I've stayed at all three properties. My favorite of the 3 is the Renaissance Putuo because it has a nice lounge; it's a quiet neighborhood for Shanghai; and it sits right on top of an MRT station. I tried the the Yu Garden hotel and left after 1 night. They upgraded me to a nice room, but I just did not like the feel of the hotel. The lounge was not as nice and the gym on the top floor was baking hot making it almost impossible to workout. It is in a good location for tourists so that is a consideration and the AC system should still be on for a few weeks so that will help with internal temperatures (this is a big issue with hotels in China, AC gets turned off I the winter and only rooms that face the sun can't get below 27C). I actually had that happen at the Putuo hotel so they brought two big portable AC units into my room. Courtyard Central is on the Pudong side. It's been awhile since I stayed there, but it was okay if you want to be in Pudong.

I'm Platinum Elite so I can't really comment on how Golds are treated. I would say staff at the Putuo tend to be more welcoming.

I'm slowly working my way through every legacy Marriott property in Shanghai. I tried the new Kangqiao property recently it's nice but too far away from everything, including MRT station.