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.
SStanley The Travel ManI arrived in pouring rain. I thought I could walk to my hotel but it was impossible in the downpour. I didn’t want to bother any hotel owner. I didn’t and still don’t have an eSIM that can make local call but thanks to Trip.com, there is a link that I could call the owner for free. I didn’t advise the owners my arrival time so they were off running errands. I called the owner to pick me up and thankfully he answered. He was busy but gracious enough to turn around and picked me up. It knew Zhouhuang requires a ticket but I didn’t know that no cars, nor motorcycles, nor bicycles are allowed. Without him I would have arrived the hotel easily.
I always like to meet the owners instead of employees . They were very helpful and answered all my questions. They are honest people who dedicate their blood and sweat to their business. The owner even offered to walk me to the bus stop to Suzhou which was my next destination.
This operates two hotels with 9 in one and 6 in the other. The one that I stayed in with 9 rooms is in a lively and busy area . Just outside the hotel is a restaurant and there are plenty of places to eat. Inside the hotel is a peaceful oasis where you won’t hear any noise. The location is the best. The other hotel is in a quieter neighborhood a few minutes away. Each of the 15 rooms has it’s own personality, is different and has its distinctive decoration. The owners said they decorated them themselves. I love the decoration and especially the lighting.
After you reserve a room, be sure to contact the owner for the exact address in case you want to arrive on your own. I think it is best to request the owner to take you there because he/she will lead you to the ticket booth to buy tickets. There are a number of bridges so heavy big luggages can be a bit of a challenge . If you arrive after 5 pm, you can enter free of charge as no one is there to check your ticket. . But once you are inside, and if you choose to leave the area after 8 or 9 am until 5 pm, you have to pay to come back in. You can buy a one day or in my case 3 days pass. Do check with the owner for up to date information.
The room was quite clean. There were hot water all the time. There were other guests during my stay but they were not noisy at all. I barely heard them. I slept very well during my 3 nights there.
Zhouhuang is really beautiful. There are many canals, bridges, boat rides, good food of all kinds. I had some of the best meals there. In fact , I ate in the same restaurant that serves dumpling twice. One night I had grill (BBQ) meat just outside the entrance for 4 yuans. . There is decent size supermarket just outside the turnstile and not too far away is a much bigger supermarket. It was there where I bought half a Peking duck for only 32 yuans . The seller sliced the meat and separated the meat from the bones. The bones he fried so it was crunchy. It was delicious. There is a theater that offers performances.
The night view is great. If you step out your room, you will be overwhelmed in a good sense by the exciting surroundings.
This hotel definitely is one of the best that I have ever stayed in. Look at the beautiful pictures and find one that you like.
I stayed only 3 nights and one of those days I went to Tongli. In my opinion, one should spend at least 2 to 3 full days in Zhouhuang (and especially this hotel ) savor the ambience. I don’t think Tongli is worth the time because it was twice as expensive and there are not that many canals and boat rides. It is much quieter and has fewer things to see. . The worst is that the sightseeing places require you to show your ticket. After 2 places, I lost mine ticket and I couldn’t get in the rest of the places. It is unnecessary to require proof of entrance because you can’t enter the area without a ticket.
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.