Tourism officials are warning foreigners to think twice before checking into unauthorized small family-run guest houses during the 2010 World Expo – some of them poorly furnished apartments charging $732 per night, twice the price of some five-star hotels.
So-called family hotels being advertised in Shanghai now are illegal, Zhu Guojian, deputy director of the policy and law department of Shanghai Tourism Administration, said that apart from the only legal ones are the pilot guest houses in the Linfen Neighborhood in Zhabei District.
Zhu Guojian said, "We will promote the guesthouse style to the whole city soon, and will announce all of the authorized guest houses at the administration’s official website."
Shanghai Daily reports that some of the apartments located around Metro Line 7 near the Expo site are charging a sky-high price.
The administration said that after the Expo raises the curtain on the home-stay program, the approved family-run guest houses will receive guests through bookings by the administration and tour agencies authorized to sell Expo tickets.
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