Best Hotels with Indoor Pools in Shanghai

This was the quietest stay of our whole China trip, and the large indoor pool paired with the spa gave our teenagers somewhere to disappear for a couple of hours while we actually finished a conversation over coffee. Qingpu sits well outside the busiest parts of Shanghai, so the pace of the whole hotel matched what our family needed after a hectic week in the city centre. The free parking and airport shuttle made the logistics painless on both ends.

We stayed three nights before catching an early flight out of Hongqiao, and the indoor pool turned out to be the highlight for our two kids, who swam every evening while we unwound in the spa area next door. The airport shuttle saved us a stressful taxi search on departure morning, and the staff let our dog stay without a fuss, which meant nobody had to be left behind for this trip. My only note: book the pool slot early if you're traveling with a toddler.

Our kids used the outdoor pool most afternoons and switched to the indoor one on the one cooler day of our stay, so we never had a single argument about swimming plans. The full-service laundry made a real difference two-thirds into a longer trip, and the airport shuttle to Pudong International took the stress out of a tight connection on departure day. It's a kid-friendly, business-leaning hotel that still worked well for our family of four.

Having both an indoor and outdoor pool meant our plans never depended on the weather, which mattered on a trip that mixed a rainy day with a couple of genuinely hot ones. The 24-hour dining saved us more than once when our youngest woke up hungry at an odd hour, and the smoke-free policy throughout made a real difference with two small kids in tow. Hongqiao's transit links made day trips easy without dragging suitcases across the city first.

The game room next to the indoor pool turned out to be the real win here, since our son split his afternoons between the two and genuinely never asked to leave the hotel early. Rooms are simple rather than stylish, but that suited us fine for a stopover between longer stays elsewhere in Shanghai, and the fitness centre let my partner keep up a routine without hunting for a gym nearby. A solid, unfussy choice for families on a budget.

We booked this one mainly for the indoor pool, since our trip landed in January, and the hot tub next to it became the evening ritual after a day out in Pudong. Kangqiao is quieter than the tower district, so bedtime for the kids actually happened on schedule instead of getting derailed by street noise. The two restaurants covered breakfast and dinner without us needing to venture far, which mattered with a toddler who does not travel light.

We visited in February, and the heated indoor pool was honestly the reason our kids stopped complaining about the cold the moment we walked in each evening. Minhang is not the most scenic part of Shanghai, but the three restaurants on site meant we never had to bundle everyone back outside for dinner, and the spa gave my partner and me a rare hour to ourselves while the kids swam with their grandparents. Worth it purely for the heated water in winter.

This was a practical, no-frills stop for us between longer legs of the trip, and the indoor pool kept our son entertained for a solid hour each afternoon while we caught up on laundry. Free parking meant we could rent a car for a day trip without hunting for a garage nearby, and the pet-friendly rooms meant our cat's carrier did not need to become a whole negotiation at check-in. It is not fancy, but it did exactly what we needed.