My experience has been that there is no one place where consistantly you get the lowest rate. If you are looking for the lowest rate, you have to check all avenues and do it for each trip.

You have nothing to lose by calling them.

Unless there is something going on at this time in Shanghai, in general, room rates in Dec and Jan are the lowest of the year in Shanghai or in China.

I have never been to Marriott, but I know for sure it is not quite next door, or even next next door to Park. It could be a 5-10 minute walk.

I checked Westin. Both web and phone call show 1745 CNY as the lowest rate I can get. I thought that the web flashed 1380 CNY, but then it disappeared. I don't know if I did something wrong.

asiarooms.com offers $223.

I'll think about it more.

I exaggerated a little -- it looks like Park and Marriott are within 500 m of each other. They're both on the square. Should be a very quick walk between the two.

Expedia has the St. Regis for $178 for both 12/20 and 12/21. It's part of the Starwoods group, and should be nicer than the Westin.

Travelocity has the Hilton for 1090yuan for 12/20 and 12/21. It seems like you do get choices.

I hate sites like asiarooms.com that you have to wait for a reply. Takes too much time.

Isn't St. Regis in Pudong?

I don't like to wait either, but it does look like asiarooms.com tends to give the best rate. So far the turn around time has been 1 work day, but since I'm leaving on Thursday I don't really have much time left to play these games.

I'll take a look at the Hilton again. Thanks. I think that it's a little too far west, as I mentioned, but 1090 yuan sounds like a good price.

Oh you're right. St. Regis is in Pudong. Sorry about that.

I would grab that Hilton rate mentioned by rkkwan! 111op, you have done your home work. You probably have a map of Shanghai. Try to locate Hilton on the map. It is really a very very desirable location in Jin An Shi (Jin An Temple) area. As I mentioned before, there is a subway station there. I would urge you to re-consider in light of the Hilton rate.

Ok, I'm checking now.

How did you get the 1090 CNY, rkkwan? It's showing up as 1260 CNY for me (without taxes).

This is making me want to pull my hair out.

For comparision the cheapest rate for Hilton on asiarooms.com is $146.

Do you know Shanghai well, lxc? Do you refer the Hilton's location to Renmin Square?

111op: I think you need to review your perception of Hilton being too far west.

I know very well all these areas that you are considering to stay. Hilton is located also in the old French Concession. It is no more than about 2 miles due west of People's Sq. And Hilton is also about 3 miles from Okura. If you draw a circle with the center at People's Sq and a radius of 3 miles, you will cover all the hotels we mentioned here and the tourist places. (not St Regis).

People's Sq is Renmin Sq

Again, Hilton is located in the Jin An Shi area about 2 miles due west of People's Sq where Park and Marriott are located.

111op - I just checked Travelocity. The 1090 yuan rate is gone now... Oh well.

Thanks. I got caught up in something else. I guess I can call Okura in a few minutes to see what the deal is. Reservation department comes in at 8:30.

It's silly to worry about $50-$100, but I guess that's me. It's ok to pay up for things, but I always dread the feeling of getting the most for my money.

Thanks for humoring me and for helping me out.

I think that I see what might have happened, rkkwan. You probably used 1 person for Travelocity. I just checked the rates on hilton.com -- and it's 1090 CNY for 1 but 1260 CNY for 2 (lowest rates).

In the end this is what I did.

I just sent asiarooms.com a request to book Park Hotel at $70 (standard room). The rack rate is 698 yuan. I'll need to wait for a confirmation, but I suspect that this won't be a problem. When I called the hotel there seem to be plenty of rooms available.

I called Okura Garden last night to book a room at a special rate of 888 yuan for the second night.

I was actually thinking of booking Marriott for night #2. It seems like I should have a good chance getting this through asiarooms.com for $160 (as the website shows availability at a lower rate). But I think that I'm going to pass for now unless someone tells me that the views at Marriott are worth it.

It seems like moving to Marriott from Park would be easier than moving to Okura, but I figured that we'll want to be in the French Concession area anyway.

Ideally I'd not have wanted to move and would have booked Marriott for two nights if that were available.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

The views at the Marriott from a corner room are wonderful!

Would you know what the differences between the standard ("quality&quot room and the corner rooms are?

For Dec 21 the website offers the quality room at 1380 yuan and the deluxe corner at 2500 yuan.

I suspect that if I sent my request to asiarooms.com all they can do is book me at the standard room.

They couldn't fill my request at $160 for Dec 20-22, but I suspect it's Dec 20 that's causing the problem.

Anyway, I've to move hotels the second night. Do people think it's worth trying to get Marriott for $50 more than Okura?