Shanghai People's Square Homestay HORROR: They Sublet to Strangers AFTER You Check In!
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Ladies, I want to speak out loudly about this extremely heartbreaking and disgusting homestay!
It only shows a general location on the booking platform initially, and you need to contact the landlord to find that the name of this place is called "Expensive Person's Residence" (Guìrén Jū). At first, I saw there were quite high ratings but didn't pay attention to the fact that there were just only five comments before placing the order. It was mainly because we had to book it urgently at that time, and the photos of the house looked comfortable and attractive.
Bogus homestay name and address:
- Expensive Person's Residence (Guìrén Jū)
- Room 907, 9th Floor, Zhenhua Building, No. 149 Weihai Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai.
- Note for foreign friends: Huangpu District (Huangpu District) is a central urban area of Shanghai, and Weihai Road (Weihai Road) is also a well-known street.
Three of us reserved a suite with a capacity for six people.
In the afternoon at two o'clock, when we arrived, we found that the landlord actually lived there as well! She said she hadn't finished cleaning yet and asked us to put down our luggage first before checking in after she finished cleaning in the evening.
Then, she demanded us to scan our faces as certification, said it was "local requirements". We weren't aware of the situation at the time and scanned all of our faces and uploaded our identity documents as required.
️ IMPORTANT REMINDER:
We later found out that there was no such requirement in China's homestay or hotel - mandatory face scan! When confronted with this kind of situation in the future, please stay cautious and clarify whether it is indeed a requirement or whether there are alternative verification methods.Misery began:
We let go of her request since we thought she was the landlord and the house was big enough. This gave her room to further take advantage us. Around 9 PM, she texted me on WeChat, stating that she had a backache due to cleaning and wondered if she could take a room in our house for the night as it was more convenient for her than going back home. We agreed since we thought the house was quite large indeed.
Next thing she texted us, she had another 'needy' guest, a mother-daughter pair asking to stay at our rented apartment, because the daughter’s foot was injured and needed medical treatment next morning. She claimed that they were all alone and asked if we would allow them to rent one of the rooms in our apartment for a night.
Initially, the booking specified "Exclusive Accommodation" – but now it implied sharing the apartment with strangers and using communal bathrooms! We definitely rejected her offer; asking for a refund according to the shared apartment discount rate. However, the landlord became aggressive upon hearing this, asserting that she usually rented her apartment for 600 CNY per night! (But we made the reservation through a platform, with no particular discounts, and the order clearly mentioned private bathrooms.)
The unprincipled landlord, merely seeing that we were a small group occupying rooms, tried to rent extra rooms to make additional profits!
Upon our return to the homestay at around ten PM that night, we did not find any other place to live. We reluctantly spent the night there.
Worse things waited until the next day:
When we woke up, we found out that the so-called "needy mother-daughter", living in their designated room, were actually a trio family! This female landlord is just恶心极了，为了把房间租出去，竟然一晚上说了三次谎骗我们！
- This experience was truly unsatisfying for the whole of my journey to Shanghai, and I was afraid recalling this heartless homestay.
- Because we had been forced under her program to scan faces and upload identity documents before, we were scared that this dishonest business owner would use our personal information for some misdeeds. Therefore, we didn't dare leave a bad review on the booking website.
- Looking back now, I believe those few five-star reviews were probably fake!
️ FINAL WARNING AGAIN:
Do not book with this homestay, Expensive Person’s Residence, located near People's Square (People's Square), Nanjing West Road (Nanjing West Road) or Shanghai Grand Theatre (Shanghai Grand Theatre).Address of the homestay:
- Expensive Person's Residence (Guìrén Jū)
- Room 907, 9th Floor, Zhenhua Building, No. 149 Weihai Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai.
I hope my experience can be helpful to you!
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Just a correction: it's Guirenju, Room 901, 9th Floor, Zhenhua Building, 149 Weihai Road, Huangpu District. The landlord initially told me Room 907 over the phone, but the security guard downstairs said it was 901. When I went up, it was indeed 901, not 907.
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Which platform did you book this on? You should report this to the platform and demand they delist the property. This is a serious threat to guest safety!
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Thanks! I booked it on Qunar. My main concern is that the landlord has access to our ID information and facial scan records through their system. After complaining to the platform, I'm worried this unethical owner might try to cause trouble later. I've traveled for many years, and this is the most disgusting experience I've ever had with a rental.
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Okay, some of what happened is quite outrageous, but it's standard procedure for hotels and guesthouses to register guests with the public security system, which does require ID documents and facial scans.
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Alright, thanks!