Have booked a deluxe studio loft at the newer Modena Putuo Hotel.

Reasons your contacts are advising against staying in the Putuo District?

My friend who is from SH:

"Don't go to Putuo district, there is nothing there and it's far far away. Last time I almost got pickpocketed."

From Chinese FT (I posted there and ask for opinions between Putuo Renaissance and Marriott City Centre since I booked both):

"The reason why people staying at Putuo district is because of work, there are offices close to Putuo Renaissance. It's far away from the main tourist sites. If you are a tourist, stay somewhere else."

AFAIK Renaissance Putuo is packed with tourist groups because they have a bus to drop them off wherever. However people commented on the hotel having one of the best exec. lounge and the rooms are very decent.

Again, with the excellent and comprehensive metro system available in Shanghai, that system can be used to access tourist areas/sites of interest, possibly combined with short taxi rides. You would seemingly have to use the metro/taxis anyway, even if staying in a tourist area, if you plan to visit a number of tourist areas/sites.

Based on your comments above, think what I will do is to buy roundtrip Maglev tickets for the wife and me at the airport, to get to and from our hotel, and change to/from Line 7 at the Longyang Station. That will not only negate the train switch that was mentioned to be required on the far eastern part of Line 2 but, upon our arrival at PVG during Friday's rush hour, improve our chances of getting seats on the metro, since there is only one stop on Line 7 east of the Longyang Station, so the westbound Line 7 train should have a fair number of seats available when arriving at the Longyang Station. Will just have to make sure we are towards the front of the queue when boarding it.

I appreciate all your inputs. ^