By the way, back on topic…. Are you allowed to choose your quarantine hotel in shanghai after landing at PVG?

I know previously this is not allowed but not sure if the situation has changed.

Perhaps kb1992 is the best person to answer this

No offense to kb1992, but kb1992 is probably the WORST person to answer this; what goes for kb1992 does not apply to us mere mortals!!!!

I was released on May 31, and had no trouble to check in at Hangzhou Marriott. I asked, and was given an upgrade to a very nice river view family suite,

Dinners were a challenge because I had only stayed in Hangzhou for 7 days, and my 行程卡 still had Shanghai trace. Therefore I still have a Star sign showing I was in Shanghai within the past 14 days. This would deny my entry to any fancy restaurant. I need to be out of Shanghai for 14 days, e.g. after June 7 to eliminate Shanghai record.

I did use my 2nd phone which was only turned on after I arrived in Hangzhou, so this one has no Star sign. But my PCR test results are on the first phone, so that's tricky.

I will upload some pictures in Hangzhou. Beautiful city.

Of course you have no right to choose Q hotels, unless you have connections.

It's a bit embarrassment for me to admit that you know too much :-)

By the way, I have zero desire to return to Shanghai when all cities require Q for folks out of Shanghai.

I can't go to Shanghai because I'll get stuck there. Don't want another Q.

I'll wait when Shanghai no longer has Star sign.

For recent data points, I am only able to report what others have told me, and we're talking about a small sample size. Nevertheless, the following observations might be useful:
-it is possible to reserve specific hotels in advance (not upon arrival) if you have connections, and many people seem to be reasonably well connected, so why not ask your HR for starters?
-failing that, if you have a China address (personal, company, client), you should be able to get a hotel in the same district (pending availability); this can be of strategic relevance because some districts don't have awful Q hotels
-you might be offered several different price options at the airport and/or upon check-in at the hotel (e.g. my friend who flew to Xiamen was able to pay 700/night for a room that had a private garden)
-food (3 meals/day) seems to be included in most room rates; if you find you can do better by ordering 外卖 (depends on hotel policies and available options), you should be able to cancel some/all remaining meals, but maybe give yourself a day or two before pulling that trigger (my hotel only accepted deliveries before noon, so I had to work on logistics before I was comfortable making the switch)
-try to make a Costco (or at least grocery store) run before you come over here; you almost certainly won't pay less locally, and you'll have foods that you like to fall back upon

Thanks kb1992 and moondog for the replies.

What moondog said about choosing between price points makes a lot of sense, but from kb1992's response it doesn't seem to be an offering in Shanghai?

I remember seeing a while back a spreadsheet of quarantine hotels and specs (cost, deliveries allowed, etc.). Is there an up-to-date version still maintained?

He prebooked his hotel and presumably was given several options.

I was talking about people who show up at the airport and still don't have hotels or at the hotel and want a better room. I wasn't given a choice myself, either because choices weren't offered at the time or because they wanted all of us in the waiting area to go to the same hotel. I believe that you might be offered several options if you try it now, assuming there is enough demand to warrant such.

I was given no options, other than my connection promised a nice Q hotel. I didn't know until I arrived at my Q hotel.

It's a myth that you have any options before you flying to China. There is none.

The spread sheets of Q hotels in Shanghai are just compiled by people who reported their experiences.

In almost all cases, the people in the waiting area will be sent to the same Q hotel.

It's completely random.

The man who I met on the airplane was given a CHOICE (via his own HR) between Courtyard XJH and the Jianguo. He opted for the former, and that is where he stayed.

Throughout most of this thread, we have been using inductive reasoning (i.e. empirical evidence) because that's all that we have to work with. This approach has suited us reasonably well but doesn't shed much light on actual policies.

Done this three times in Shanghai and what you descirbed is what I experienced.
The three hotesl I experienced went from average > bad> terrible, and after the third experience, I puilled the plug and left China and parked in HK.
I must say the HK airport landing experience and the two quarantine (both 7-day) experiences were much better than my Shanghai quarantine experience. I have choice of hotels, and choice of menu for each meal.

Your chance of getting offered options at the airport are 2, slim and none. And none is leading the race by a mile.

Basically you get what you get and you don’t get upset. Nothing is pleasant or easy (or cheap) about flying to China these days.

Completely agree with both of you.

People have no options or choices about Q hotels whatsoever, save a very few who have strong connections in China.

I received a 5-star Q hotel in Shanghai specifically for diplomats, and another 5-star Q hotel in Hangzhou (a suite), but these are exceptions as I have connections to the officials who assign Q hotels in both cities.

It's totally expected that HK quarantine experience is far better than Shanghai.

There seems to be some conflating going on here leading to misleading conclusions.
There were (are?) SOME districts in Shanghai that allowed the choice of Quarantine hotel, providing one's final destination was in those districts.
This did not -and does not- apply to all non-participating districts or anyone with a final destination outside of Shanghai.

1. It is possible to book a specific hotel before you leave your home country, assuming you or your employer are well connected; MNCs like Apple and SOEs have an advantage in this area
2. Failing that, when you arrive in Shanghai, you have the opportunity to pick a district (but, almost certainly not a specific property) from the ~9 on offer. The people at individual district desks ask for an address, which you may or may not need to prove (e.g. lease, piece of mail, temp residence form, business card, invitation letter, etc)
3. If you're final destination is outside of Shanghai and you tell them this, you're probably stuck with luck of the draw, BUT if your company has an office in Shanghai, and you like the area (you can't leave your room so location doesn't matter too much, but maybe there are good food delivery options), it doesn't hurt to say that you'd prefer to stay nearby
4. It is okay (and common) to change your post-quarantine plan during those 2 weeks; you just need to advise the hotel on day 13 where you are going next

Update from Hangzhou.

After I left my suite of Q hotel, I checked in at Hangzhou Marriott and got another family suite, upgraded from regular room. The hotel staff are very nice to this Marriott Ambassador. They didn't even ask for health code etc.
















My room has magnificent views of Qiantangjiang 钱塘江 River.







I had a funny story when I tried to visit a beauty salon at a large mall near Marriott. Guards at gate 1 refused to let me in because he saw my 14-day history with a star sign with Shanghai listed from my phone A. So I went to gate 2 and produced phone B which has no Shanghai trace. I only turned phone B on after I arrived in Hangzhou :-)



Dinner at Marriott executive lounge. Nice view. Nice food.





Touring West Lake, a favorite site in Hangzhou for me. I visit there every year. There are very few tourists. Nice.













Finally, some delicious dishes in Hangzhou, treated by friends.




















My total cost of meals in Hangzhou: zero.

My next stop is Chengdu. Another favorite city in China for me.

Apologies; it wasn't 100% clear from your previous posts that lying & cheating was required to get a choice of hotel.
I understand now.

Added:
This is an open forum, followed by many, many people.
If someone asks a simple and general question: "Can you choose your quarantine hotel in Shanghai?",
the answer should reflect whether this is generally allowed and possible, and clearly spell out that if a 'loophole' exists that could be exploited, that this is done by bending the rules.

Here the answer is clearly:
----->
No, you can not choose your quarantine hotel in Shanghai, unless:
1) your final destination is in specific districts within Shanghai that allow choice of hotel (very, very few did, not sure if they still do), or
2) have significant connections, or
3) you lie and cheat about your final destination, in which case you can POTENTIALLY choose a specific district with better quarantine hotels