Hotel Review: Holiday Inn. and the Song 'Shanghai Beach' (上海灘)

Holiday Inn. - a hotel with a global household name - offers a sense of predictability which could be rather soothing for some. The location of the hotel is quite convenient. And there are department store, shops and good Chinese restaurants nearby. But there may also be some prostitutes hanging around on the street at around or after midnight, approaching pedestrians for sex trade in the neighbourhood.

Owing to the renovation carrying out at the hotel, I was once offered a discount for the room rate to compensate for the noise and closed facilities. One funny thing that occurred during my stay was one night when we left the hotel, the band, at the lounge next to the lobby, were playing the famous Cantonese song, 'Shanghai Beach'. 'Shanghai Beach' is the theme song of a TV show with the same title; the story portrays gangsters from Shanghai where the lead of the gang was dramatically killed by multiple beehive-like gunshots from an ambush when he was leaving a club on this fatal night. How funny that shooting scene might have flashed through the mind of those who opened the hotel's door during the performance, with an illusion that guns were pointing at them from all directions.

Review: (5 highest - 1 lowest)

Room: 3.5

Room Rate: 4
Cleanliness: 4
Style: 3.5
Lounge: 3.5
Staff: 3