Ruijin Guesthouse (4-star)
上海瑞金宾馆
No. 118 Ruijin Er Lu
About this place
Ruijin Guesthouse (Hotel)
118 Ruijin No. 2 Road
6472 5222
Ruijin Guesthouse housed me when I first moved to Shanghai while I was looking for an apartment. The gorgeous and serene atmosphere was heaven as I first adapted to the crazy life of this city! The park-like grounds take up more than half of a city block, with sprawling accommodations and restaurants spread throughout. To give you a better picture of how pretty this spot is, it is an extremely popular location for weddings amongst the upper echelon of Chinese society. Despite is beauty, the rooms vary in cost, giving even the tighter budgets an opportunity to enjoy the location.
Most of the beautiful buildings on the property were built in the 1920’s, but I stayed in a newer building for about 650RMB a night – where I believe the cheaper rooms are. The building is close to the bars on Maoming Rd., but I never heard any bar noise from my room. The room was a little tired, but a good size and had a great bathroom. I guess you could say the rooms are the least fantastic aspect of the hotel – but completely acceptable, clean and up to western standards. If you request a room in one of the old buildings you might have to pay a little more, but you will get a little more charm if you care about it. Everything else about the hotel is fantastic; an accommodating staff, great location, and a beauty that is hard to come by in this busy city.
One particularly important aspect of the location was that it enabled us to walk everywhere in the French Concession. Many hotels in Shanghai virtually require a cab to even get a cup of coffee – Ruijin Guesthouse is only a block away from dozens of restaurants and shops (see Blue Frog for one idea). While a little expensive, there are also several restaurants and bars on the grounds. One particularly hot spot among those that can afford a 40RMB beer is Face Bar, which has a great outdoor seating area – a great choice on a warm night. I also really enjoyed La Na Thai, a little pricier than Simply Thai – about 100RMB per person, but the décor was fantastic and the food was wonderful.
Overall, I would recommend this hotel without hesitation. If it matters to you, keep in mind that there is no workout facility.
To get there: Metro Line 1, stop at the Shanxi rd. station. Exit on Huai Hai Rd. and walk east two blocks to Ruijin Rd. Take a right, walk two and a half blocks. The hotel is on the right. You can’t miss it!
