After staying for three consecutive nights, the final night turned out to be an extremely unpleasant experience.
A group of loud and inconsiderate local women checked into the room next to mine. They were shouting and making noise late into the night, keeping me awake until 11:30 PM, and then woke me up again at 5 AM. I called the front desk twice to report the situation, and even walked to their door in my pajamas to record the noise they were making. I paid over RMB 1,450 for that night, yet I believe these guests, likely part of a tour group, probably paid very little—if anything at all. Situations like this shouldn't happen even in a well-managed budget hotel, let alone in a five-star, landmark hotel in Wuxi.
If we say that guest behavior is beyond the hotel’s control, then what happened the next morning, on the day of my checkout, was even more baffling.
The hotel changed its name overnight. The well-known management brand Hyatt officially parted ways with the hotel owner, and this hotel, once under a globally recognized brand, became a local one overnight. Staff morale was visibly low, and many seemed to face the uncertainty of possible unemployment, which clearly weighed on their minds.
In the breakfast area, at the yogurt station, I couldn’t find a bowl to serve yogurt. I asked two different staff members for assistance, but both of them responded with blank expressions and said absolutely nothing to me. I felt completely ignored—even invisible.
While I had only planned to report the disruptive guests, the indifference of the breakfast staff truly triggered my frustration. I immediately called to file a formal complaint. The hotel's Guest Experience Manager met with me in person, offered a sincere apology, and after learning more about the situation behind the scenes, I accepted the explanation and chose to forgive.
As luck would have it, when I checked out, I ended up sharing the elevator with the same group of disruptive women. Their loud conversation inside the elevator sounded like a chorus of honking cars on a busy street. Instinctively, I raised my voice and shouted at them—and suddenly, the entire elevator went silent. Was it just a coincidence? I wasn’t angry anymore, but somehow, I felt vindicated.
That’s the end of the story. I’m on the plane now, finally heading back to Sydney, Australia.
โรงแรมใกล้Golden Eagle Shopping Center/Baolong City Square,เหยียนเฉิง34.8% ของนักท่องเที่ยวเลือกพื้นที่นี้
ผผู้เข้าพัก2024.08.15
New hotel, friendly staff but is going to be outdated soon. Bad sound proofing , lots of drunk Chinese people shouting in the corridor at night time.
The breakfast variety is so poor for Europeans. Please teach your staff in the restaurant to cook sunny side up eggs and refill the dishes without reminding.
Overall, it’s not “real Hilton” experience.
ผผู้เข้าพักNow, I can sit here and tell you that we’re staying in an eco-friendly hotel that even though you’re inside its high glass windows gives you an outdoor vibe. I can even sit and talk about the saline pool, its state-of-the-art gym and list all the amenities; and I can even talk about the number of rooms and the fact that as we speak there’s an international summit going on here.
Somehow that won’t speak about my experience here at this hotel. Elements (by Westin) Suzhou Science & Technology Town does have all of the above BUT what I love about this hotel is its Staff. I love the fact that they seem to be always be here. I somehow believe that they live onsite because they’re always around.
In the morning, even before I enter the Salon I hear, “Nǐ hǎo Marsha” from the Breakfast Host, followed up by the nice lady in the Salon, smiling at me and ushering me to the coffee machine, while handing me my 2 brown sugar packs. She knows my morning habits so quickly. Not only that, because they knew Peter was missing from my breakfast table for a few mornings, they now signal to me with take away containers for Peter, to have his breakfast in the room.
When we need to go anywhere the young ladies at the Front Desk (no matter which Shift) are always either asking us where we need to go so that they can call a CASH taxi to get us to our destination. One of them even came with me one day to the Bank of China’s ATM and sat in the taxi while I went in and conducted my business and accompanied me to the Campus to visit Jon-Marc. Yesterday, one of them even used her own Didi account to get us transportation back to the hotel and we reimbursed her (and walked away while she was trying to give us back our change because we knew she wouldn’t have taken the Tip as is their custom). How else could we have shown her how grateful we were for her kind gesture?
Then there is Simon Jiang, the General Manager, who speaks perfect English and is always there to assist and offer suggestions of things to do and places to go. Simon was the one who actually explained to me that you can’t just walk into a pharmacy and get anything without a prescription. What I can tell you is that even though he is the GM he is always on hand assisting the staff with their work. Even though there is a clear hierarchy here, he takes off his jacket and assists in the kitchen, you can sometimes see him helping the older ladies bring out the heavy equipment (if needed) when they’re cleaning the floors, clear tables, etc.
Or Alex Ju, the Assistant General Manager, who accompanied Peter and I to the hospital and stayed and spoke with the doctor and the international insurance department on our behalf (in Mandarin) to make everything a little easier for us.
These people are the ones who have made my stay here memorable and I can honestly say that its because of them that I would recommend Elements by Westin in Suzhou to ANYONE who wanted a place to stay without hassle and with a host of helpful, courteous, friendly staff. It has been my pleasure having encountered such warm, friendly, delightful and gentle human beings.