Where to stay in Shanghai: the Bund, the French Concession, Jing'an or Pudong
An area-by-area guide for Australians choosing a Shanghai hotel: what each neighbourhood is like at 8 am and 10 pm, who it suits (first-timers, families, business, Disneyland), distances to the sights and the two airports, and the hotel types and price bands we book.
Shanghai is a city of 25 million people, and where you sleep decides how much of your trip is spent in traffic. The good news is that the four neighbourhoods worth considering are all within a 20-minute taxi ride of each other, so there is no wrong answer, only a better fit. This is how we choose for clients, with the questions we ask first.
The quick answer
| You are | Stay in | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First visit, want the postcard | The Bund or Nanjing Road East | Walk to the river at night, Yu Garden in the morning |
| Want to live like a local for a week | The former French Concession | Plane-tree lanes, cafés, the best dinners, quiet at night |
| Business and shopping | Jing’an or Nanjing Road West | Offices, metro lines 2 and 7, the big malls |
| Flying out of Hongqiao or taking the train | Jing’an or Xujiahui | 25 minutes to Hongqiao station and airport |
| Disneyland and a Pudong flight | Pudong, Lujiazui or the resort hotels | Skyline views, 20 to 30 minutes to both |
| Families with young children | French Concession or Jing’an | Shorter walks, parks, quieter streets |
The Bund and the old city
The waterfront of colonial banks and hotels facing the Pudong skyline is what people picture when they picture Shanghai. Staying here means stepping out of the hotel onto the river promenade, the Bund lit up at 10 pm, Yu Garden and the old town a 15-minute walk south, and Nanjing Road East’s pedestrian strip at the back door.
The hotels are the grand old names (the Peace Hotel, the Waldorf Astoria in the former Shanghai Club) and newer luxury towers, with a handful of mid-range options a street or two back. It is the most expensive district per night, the most crowded on the promenade until late, and the furthest from the French Concession’s dinners. For a first visit of two or three nights it is worth it; for a week it starts to feel like a stage set.
The former French Concession
West of the old city, the leafy grid of streets laid out by the French a century ago is the neighbourhood most visitors fall for: lane houses, plane trees, small parks, cafés that could be in Melbourne, the city’s best Shanghainese and Sichuan restaurants, and streets that are quiet by 11 pm. Metro lines 1, 10 and 12 run through it; the Bund is 15 minutes by taxi.
Hotels range from boutique conversions of 1930s villas and apartment blocks to international mid-range chains along Huaihai Road, with a few luxury names. Rooms in the old buildings can be small and charming or small and dark; look at recent photos. This is where we put most families and anyone staying more than three nights, and it is where the food guide sends you for dinner anyway.
Jing’an and Nanjing Road West
North of the Concession, around the Jing’an Temple, is the business and shopping centre: office towers, the big malls, the metro hub where lines 2 and 7 cross, and a dense cluster of hotels from budget to five-star. It is the most convenient base in the city: 20 minutes to the Bund, 10 to the Concession, 25 to Hongqiao airport and station, 45 to Pudong airport by car.
It is also the least atmospheric. You stay in Jing’an for logistics and walk south into the Concession for charm. Business travellers, anyone taking the train to Suzhou, Hangzhou or Beijing from Hongqiao, and families who want a big hotel with a pool and a breakfast buffet are well served here.
Pudong and Lujiazui
Across the river, the skyline you photograph from the Bund is where the tallest hotels are: rooms on the 80th floor looking back at the historic waterfront, the Shanghai Tower and the Pearl Tower next door, the ferry and the tunnel to the Bund in minutes. Pudong is modern, wide and quiet at street level; it is not a neighbourhood you wander in, and restaurants are in malls.
Choose it for the view, for a Pudong airport flight (30 to 40 minutes), for Disneyland (20 to 30 minutes), or for a single splurge night at the end of a trip. The Disney resort hotels themselves make sense only for a Disney-focused day or two.
Other areas worth knowing
- Xujiahui, south of the Concession, is a shopping and metro hub with good-value hotels and quick access to Hongqiao; fine for business, less so for a holiday.
- Hongqiao itself has a ring of airport hotels around the transport hub; useful for a very early train or flight and for nothing else.
- Hongkou and the North Bund, across Suzhou Creek, has new luxury hotels with Bund views at lower prices and a long walk to everything.
Hotel types and what they cost
Shanghai hotel prices are lower than Sydney or Melbourne for equivalent quality outside peak weeks:
- International five-star on the Bund or in Pudong: from about the price of a good Sydney CBD hotel, more in peak season. Club lounges, pools, English everywhere.
- Four-star international chains in Jing’an and the Concession: roughly half that, consistently good, the category we use on the Shanghai essentials tour unless asked otherwise.
- Boutique and heritage hotels in the Concession: a wide range; the best are memorable, the worst are a damp room up three flights of stairs. We only book the ones we have seen.
- Serviced apartments for stays of a week or more, especially for families visiting relatives who want a kitchen.
Peak weeks are the first week of October, Chinese New Year, and the days around big trade shows and the Formula 1 race, when prices double. The best time to visit guide lists them.
What to check before you book
- Metro distance. Within 500 metres of a line 1, 2 or 10 station saves taxis all week.
- Room size. Shanghai rooms in older buildings can be under 25 square metres; families should look for connecting rooms or a suite rather than a rollaway.
- Breakfast. Chinese breakfast buffets are a highlight, not a compromise; international hotels do both.
- Smoking. Ask for a non-smoking floor explicitly; it is still a thing in some mid-range hotels.
- Registration. Hotels must register foreign guests with the police; it is done at check-in with your passport and takes a minute. If you stay in a private apartment or with family, registration is your host’s job, and a hotel removes the question.
- Payment. Hotels take international cards and often hold a deposit; smaller boutiques may want Alipay. Confirm when booking.
How we place guests
For a first trip of three or four nights we usually book the Concession or Jing’an, with one night on the Bund at the end if the budget stretches, because the first-night walk along the river is worth having once. For longer stays, the Concession. For business, Jing’an. For a Disneyland day tacked onto a Pudong flight, Pudong. If you tell us your flights and who is travelling, the quote comes with the hotel we would choose and why, and we are happy to swap it for one you prefer or for your own points booking.
