Mercure Shanghai Hongqiao South

The room.

I was disgusted with how at check-in, the counter staff tried to put me in a smaller room with a small window facing a wall. They tried to convince me that that was the room I had booked, which was utter rubbish. The room did not match the photo of the Superior Twin room on the booking site I has seen at the time of booking. Further, after I had confirmed my online booking, a message popped up stating that the room I booked was "larger than others". The staff at check-in had the cheek to say that they were doing me a favour by letting me have the room I had actually booked without charging me more for it and that my room was one that had a window but without a view which they called 内窗. I had checked in around 2.30pm. When I asked for a room change, they could not do it immediately citing problems with their check-in computer system. I left to go sightseeing. When I returned at 7pm they made the change reluctantly and said next time they would not bend the rules. I told them to their face there will be no next time. If I had not stood my ground, I would have been shortchanged by being stuffed into a room with a window that faces a wall. The lesson I had learned is to print out a photo of the room booked. People who are more easily intimidated would have settled for a room they did not book. That experience shook my faith in Mecure Hotels.