Re: Hotels in Lahore
You get what you pay for.
I wouldn't advise Amer Hotel unless you plan to spend a lot of your time at Data Darbaar or Civil Secretariat. The hotel is located in one of the most traffic congested places and is way way off from the main shopping and dining parts of Lahore.
Depends on why you are visiting Lahore, ofcourse. If you plan to spend time shopping, dining and generally hanging out at nice places, then of the four choices you gave in your first post, I'd recommend staying at Shalimar Hotel. Its right in the middle of all action, with many points of interest at walking distance. If your main interest in visiting Lahore is to visit the historical places, Shalimar Gardens, Fort, Badhsahi Masjid etc, then staying at Amer Hotel makes sense.
Do remember, that the culinary centerpoint of Lahore is Gulberg. With some nice shopping and dining also in Defence. Staying near Mall Road is, therefore, not recommended. Another hotel near Liberty market, used be Sun Fort Hotel. Not sure if it is still there. That was one other nice option.
Some part of your decision, may also be influenced by where your relatives and friends are located, so check from them first.
Holiday Inn is also very nice, but again its in the more business-central place in Lahore, rather then shopping-central place.