that we could borrow an umbrella from the front desk if we handed over some money for a deposit, which we did. We were only gone for about ten minutes and so when we came back and returned the umbrella the whole thing just seemed very petty. Apart from that, our stay was ok, nothing exceptional but certainly adequate. I will, however, be staying elsewhere when I return to Shanghai.

Hotel Radisson Xing Guo was a very pleasant discovery in Shanghai, especially as you drive through a large ground before actually getting to the hotel building. It's tucked away from the hustle & bustle of Shanghai, which makes for a very nice change.

The hotel is conveniently located near the French Concession and cabs are available in plentiful, except when it starts raining! The rooms are comfortable though a bit on the smaller side - a side effect of being in an expensive city like Shanghai I guess.

The dining options however leave much to be desired - I stayed in the hotel for 6 days, so managed to go through a fair number of dishes at the 2 restaurants. The cafe has a limited section of dishes, especially western ones. The chinese restaurant was actually not good at all. So eventually I stepped out for all my meals - cheaper & much better.

The concierge desk was helpful with all my requests for written directions. I had one mix-up at the taxi queue on the day it was raining, but the hotel manager finally offered to drop me in the hotel cab after I got upset.

Apart from the food however, I have no compliants with the hotel and would definitely stay there on my next trip to Shanghai.

Comfortable and clean this is highly recommended with good city access. It has good grounds and is leafy for central shanghai. I have used this over 10 times during the past 4 years and am consistently pleased with both the cleanliness and service. Pool and fitness facilities are perfectly adequate.